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I see that those two compounds mean husband and wife, as a married couple. But
is there a difference in usage or context?
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2011-06-18T20:43:25.913
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2011-07-09T20:58:43.040
2011-06-20T07:01:33.990
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question
word-choice vocabulary compounds
What is the difference in meaning between "husband and wife" 夫婦【ふうふ】 and 夫妻【ふさい】?
夫妻 is the more formal of the two, and shouldn't be used when talking about
yourself or people from your inner circle. As a general rule of thumb, use 夫婦
for such close relations or for general comments about married couples, and 夫妻
when talking about people outside your group.
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2011-06-19T04:53:20.793
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2011-06-19T04:53:20.793
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answer
They mean the same thing but 夫妻【fusai】is more polite.

For example, you can use 夫婦【fuufu】to refer to yourselves (私たち夫婦), you can use
for others and use it formally (ご夫婦). But you can't use 夫妻【fusai】to refer to
yourselves (私たち夫妻 = NG).

Also when speaking formally, ご夫妻 is better than ご夫婦.
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2011-06-19T04:54:42.887
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2011-06-19T04:54:42.887
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As the other two answers say, `夫妻` 'husband and wife' is a more proper way to
say. That is probably because `夫婦` 'huband and woman' is not politically
correct. Interestingly, it goes the opposite of the phrase used in Western
wedding ceremony: 'man and wife', but the idea is the same; both phrases are
based on sexual discrimination.

However, since the word `夫婦` is more established, it appears in many compound
nouns, where it cannot be replaced with `夫妻`, even in legal terms:

> 夫婦漫才 (but not 夫妻漫才)
>
> 夫唱婦随 (but not 夫唱妻随)
>
> 夫婦喧嘩 (but not 夫妻喧嘩)
>
> 夫婦財産制 (but not 夫妻財産制)
>
> 夫婦別姓 (but not 夫妻別姓)

And `夫妻` cannot be used alone as a word. It needs to be used as a part of a
word. I.e., `ご夫妻`.
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2011-07-09T16:38:10.513
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2011-07-09T20:58:43.040
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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answer