家か内ない

か

な

い

Common wordJLPTN4Freq.FrequencyTop 50,000

Meanings

noun

(my) wife

humble (kenjougo)

Only with reading かない

Humble term used to refer to one's own wife when speaking to someone outside the family. Not used for someone else's wife.

家か内ないは今いま、買

Related words

妻つまN5sense 1

妻 is the neutral, register-flexible word for one's own wife, while 家内 is specifically humble and only used when speaking to outsiders about one's own wife.

家か族ぞくN5sense 2

家族 is the everyday word for 'family', while 家内 in the sense of 'household/family' is rare and sounds formal or literary.

女にょう房ぼうN2sense 1

女房 is a casual, somewhat old-fashioned way (often used by older men) to refer to one's own wife, whereas 家内 is more formal and polite.

嫁よめN2

家内 is a humble term a man uses for his own wife, while 嫁 in this sense is dialectal and rustic rather than humble.

嫁よめさん

家内 is a humble, somewhat formal way to refer to one's own wife in front of others, while 嫁さん is casual and warm.

Politeness

奥おくさんpolite 丁寧語N5sense 1

奥さん is the polite term used for someone else's wife, while 家内 is the humble term used only for one's own wife.

女にょう房ぼうplainN2

家内 is the humble term a man uses for his own wife in formal speech, whereas 女房 is a plainer, more colloquial word for the same relationship.

Don't confuse with

嫁よめN2sense 1

嫁 can colloquially mean 'wife' like 家内, but its core meaning is 'bride' or 'daughter-in-law' from the perspective of the husband's parents, which 家内 never means.

家か庭てい内ない

家内 looks similar to 家庭内 but is a different word meaning 'household' or, informally, 'my wife', not 'within the family'.

うちN5

内 alone can informally mean 'my wife' in speech, but 家内 is the standard, more formal word specifically meaning 'my wife'.

Meanings

Usage patterns