How to Say ‘Mother’ in Japanese
お母さん
o kaa san
[o kaa san]
🇯🇵 In Japan: Like お父さん, お母さん is the usual polite way to refer to the other person's mother. For your own mother in polite conversation, 母 is often more natural.
Phrase Breakdown
お
o
[o]
polite prefix
Prefix added to honorifics and nouns.
お姉さんですね。
It's your elder sister, right?
母
kaa
[kaa]
mother
Refers to one's mother, usually respectfully.
母が料理します。
My mother cooks.
さん
san
[san]
Mr./Ms.
A polite suffix used to refer to people.
田中さんですね？
Is it Mr./Ms. Tanaka?
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