Japanese study guide
Japanese Vocabulary for Family, Home, and Daily Life
Japanese vocabulary for family members, rooms and household items — including the own-family vs. someone-else's-family distinction beginners miss.
Family and home vocabulary is some of the earliest, most personal vocabulary you'll use — but Japanese has a wrinkle beginners often miss: the word changes depending on whose family you're talking about.
Your own family vs. someone else's
Japanese uses humble words (謙譲語, kenjougo) for your own family and respectful words (尊敬語, sonkeigo) for someone else's — even for the same relationship. Talking about your own mother, you say 母; asking about someone else's mother, you say お母さん. It's the same in-group/out-group instinct behind politeness levels more broadly, applied to a small, closed set of words.
| Relationship | Your own family | Someone else's family |
|---|---|---|
| father | 父 (ちち) | お父さん (おとうさん) |
| mother | 母 (はは) | お母さん (おかあさん) |
| 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 (おとうとさん) |
| younger sister | 妹 (いもうと) | 妹さん (いもうとさん) |
| grandfather | 祖父 (そふ) | おじいさん (おじいさん) |
| grandmother | 祖母 (そぼ) | おばあさん (おばあさん) |
| son | 息子 (むすこ) | 息子さん (むすこさん) |
| daughter | 娘 (むすめ) | 娘さん (むすめさん) |
| husband | 夫 (おっと) | ご主人 (ごしゅじん) / 旦那さん (だんなさん) |
| wife | 妻 (つま) | 奥さん (おくさん) |
| child | 子供 (こども) | お子さん (おこさん) |
A note on the spouse words. 夫 and 妻 are the neutral, safe way to refer to your own partner and are what younger speakers increasingly prefer. For someone else's husband, 旦那さん is a natural middle ground; ご主人 is more formal and literally means "master", which is why some speakers now avoid it. パートナー is also increasingly common where a gender-neutral word is wanted.
Even in casual conversation, many people call their own parents お父さん/お母さん directly (as a form of address, not description) — the 父/母 forms are mainly for talking about your parents to someone else. The someone-else's-family column is always polite, in any context.
Other family words
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 家族 | かぞく | family |
| 両親 | りょうしん | parents |
| 兄弟 | きょうだい | siblings |
| 赤ちゃん | あかちゃん | baby |
| 一人っ子 | ひとりっこ | only child |
Rooms and the house
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 家 | いえ | house |
| 部屋 | へや | room |
| 台所 | だいどころ | kitchen |
| リビング | リビング | living room |
| 寝室 | しんしつ | bedroom |
| お風呂 | おふろ | bath, bathroom |
| トイレ | トイレ | toilet, restroom |
| 玄関 | げんかん | entryway |
| 庭 | にわ | garden, yard |
| 階段 | かいだん | stairs |
Everyday household items
| Word | Reading | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| テーブル | テーブル | table |
| 椅子 | いす | chair |
| ベッド | ベッド | bed |
| 冷蔵庫 | れいぞうこ | refrigerator |
| テレビ | テレビ | television |
| 洗濯機 | せんたくき | washing machine |
| 鍵 | かぎ | key |
| 電気 | でんき | electricity, light |
| ゴミ | ゴミ | trash |
| 掃除 | そうじ | cleaning |
Why the own/other distinction is worth learning early
It's tempting to skip this table and just learn one word per relationship — but using 母 to ask about someone else's mother, or お母さん to talk about your own to a stranger, sounds noticeably off in a way that's easy to avoid once you know the pattern exists. It's a small, closed set of words, which makes it one of the highest-value tables in this whole post to actually memorize both columns of.
As always, these stick best learned with a real sentence and audio rather than as a bare pair, and reviewed on a spaced schedule — see spaced repetition for Japanese. For more everyday vocabulary in this vein, see common Japanese vocabulary for everyday conversation.
Frequently asked questions
Why does Japanese have two words for "mother"? 母 (はは) is the humble form used when talking about your own mother to someone outside your family; お母さん (おかあさん) is the respectful form used for someone else's mother — or as a direct form of address to your own. The same father/mother/sibling split applies to nearly every close relationship.
Can I just use お母さん for everyone? You can address your own mother that way and be understood, but describing your own mother to a third party as お母さん (instead of 母) sounds off — it's the pattern native speakers notice fastest in a learner's Japanese.