Addressing a friend?

How would I address a friend? Or a best friend? Like if I start a conversation through text “how was your day *friends name*” would I use sama?

3 comments
  1. -sama is quite a bit more formal than you’d want when addressing a friend. You can’t go wrong with -san, at worst it would seem a bit too formal if it’s a friend you’re really close with and have known for a long time, but it won’t ever be “wrong”. If you’re older/have some social seniority and the person you’re referring to is male, you could use -kun. If they’re female you could use -chan, but I wouldn’t recommend it as that can sound a bit condescending and even rude in some situations, so you’d have to be sure it’s someone you’re really close with. What to call someone depends a lot on your relationship, so if you’re not really sure -san is a safe bet.

    *Edit to add: if it’s your best friend that you’ve known forever and are very very close with, you can drop the honorifics altogether and just use their name. That’s basically limited to very close/childhood friends, spouses, or family members.

  2. Sama is way too formal for that especially if you’re close. I’d just say their names or Kun/San for male, San/Chan for female

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