ばあさん

ば

あ

さ

ん

Common wordJLPTN1Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

noun

grandmother

usually written using kana alone

Refers to one's own grandmother or an elderly woman addressed affectionately as 'grandma'. Often used with honorific prefix お (お婆さん/お祖母さん).

Usage patterns

〈形けい容よう詞し〉婆ばあさんan old woman described as [adjective] (e.g. nagging, kind)
口くちうるさい婆ばあさんに怒おこられた。
I got scolded by a nagging old woman.

Kanji

婆old woman, grandma, wet nurse
祖ancestor, pioneer, founder
母mother

Related words

祖そ母ぼN4sense 1
祖母 is the formal, written term for one's own grandmother, whereas 婆さん is the casual, spoken word used affectionately or bluntly.
老ろう婆ば sense 2
老婆 is a literary, somewhat formal word for an old woman, while 婆さん is the everyday, familiar term.
ばあちゃん
婆さん is a blunt, sometimes rough way to refer to an old woman, while 婆ちゃん usually carries more warmth and is especially common for children speaking of their own grandmother.
おばあさんN5
婆さん is a blunter, less polite way to refer to an old woman, whereas おばあさん carries a warmer, more respectful tone.

Opposites

じいさんN1
爺さん refers to an old man or grandfather, the male counterpart to 婆さん.

Politeness

おばあさんpolite 丁寧語N5
お婆さん adds the honorific お and is the more polite, commonly used form, while 婆さん alone sounds blunter or more familiar.

Don't confuse with

ババア sense 2
ばばあ sounds almost like 婆さん but drops the polite さん and is a rude, insulting way to call an old woman.

Counted with

人にん
婆さん, like any person, is counted with 人 (e.g. お婆さんが二人いる).

Written forms

婆ばあさん
Common kanji spelling for both 'grandmother' and 'old woman' senses.
祖母ばあさん
Kanji spelling specifically for 'grandmother'; it is usually written this way for that sense.
ばーさん
- ばあさん
  Irregular kana spelling with long vowel mark; casual or emphatic variant.
- ばーさん
  irregular kana usagekana-only spelling

Etymology

Derived from 祖母 (そぼ, 'grandmother') with the honorific suffix さん, undergoing sound change to ばあさん. The kanji 婆 is an alternative character for 'old woman'.