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道Nihongo Path

旦那

だんな

master (of house); husband (informal)

By Nihongo PathUpdated

Examples

  1. うちの旦那は料理が上手です。

    うちのだんなはりょうりがじょうずです。

    My husband is a good cook.

  2. 旦那も子供の引き取り権を望んでいた。

    だんなもこどものひきとりけんをのぞんでいた。

    Her husband also wanted custody of the children.

  3. 店の主人は「旦那、これはお買い得ですよ」と声をかけた。

    みせのしゅじんは「だんな、これはおかいどくですよ」とこえをかけた。

    The shopkeeper called out, “Sir, this one's a real bargain.”

Common patterns

うちの旦那
my husband
旦那さん
(someone else's) husband
旦那様
master; sir (deferential)

Memory tip

Casual word a wife uses for her own husband; 夫 is the neutral term and ご主人 is how you refer to someone else's. It comes from Sanskrit dāna 'alms', so it also survives as 'patron, master' — what a shopkeeper calls a male customer.

Kanji in this word

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What does 旦那 mean?