Familiar, affectionate term for one's own older brother, similar to お兄ちゃん but more casual. Used within the family or when speaking about one's brother to close friends.
See also: お兄ちゃん
兄ちゃん、宿題手伝ってくれる？
Big brother, can you help me with my homework?
うちの兄ちゃんは今大学生なんだ。
My older brother is a university student now.
Informal, sometimes slightly rough way to address or refer to a young man, especially by an older person. Can sound friendly or condescending depending on tone. The reading あんちゃん is also used for this sense, often with a more rough or dialectal feel.
See also: お兄ちゃん
Hey, mister, is this the right way?
Hey, young man, can you tell me the way?
あの兄ちゃん、なかなかやるな。
That lad is pretty good, isn't he?
子供たちは近所の若者を兄ちゃんと呼んでいた。
The children called the young man in the neighborhood 'nii-chan'.
兄さん is a slightly more grown-up, neutral term for 'older brother' compared to the childish, affectionate 兄ちゃん.
妹 means 'younger sister', the opposite family relation to the 'older brother' sense of 兄ちゃん.
お兄ちゃん adds the polite/affectionate お prefix and is the softer, more common form of 兄ちゃん used especially by children or when addressing one's brother directly.
兄ちゃん refers to an older brother (or young man), while 姉ちゃん refers to an older sister (or young woman); learners can mix up the gender.
counter for people
older brother; big brother · lad; sonny; young man
Standard kanji spelling for the familiar term for older brother or young man.
Derived from 兄 (ani, older brother) with the familiar suffix ちゃん. The reading あんちゃん is a phonetic variant, possibly influenced by dialect or casual speech.