I always have difficulty addressing my boss in emails =X
The first time, I hesitated for a long time before just using “Hi (surname)” to address him…lolol. But now I still think it’s quite rude to do that, so I asked Azmi Danuri for help.
He pasted me this wiki link which I think is pretty helpful…muahahaha~
Now I won’t be afraid that I used the wrong term to address him (:
Like in case I call him dear or something…LOL.
(I chose the first one – San in the end)
San (さん), sometimes pronounced han (はん) in the Kyoto area, is the most common honorific and is a title of respect similar to “Mr.”, “Miss”, “Mrs.”, or “Ms.”
Kun (君 in Kanji, くん in Hiragana) is used by persons of senior status in addressing or referring to those of junior status, or by anyone when addressing or referring to male children or male teenagers. It can also be used by females when addressing a male that they are emotionally attached to or have known for a long period of time.
Chan (ちゃん) is a diminutive suffix; it expresses that the speaker finds a person endearing. Thus, using chan with a superior’s name would be condescending and rude. In general, chan is used for babies, young children, and teenage girls. It may also be used towards cute animals, lovers, and close friends.
Senpai (先輩) is used to address or refer to one’s senior colleagues in a school, company, sports club, or other group. So at school, the students in higher grades than oneself are senpai. Students of the same or lower grade are not senpai, nor are teachers. In a business environment, colleagues with more experience are senpai, but one’s boss is not a senpai.
Sensei (先生) (literally meaning “born before me”) is used to refer to or address teachers, doctors, politicians and other authority figures. It is used to show respect to someone who has achieved a certain level of mastery in an art form or some other skill, and is also applied to novelists, poets, painters, and other artists, including manga artists.
Sama (様) is a significantly more respectful version of san. It is used primarily in addressing or referring to people much higher in rank than oneself, toward one’s customers, and sometimes toward people one greatly admires.
Seriously need to learn Japanese! The basics I learned before can hardly help…no actually it’s because I can hardly remember them now…lolol.
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