When is sama used

Toko Fukawa uses "-sama" on Byakuya Togami, since she has a massive crush on him. Some of the more polite students, including Makoto, use "-kun" on boys and "-san" on girls. After Chihiro turns out to be a boy, some of them end up having to switch from calling him "Fujisaki-san" to "Fujisaki-kun. The traitor turns out to be a girl. While Monomi and Chiaki are usually somewhat formal with the other students, and nobody refers to Monomi with honorifics, after Chiaki is outed as the traitor and Monomi is revealed to be her accomplice , they start referring to each other as "Chiaki-chan" and "Monomi-chan.

Komaru also starts out calling Toko "Fukawa-san," then switches to "Toko-chan" after they become friends. In ' Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony '', Tenko Chabashira, despite her hatred for "degenerate males," uses "-san" on boys and girls. This is a gameplay mechanic in some installments of the Tokimeki Memorial series; choosing the wrong honorific when addressing a potential love interest may have unfortunate consequences.

Examples include Homura and, unusually, Kaori. The English translations of the Yakuza series used honorifics inconsistently. This is largely reflected in Goro Majima, who refers to protagonist Kazuma Kiryu with the affectionate "Kiryu-chan". In the first game's English Dub, Majima calls him "Kazuma-chan", while later games translate Majima's pet name as "Kazzy". Yakuza 0 features honorifics in its English subs along with the first instance of "Kiryu-chan" appearing in an English script.

It is left ambiguous if Majima referring to Kiryu as Kiryu-chan is an instance of Insult of Endearment , Terms of Endangerment or if Majima is genuinely flirting with Kiryu. In beatmania IIDX 20 tricoro , the Professor always addresses the player's Q-pro character with "-kun", even if the player has designed the character to be female. The fact that the rather bratty Princess Rayfa uses "-dono" on Beh'leeb shows how much she respects the couple.

The Great Ace Attorney has characters use honorifics to signify that they're speaking Japanese. In the original Japanese version, Susato uses the extremely formal "-sama" honorific on those she's close enough with to call by their first names- Kazuma, Iris, Gina and Rei.

In the English localization, she only does this with Kazuma. This is Lost in Translation in the fan translation, in which Justine Courtney simply calls most people by the more conventionally polite "Mr. For example, the Love Interest Tatsuki is commonly referred to as Tatsunii by the player character, and at the end of Shin 's route, after the Relationship Upgrade , he asks you to drop the "kun" from Shin-kun and just call him Shin.

In Kindred Spirits on the Roof , Aihara uses the shock of calling Maki by her first name with yobisute for the first time in order to snap her out of assaulting a third year who called her a masochist. Ensemble Stars! Souma however makes an exception for Kaoru, with whom he often clashes, instead typically referring to him rudely as 'that man' despite Kaoru being his senior.

Kanata uses yobisute with everyone , probably due to his very childlike personality and possibly also a result of previously considering himself a God who need not consider himself with rules of formality. Chiaki on the other hand refers to everyone by their surname only, reflecting a more manly friendliness , except Kanata, with whom he uses yobisute due to their close friendship.

Nazuna likes to refer to friends with '-chin', which fits his cute appearance, but contrasts with his general desire to be treated like an adult, and his resulting usage of the masculine first-person pronoun 'ore'. Eichi always uses yobisute with Chiaki despite them not really being friends and Eichi typically being polite with others; this went unexplained for years before it was confirmed that they were friends briefly while hospitalised together as children.

Hajime typically speaks politely, referring to his peers with '-san' except Childhood Friend Tomoya who gets yobisute and seniors with '-sempai', but as he grows in confidence over the year eventually asks to call the producer 'oneechan' and is encouraged by his Tea Club seniors to call them 'Eichi-oniichan' and 'Ritsu-oniichan'. Mitsuru tends to use nicknames and '-chan' a lot e. Arashi always speaks in a very girly way and so uses '-chan' for most people, and insists on being called 'Naru-chan' or 'Naru-nee'.

Mika uses '-kun' for everyone the same age or younger than him apart from the aforementioned Naru-chan and uses '-sempai' for those older than him except Shu who is 'Oshi-san' essentially 'mentor' and Eichi who is rudely referred to as simply 'you' 'anta'. In the Japanese version of Octopath Traveler , most of the travelers don't use honorifics on each other, with the exception of Ophilia and Tressa, who use "-san" on the others.

Some of them call Cyrus, a professor, "sensei. After noticing Taiko use "-chan" on Raiko whom he's implied to have a crush on , Nobara says that she "want s to be chan-ified , too. Kamen rudely calls Raiko by her last name without honorifics, due to her dislike of her.

After Raiko clears Kamen's name, and proves that she was the person who helped Kamen in the past, Kamen starts calling her "Raiko-chan". Genshin Impact : Barbara's fan club refers to her as Barbara-sama as a reflection of the pedestal they place her on. Initially this was not part of the English version, but in Barbara's Hangout Quest characters that are part of her fan club begin to refer to her as Barbara-sama in that language.

Given that this is an Animesque Chinese game and the lack of Japanese honorifics previously, this is a sudden change. Iroha uses "-chan" or "-san" depending on the addressee's age and how close she is to them. Yachiyo uses first names and yobisute on the people she's closest with e. Mifuyu, Momoko, Tsuruno , but last names and "-san" on acquaintances e. Iroha, Mami, Sana. Her decision to switch from calling Iroha " Tamaki-san " to " Iroha " is a sign of how close they've become.

Mifuyu generally uses "-san" on most of her fellow Magical Girls' first names, but calls Yachiyo "Yacchan". Played for Drama when Sakuya and Ryouko have to put a stop to their budding friendship due to being on opposite factions. They then change from yobisute to just last name with "-san" when refering to each other. Red Alert 3 : Averted for the most part as everyone speaks English even in the Imperial Japan campaign.

The Tsunami tank does have "Hai, dono! Oshiro usually calls Nick "gaijin". He calls him "Nick-san" when apologizing to him. He initially starts out referring to his daughter Ki as "Kyoko-san," having lost a bet to determine whether Ki would get a Japanese or Chinese name, but is eventually persuaded to call her "Ki-chan. Her reply was an annoyed "Nick, I'm Korean.

Web Original. In the Whateley Universe , Generator deceased Japanese mother and trying to regain her lost culture uses Chaka- sempai for her martial arts tutor and onee-san and onee-sama for her best friend and roommate Billie whom she loves like a big sister. It is also used by superiors to inferiors and male of the same age and status. This can be used when somebody finds a person, a pet, or something adorable and cute. Usually used to refer to customers who are deserving of the utmost respect status in Japan, people of higher rank, or somebody you admire.

When it is used, it is usually as a joke expressing an exaggeration of age. Here are some honorific titles that can stand on their own :. As it can appear condescending, it is not used as a suffix. It shows respect to someone who has mastered some skill. To go further and master this lesson, click here to quiz yourself and review the words! Now that you mastered Japanese honorific suffixes you can move on prefixes!

This video lesson is already available on our website and you will learn why and how to use Japanese prefix! Got an account? If you are curious about the current usage of the old honorific dono in Japan, please be a bit patient.

In Japanese, the correct usage of honorifics is important , since just calling someone by their first, last, or even full name, is considered casual or rude. For example, it is okay to drop the suffix after the name of your partner or spouse , younger family members , and close friends. I'm Alex. I have started studying Japanese when I was still a high school student and I have been living and working in Japan since I'm still learning new Japanese phrases and words every day and I thought that publishing them online will be useful for you, too.

Hopefully, my study notes and free Japanese lessons will help you to reach the Japanese level you want to have! If you have any questions feel free to contact me anytime!

Every one of you who wants to learn Japanese or is into anime and manga has seen the word at least a In daily Japanese, business Japanese, and anime, however, you Check out our Business Japanese Courses if you are interested in learning business Japanese!

San is certainly the first honorific title you will learn when studying Japanese or going to Japan. Sama is the respectful version of san, mostly used in business and clientele context.

This is since the implied superiority of the guest or customer is very strong. Formal Japanese can be confusing and complex, please take a look at our guide on Japanese Keigo Formal Japanese to learn the proper way of speaking in formal Japanese. Once again, you should always keep in mind the implied hierarchy of a title. Kun is used by a person of a higher status towards a younger male or a child.

Friends can also refer to each other by kun in a casual context and women can use it to address a man to whom they are very close. Chan, the childish version of san, refers to children and girls. Like for kun, friends and lovers can also address each other with this honorific. Surprisingly, there are some strange and wonderful exception to chan, as it can be used to refer to an endearing adult.

Among the most famous examples, you will find Arnold Schwarzenegger, called Shuwa chan.