さん・様 – the meaning of san in Japanese is more than just ‘mr.’ and ‘mrs.’
The easiest translation for the meaning of ‘san’ （さん） in Japanese is ‘Mr.’ or ‘Mrs.’. This is a gender-neutral term for either male or female and the most common respectful title to add after someone’s first or last name.
Though, in Japanese ‘San’ is used in more situations than the equivalent English words are used.
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You should use ‘san’ most of the time when talking to people
Most of the time you should use ‘san’ when talking to people out of respect unless a different honorific title would be more appropriate. For example, if you are talking with a teacher or doctor you may use the word ‘Sensei’（先生）. Or in some situations, you might use the more polite ‘sama'(さま）. Actually ‘san’ is a contracted form of ‘sama’.
https://japaneseuniverse.com/2024/02/18/pac-man-in-japaneseconcepts-behind-development-to-global-icon/
There is a term in Japanese, “yobisute”（呼び捨て）, which means calling someone’s name without adding ‘san’ or another title. If you are talking with children, friends, or people you are close to it is ok not to use ‘san’. Other than that you want to avoid “yobisute” since it is considered impolite if the person is not close to you.
‘San’ is used to refer to Businesses and Work Titles
If you are talking about a store-clerk（店員) for example you would say ‘ten-in san’ (店員さん). You can also actually use ‘san’ to refer to the actual business instead of just the people working there.
If I want to say “I am going to the book-store” I could say either 「本屋さんに行ってきます」or 「本屋に行ってきます」. Here, 「本屋」”Honya” means “book-store”.
The words for Family Members have ‘san’ in them
The words for ‘father’, ‘mother’, ‘sister’, and ‘brother’ in Japanese are ‘otousan’, ‘okaasan’, ‘oneesan’, and ‘oniisan’. When talking to your family members or about other people’s family you would use these words.
There are different words for referring to your own family when talking to others. This subject can get complex but as an example, I have a whole article on how to say ‘father’ in Japanese which explains when you should say what word. If you are interested, check it out in We need to talk about dad.
Japanese is filled with Polite Words
So in short, the meaning of san in Japanese is a polite title you use with people’s names. Japanese has several other ways of saying things politely. If you learn Japanese you will inevitably learn more about how to speak politely in different situations. You can learn more about how to use Japanese in different social situations here.
Vocabulary
さん (san) – mr., mrs., polite title for names
様 (sama) – same as san, more formal
先生 (sensei) – teacher
呼び捨て (yobisute) – word used for calling someones name without san
本屋 (honya) – bookstore
行く (iku) – to go
お父さん (tousan) – father
お母さん (okaasan) – mother
お姉さん (oneesan) – older sister
お兄さん (oniisan) – older brother
Sources
Japanese Honorifics – Wikipedia
