What's with Chan, Kun and San? HELP!

Hi guys!

I was wondering if anyone can tell me what's the deal with the chan, kun and san at the ends of the names? My Jap friends have been referring to me as Gwendy-san, Gwendy-chan, and once, Gwendy-kun. What's up with that? What are the differences of the three? I know for a fact that -san is somewhat the polite version as in Ms. Gwendy but what about chan and kun? I'd like to know since this has been confusing me for a very long time now.

Also, has this whole kun and chan thing been around...ever since? Or are they recent words? And what about people who refer to themselves as "watashi wa" and "ore wa" ? Aren't the two supposed to be the same? Or is "Watashi" for girls and "Ore" for boys?

Thanks for the time! Oh, and I'd really appreciate it if someone could also help me with this thread here:

Japanese conscripts, drafts, enlistments WWII | Japan Forum

Arigato!
Gwendy

kabayan...
pinoy here living in the US, but interested ng madame sa Jap culture. Kun and Chan are just end markers, often chan for girls, gwendy-chan, and kun, in my case Jeff-kun, for lalake.
tumira kase ako sa Japan for several years, and even if ive been here sa US for 4 years right after that, im still taking jap language.
hope that helps..
musta pinas?

gwendy85 said:

Hi guys!
I'd like to know since this has been confusing me for a very long time now.
Also, has this whole kun and chan thing been around...ever since? Or are they recent words? And what about people who refer to themselves as "watashi wa" and "ore wa" ? Aren't the two supposed to be the same? Or is "Watashi" for girls and "Ore" for boys?
Gwendy

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Same as Jeff said, watashi is the more polite version of ore. I think this can be used by both Male and Female. Males, additionally could refer to themselves as "bokou". This term is not used by Females.

Hey! Thanks you guys! Finally I can continue with my writing! Atsaka, Jeff-kun, heto pa rin ang pinas. gulo ng politics pero masaya pa rin sa pagkapanalo ni pacquiao.

and dekamaster, do u think 'bokou wa' would be something commonly used by Japanese soldiers in WWII? I'm writing a novel on it.

Arigato Gozaimasu!
Gwendy-chan

First of all, think of -san as the standard among the three.

-san is kind of like Mr. or Ms. in English, except that in Japanese it's rude not to include it when addressing someone. Therefore, it's much more common than Mr. or Ms. is in English.

-san is used when addressing people you don't know who are basically of the same social status as you or higher

It can be replaced with other versions, however.

For example, -chan. -chan is a cute way of saying -san. Therefore, it is used when addressing people that you consider (or are in general considered) to be cute, such as girls. Men and boys, too, can be called -chan if they are considered to be cute. One example of this is the comedy duo, Downtown, who are two men from the Kansai region. They are always referrred to as "Matchan" and "Hamachan".

Another acceptable replacement for -san is -kun. It is used generally for boys (And I mean boys as in boys, not grown men.) Another common usage among adults is to use it for your subordinates in a work setting. In this case, it can be equally applied to women and men. I have also heard grown men refer to their friends as -kun. But they all had to be roughly the same age for this to work. You wouldn't want to call your superior, or senpai, -kun, as this can be cosidered to be condescending and rude.

There are other things that can replace -san, but I hope this answers your question.

Thanks Mikawa Ossan! WHEW! That sure clears it up form! At least now I know what to do with that subordinates thing about kun. Heard that one from Sakura Wars...but now, I got one more question. Is -kun used solely for the first name? My character's name is Kazuo Matsushima (also confused. It has to be the family name first, write? Like Matsushima Kazuo?) How does his superior address him? How about the fellow soldiers of the same rank?
Thank you again for all your help! I've been needing these for months!
Sincerely,
Gwendy-chan

I've read the thread, so I hope I'm not just adding a "yes, me too!" response, actually I dont believe I am, but that was the modest introductions.

FIRST, chan, kun, san, sama, senpai, etc--- are NEVER to be used when refering to oneself. Sometimes you'll see someone calling themself, something-chan, etc etc... these terms are only to be used for people refering to others.

chan - small, cute, tiny... for examp,e aka~chan is a baby, because baby has red flush skin and are tiny and cute, hence aka chan... also for girls, or for effeminite men (Kaba-chan).... etc... mostly...

san - pretty safe standard respectful term mr/mrs

kun - mostly for male office workers, Tanaka-kun (name of a character from a famous manga)...

senpai - in school, or otherwise, mostly for male big-brother like superiors who show around new school members, team members etc...

sama - for very respectful elderly, honorofic or otherwise, ojisama (grandfather), ojiisama (prince)...

oyaji - used to be polite term, now term for old useless men

otaku - previous polite *I* pronoun, now derogatory--- mostly see folowing---

boku - more manly, I'd say mostly used by boys, and men

watakushi - I, male or female, longer term

watashi - same as above, but perfered by many for being shorter

atashi - I, used by girls to be cute, or femminine...

ore - used by men, boys, and characters in manga trying to be tough

kimi - you, familiar term that is edearing, very personal, see "kimi wa petto", "you are my pet"--

anata - you, mostly used by females (though it can also be used by males), to address their husbands.

Oh my gosh! I'm running out of thank yous! thank you so much, yukio_michael! do you know i've been posting for someone to explain that stuff to me for months?! well, okay, maybe i blew the last one by putting TOO many words. glad i could find some helpful folk out here. Now, back to my novel. Oh, and just a tidbit: my great-grandfather was Japanese.
DOMO ARIGATO GOZAIMASU!!!
Gwendy-chan

yukio_michael said:

chan - small, cute, tiny... for examp,e aka~chan is a baby, because baby has red flush skin and are tiny and cute, hence aka chan... also for girls, or for effeminite men (Kaba-chan).... etc... mostly...

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I disagree that men have to be effeminite to be called -chan. Arnold Schwartzenegger is constantly referred to as "Shuwa-chan", but I don't anyone would consider him effeminite!

kun - mostly for male office workers, Tanaka-kun (name of a character from a famous manga)...

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I used to think this, too. Until I worked at a Japanese company. It was used for women as much as it was for men, at least there.

senpai - in school, or otherwise, mostly for male big-brother like superiors who show around new school members, team members etc...

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Girls can easily be senpai, too.
Sorry to nitpick!

gwendy85 said:

Thanks Mikawa Ossan! WHEW! That sure clears it up form! At least now I know what to do with that subordinates thing about kun. Heard that one from Sakura Wars...but now, I got one more question. Is -kun used solely for the first name? My character's name is Kazuo Matsushima (also confused. It has to be the family name first, write? Like Matsushima Kazuo?) How does his superior address him? How about the fellow soldiers of the same rank?
Thank you again for all your help! I've been needing these for months!
Sincerely,
Gwendy-chan

Click to expand...

About a term of the armed forces in Japanese empire Army
I say "自分（jibun）".
You must not call me "(私)Watashi" "(僕)Boku" "(俺)Ore".
When I made a mistake in it, I am hit by a senior officer.
新しいページ 2
I call a partner "(貴様)kisama" with the same rank in the armed forces.
In addition, a boss says "kisama" for a lower-class soldier.
貴様（きさま） - 語源由来辞典

A lower-class soldier follows "(殿)dono" for a senior officer.
"name+Rank+dono"

A digression
"chan"="tan"
Morbid otaku uses it mainly.
An example
"bincyo-tan"
千川オタク御殿
OS-tan
OS-tan - Wikipedia

I wrote an article about this 2 years ago : Language - Honorific Suffixes | Japan Forum

Mikawa Ossan said:

I disagree that men have to be effeminite to be called -chan. Arnold Schwartzenegger is constantly referred to as "Shuwa-chan", but I don't anyone would consider him effeminite!

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I know! HaHa... I always get a bit out of the "Governator" being refered to as Shuwa-chan... My girlfriend seems to use chan as a catch-all phrase, "Oha-chan!!!" for good morning... she calls me her "baby-chan"... and I'm a TOUGH GUY! Maybe term of endearment is a good term for it...

Mikawa Ossan said:

I used to think this, too. Until I worked at a Japanese company. It was used for women as much as it was for men, at least there.

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Hmmm that's good to hear (some equality in speach)--- Same with kacho, sacho, bucho.... I've heard...

Mikawa Ossan said:

Girls can easily be senpai, too.
Sorry to nitpick!

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Yup you're right! .... thanks for adding and clarifying! m(_ _)m

Another well known case of this happening to a public figure is Olympic gold medalist marathoner Naoko Takashi, now better known as q-chan (maybe someone can explain that...). One theory on why the culture of cuteness has become so indispensible to Japanese social life is that it softens or counterbalances an otherwise strictly hierarchical and status conscious society. I don't know if this is true for 'chan' in particular but it may make everyone a little less intimidated by Arnie.