Quote:
Originally Posted by samokan
this has been explained before, might be buried somewhere though .. anyways..
sama - is currently used to address customers, so commonly used on business. most of the time, its only used on written form.
san - is the one most commonly used. Both formal and casual. you can never go wrong with addressing somebody in this way.
chan- is used to address little girls. If a guy used this to address a girl, it usually connotes fondness. Among girl-friends, this is usually used. Be careful though it can be considered rude, especially if you call a girl onee-chan, it can denote a "bad" image just like a bar girl.
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sama: is the most formal way to address somebody and it usually gives the effect that your putting the adressed person above yourself therefor used in shops but also used to address the emperor and primeminister and othe high ranking members of society
san: Is used among people you don`t know very well and are probably using formal speach with. It isn`t in anyway casual at all
chan: Is used with boys or girls that are close to you. using it towards girls just means they`re your friend. Also oneechan and oniichan are used to describe young adult boys and girls and doesn`t really have a bad image unless you use the wrong tone or are obviously talking down to them. oneechan and oniichan also mean sister and brother just in the fonder form
kun: Is basically just chan except only for boys and only after a name it cannot be used like chan in the sense that you can`t say onii kun