How to Say ‘Someone's older brother’ in Japanese
お兄さん
o nii san
[oh nee sahn]
💬 Usage Tip: お兄さん is said (onīsan), with a long (ī). The plain word for your own older brother is 兄 (ani), so the reading changes completely.
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.
兄
nii
[nee]
older brother
Kanji for older brother; read 'nii' when combined with o- and -san.
お兄さんは何歳ですか。
How old is your older brother?
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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