弟

• 読み: おとうと
• ローマ字: otouto
• 漢字の分解: 弟 (otouto/tei/dai) — younger brother
• 発音: /o.toː.to/

意味

Younger brother; little brother. The standard term for one's own younger brother.

Used when talking about your own younger brother to others. Unlike 兄/姉, younger siblings do not have a distinct honorific form — 弟さん is used politely for someone else's younger brother. In conversation, the age distinction between siblings is always specified in Japanese.

例文

1. 弟は中学生です。
2. 弟とゲームをして遊びます。
3. 弟は毎日サッカーを練習しています。

使い方ガイド

場面: talking about family, self-introduction, daily conversation

トーン: neutral

起源と歴史

From Old Japanese. The kanji 弟 originally depicted a thread wound around a spool, suggesting something that comes after — the younger sibling.

文化的背景

時代: Ancient

世代: All ages

社会的背景: Universal