40513
What is the best way to address a group of people younger than yourself, that
is more emphatic about the age difference than みなさん？When I say address, I mean
personally, not like "I wish those young people would stay off my lawn," but
"Young people, welcome to the conference!"

Is 若者 an okay choice? Does your social closeness to the group affect which
noun you would choose?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-30T18:40:06.353
40503
2016-10-31T02:05:34.930
7378
question
translation
Referring to a group of young people
"若者!" is not used to publicly address young people. It's possible to add [the
vocative particle よ](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/13823/5010) and say
"若者よ!" to address them, but this would sound very stiff, old-fashioned and
grandiose, like war propaganda in the 1940's. You would probably end up making
them laugh.

若いみなさん is a good phrase to refer to young people in front of you in a speech.
It sounds polite and friendly at the same time. Still, using this to address
them would not sound very natural unless you have a good reason to do so. The
most common and safest choice is to say just みなさん.

>   * 若いみなさんには、もっと新聞を読んで欲しいと思います。 : OK
>   * 若いみなさん、もっと新聞を読みましょう！ : OK if "young" is important in the context
>   * 若いみなさん、カンファランスにようこそ！ : A bit funny when 若い is used suddenly
>   * みなさん、カンファランスにようこそ！ : Always safe
>
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-10-31T02:05:34.930
40513
2016-10-31T02:05:34.930
2017-04-13T12:43:44.157
-1
5010
40503
answer