What does “senpai” mean in Japanese?
Native speakers say “senpai” to mean ‘senior’ or ‘person who is older than someone in a group’ in Japanese. Probably, some Japanese learners know this word well because it is often used in Japanese movies, manga, anime, and the like and because it is often used in the Japanese society. In this blog post, however, I will explain this word in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I will explain how to use it through example sentences. My explanations would help Japanese learners to understand “senpai” more clearly. Then, let’s get started!
Contents
Definition and meanings of “senpai”
Let me start with the definition and meanings of “senpai”.
- senpai – 先輩 (せんぱい) : a noun meaning ‘senior’ or ‘person who is older than someone in a group’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural. Learn more about Japanese plural.
This noun doesn’t have a perfect translation in English, I think. Japanese native speakers use this noun to refer to a person who is older than someone in a group. The idea of this noun is probably highly based on the Japanese society where young people respect (or are forced to respect) older.
The definition and meanings are not so difficult. To understand this noun more clearly, however, let me explain its kanji characters in detail, one by one.
Senpai in kanji
The kanji expression of “senpai” consists of the following two characters:
- 先 : a kanji character often used as a prefix or suffix to add the meaning of ‘leading’ in Japanese.
- 輩 : a kanji character used to mean ‘crew’, ‘fellow’, ‘comrade’, or such in Japanese.
From these two kanji characters, we can understand that “senpai” literally means a leading crew or person in general. This literal interpretation seems to be in line with the meanings, I think. Those who are called seniors often lead the group they belong to.
When we meet new kanji expressions, we should check their kanji characters in detail to understand their meanings clearly and deeply. In many cases, kanji characters tell us a lot about meanings of words they form. Actually, here, we could get the better understanding of “senpai” through the detailed kanji check above.
Then, let me explain how to use “senpai” through the example sentences below.
Example #1: how to say “my senior in school”
kare wa watashi no gakkou no senpai deshi ta – 彼は私の学校の先輩でした (かれはわたしのがっこうのせんぱいでした)
He was my senior in school.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- kare – 彼 (かれ) : a pronoun meaning ‘he’ in Japanese.
- wa – は : a binding particle working as a case marker or topic marker. In the example, this works after “kare” to make the subject in the sentence.
- watashi – 私 (わたし) : a pronoun meaning ‘I’ in Japanese.
- no – の : a case particle used after a noun or pronoun to make its possessive case. In the example, this is used after “watashi” to make its possessive case, “watashi no“, which means ‘my’ in Japanese.
- gakkou – 学校 (がっこう) : a noun meaning ‘school’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural.
- no – の : a case particle used to join two nouns. Normally, the first one can work as a modifier to describe the second. In the example, this is used to join “gakkou” and “senpai”. The formed phrase literally means ‘senior in school’ in Japanese. The first “no” explained above can be considered as a special use case of this “no”.
- deshi – でし : one conjugation of the auxiliary verb, “desu”, which is used after a noun or adjective to make it polite. In the example, this is used after “senpai” to make it sound polite.
- ta – た : an auxiliary verb used after a verb, adjective, or auxiliary verb to make its past tense form. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese ta form. In the example, this is used after “deshi” to make its past tense form.
This is a typical usage of “senpai”. In this example, it works as a part of the noun phrase, “watashi no gakkou no senpai”, to say “my senior in school” in Japanese.
Example #2: another usage of “senpai”
kare wa ima kaisha no senpai desu – 彼は今会社の先輩です (かれはいまかいしゃのせんぱいです)
He is now my senior in company.
Below are the new words used in the example sentence.
- ima – 今 (いま) : an adverb meaning ‘now’ in Japanese.
- kaisha – 会社 (かいしゃ) : a noun meaning ‘company’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural.
- desu – です : an auxiliary verb used after a noun or adjective to make it polite. Probably, this is well known as a part of Japanese desu form. In the example, this is used after “senpai” to make it sound polite.
This is another typical usage of “senpai”. In this example, it works as a part of the noun phrase, “kaisha no senpai”, which means ‘senior in company’ in Japanese. When we want to say “senior” or “person who is older than someone in a group” in Japanese, this noun is a good option.
Summary
In this blog post, I’ve explained the definition and meanings of “senpai” in detail based on its kanji expression. And also, I’ve explained how to use it through the example sentences. Let me summarize them as follows.
- senpai – 先輩 (せんぱい) : a noun meaning ‘senior’ or ‘person who is older than someone in a group’ in Japanese. This can also work as plural. This noun doesn’t have a perfect translation in English, I think. Japanese native speakers, however, use this to refer to a person who is older than someone in a group. The idea behind is probably highly based on the Japanese society where young people respect (or are forced to respect) older. These two kanji characters literally mean a leading crew or person in general. This literal interpretation seems to be in line with the meanings.
Hope my explanations are understandable and helpful for Japanese learners.
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