Kanji: family and people

Coworkers in Japan often ask about your family during lunch or on a break, and many forms — at the city office, the bank or for a visa — have a section about your family. Japanese has two sets of family words: one for talking about your own family to other people, and a polite set for someone else’s family. This lesson teaches both, with the seven kanji you need.

Two sets of family words

When you talk to other people about your own family, use the plain words: 兄 (あに), 姉 (あね). When you talk about someone else’s family, use the polite words, usually with お〜さん: お兄さん, お姉さん. You learned 父 / お父さん and 母 / お母さん at N5; the other members work the same way.

Meaning	My family	Someone else’s family
father	父 (ちち)	お父さん
mother	母 (はは)	お母さん
older brother	兄 (あに)	お兄さん (おにいさん)
older sister	姉 (あね)	お姉さん (おねえさん)
younger brother	弟 (おとうと)	弟さん
younger sister	妹 (いもうと)	妹さん
parents	両親りょうしん	ご両親りょうしん
siblings	兄弟 (きょうだい)	ご兄弟
husband	夫おっと	ご主人しゅじん
wife	妻つま	奥おくさん
child	子ども	お子さん
family	家族 (かぞく)	ご家族

Inside the family, people use the polite words to call each other: a younger sister calls her brother お兄さん or お兄ちゃん. But when she tells a coworker about him, she says 兄. If you are not sure which word to use for someone’s husband or wife, you can always use the person’s name.

Talking about your family

The usual first question is 何人家族ですか — “How many people are in your family?” Count yourself too: 四人家族です。父と母と妹と私です. Then you can say what each person does, with 〜です or 〜をしています / 〜ではたらいています:

• 兄は三十歳さいで、会社員です — My older brother is thirty and works for a company.
• 姉は結婚けっこんしていて、子どもが二人います — My older sister is married and has two children.
• 弟は大学生です — My younger brother is a university student.
• 妹はまだ高校生です — My younger sister is still at high school.

To ask about a coworker’s family, use the polite words: お兄さんは何をしていますか — “What does your older brother do?” ご家族はお元気ですか — “Is your family well?” is a kind question to ask someone who lives far from home.

私: わたし or わたくし

私 is read わたし in everyday speech. In very formal situations — a job interview, a speech, a phone call to a customer — people say わたくし. The kanji is the same, so in writing the situation tells you which reading is meant. The on’yomi シ means “private”: 私立りつ (しりつ, a private school or university).

家: いえ and うち

家 (いえ) is a house, the building. うち means “home” and also “my family”: うちは四人家族です. うち is often written in hiragana, but you will also see 家 read うち. In compounds 家 is read か: 家族 (かぞく, family), 家具ぐ (かぐ, furniture).

Family on Japanese forms

Forms at the city office, the immigration office or a bank often have a table for family members. These words appear again and again:

On the form	Reading	Meaning
家族	かぞく	family
続柄つづきがら	つづきがら	relationship to you (e.g. wife, son)
配偶者はいぐうしゃ	はいぐうしゃ	spouse
生年月日	せいねんがっぴ	date of birth
国籍せき	こくせき	nationality
同居どうきょ	どうきょ	living together (in the same home)

Bringing your spouse or children to Japan? Our dependent visa guide explains who can come and which documents are needed.

A conversation at lunch

An original example — two coworkers at lunch:

山下：グエンさんは何人家族ですか。
グエン：五人家族です。父と母と兄と妹と私です。
山下：お兄さんも日本にいますか。
グエン：いいえ、兄はベトナムで車の会社ではたらいています。妹はまだ高校生です。
山下：ご家族はお元気ですか。
グエン：はい、元気です。毎週日曜日に、電話で話しています。

Yamashita: How many people are in your family, Nguyen? Nguyen: There are five of us: my father, my mother, my older brother, my younger sister and me. Yamashita: Is your older brother in Japan too? Nguyen: No, he works for a car company in Vietnam. My younger sister is still at high school. Yamashita: Is your family well? Nguyen: Yes, they are. We talk on the phone every Sunday.

New kanji: 私, 家, 族, 兄, 弟, 姉, 妹

私 — I, me (わたし). 家 — house (いえ) and 族 — family, group: together 家族 (かぞく). 兄 (あに) and 弟 (おとうと) make 兄弟 (きょうだい, siblings). 姉 (あね) and 妹 (いもうと) make 姉妹 (しまい, sisters). A memory tip: 姉 and 妹 both have 女 (woman) on the left. Readings, stroke counts and example words are in the Kanji section below.

Common mistakes

• Using the polite word for your own family: お兄さんは会社員です (about your own brother, to a coworker) ✗ → 兄は会社員です ✓.
• Using the plain word for someone else’s family: 山下さんの兄 sounds rude → 山下さんのお兄さん ✓.
• Forgetting to count yourself: father, mother and you are 三人家族, not 二人家族.
• Reading 兄弟 as あにおとうと: it is きょうだい.
• Mixing up 姉 (older sister) and 妹 (younger sister). 妹 has 未み (“not yet”) on the right — the one who is not grown up yet.

How to practise

• Answer 何人家族ですか aloud, then say one sentence about each family member.
• Ask a coworker one polite question about their family, for example ご兄弟はいますか.
• Write 私, 家, 族, 兄, 弟, 姉 and 妹 on the worksheet and do the “my family or yours?” exercise.