親おや御ご

お

や

ご

Freq.FrequencyTop 20,000

Meanings

1

(another's) parents

honorific or respectful (sonkeigo)

Honorific term used to refer to someone else's parents respectfully. Not used for one's own parents.

親おや御ごさんはお元げん気きですか。
How are your parents doing?
彼かれの親おや御ごはとても親しん切せつな方かた々がただ。
His parents are very kind people.

See all 8 example sentences ›

Usage patterns

〈人ひと〉の親おや御ごさんに挨あい拶さつするto greet someone's parents
彼かの女じょの親おや御ごさんに挨あい拶さつした。
I greeted her parents.
親御おやごさんが心配しんぱいするfor someone's parents to worry
生せい徒との親おや御ごさんが進しん路ろを心しん配ぱいしている。
The student's parents are worried about his future path.

Kanji

親parent, intimacy, relative
御honorable, manipulate, govern

Related words

両りょう親しんN5
両親 is the neutral word for 'parents' usable for one's own or others', whereas 親御 is honorific and reserved for someone else's parents.
ご両りょう親しん
ご両親 is the everyday polite way to refer to someone else's parents, while 親御 sounds more formal and old-fashioned, often used by teachers or officials.
父ふ母ぼN2
父母 is a formal, written term for 'father and mother' with no honorific nuance, unlike 親御 which specifically honors another person's parents.

Politeness

親おやplainN4
親御 is the honorific term used only for someone else's parents, while 親 is the plain, neutral word for parent(s) usable for anyone including one's own.

Don't confuse with

おやじN1
親父 casually means 'my dad' (or an old man) and shares the kanji 親, but 親御 is a respectful term for someone else's parents, not one's own father.

Counted with

人にん
Used because 親御 (someone's parent) refers to a person, so it's counted by number of people.

Word family

親おや御ごさん
(someone else's) parents

Built from

Etymology

Compound of 親 (oya, 'parent') and 御 (go, honorific prefix). The reading おやご is a sound shift from おや + ご.