How to Say ‘Father’ in Japanese
お父さん
o tou san
[o tou san]
🇯🇵 In Japan: When talking to someone about their parents, [お父さん] and [お母さん] are normal and polite. But for your own parents when speaking to outsiders, Japanese often uses plainer words like [父] and [母] instead.
Phrase Breakdown
お
o
[o]
polite prefix
Prefix added to honorifics and nouns.
お兄さんですね。
It's your elder brother, right?
父
tou
[tou]
father
Refers to one's father, usually respectfully.
父が帰宅しました。
My father came home.
さん
san
[san]
Mr./Ms.
A polite suffix used to refer to people.
鈴木さんですか？
Is it Mr./Ms. Suzuki?
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