Part of Japanese Honorifics
-san
"San" is the default, polite, all-purpose honorific — the safe choice for anyone you're not close to.
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Used for colleagues, acquaintances, teachers you don't have a closer term for, and strangers. Roughly equivalent to "Mr." or "Ms.", but used far more often in everyday speech than English honorifics are. When in doubt, -san is the correct default.
Related
- -kun"Kun" is used for boys and younger men, or by someone senior addressing a junior male, especially in school or work settings.
- -chan"Chan" is an affectionate, informal honorific used for children, close friends, family members, and sometimes romantic partners or pets.
- -sama"Sama" is a highly respectful honorific, more formal than -san, used for customers, people of significantly higher status, or in religious and ceremonial contexts.
- -senpai (or used alone)"Senpai" refers to someone senior to you in school, work, or another shared hierarchy — not necessarily older, just further along.
- -sensei (or used alone)"Sensei" means teacher, and is used for teachers, doctors, and other recognised experts or masters of a skill.