How to Say ‘Someone's father’ in Japanese
お父さん
o tou san
[oh tou sahn]
🇯🇵 In Japan: Inside the family, people also call their own dad お父さん directly, as a form of address. With outsiders they switch to 父.
Phrase Breakdown
お
o
[oh]
honorific prefix (polite)
Adds politeness. お客 is a casual-business way to say “customer/guest,” but お客様 is more formal.
お客に丁寧に対応します。
I respond politely to customers.
父
tou
[tou]
Father
A formal way to address one's father.
お父さんには感謝しています。
I am grateful to father.
さん
san
[sahn]
Mr.; Ms.; polite suffix
さん is a polite suffix attached to people's roles or names, adding respect.
おじいさんがきました。
Grandfather came.
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