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I've heard some names pronounced with 〜さん added to them (such as 佐々木さん) and
some without it. I believe it is related to respect or the age of the person
named. What would be the guidelines or general principles to follow regarding
〜さん?
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2011-05-31T20:07:54.773
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honorifics names
When should one add さん at the end of a name?
I would only use a persons name _without_ suffixing さん if I knew them very
well and they were at the same social standing (in whatever given context) as
me.

In fact, scratch that, it would feel wierd not using -さん in any given
situation unless it was referring to family.
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2011-05-31T20:11:47.643
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The general guideline is to use さん whenever you're unsure. As a learner, you
cannot really go wrong with it.
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2011-05-31T20:12:48.183
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If you're talking with someone you don't really know, you definitely want to
add さん. If you add it for friends and family, it might upset them as it may
make the two of you seem a little distant with one another.

As to your age/respect thing, if you're below them, then just add さん. Like
Matti said above, if you're just starting, you can't really go wrong with
appending the さん after the name.
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2011-05-31T20:15:16.693
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If you're talking to somebody who is not an extremely good friend, use さん, but
if you're about to start a fight with someone, you should drop the さん. If
you're a foreigner and are on good terms with someone, you can often use their
first name without さん, but using their family name like that will sound rude
and abrasive. If you need to attract someone's attention in an emergency
situation, you can drop the さん too, as well as adding an imperitive
(おい、山田！速く逃げろ！).

One of the exceptions is when talking about someone in your group (company or
friends) to someone outside your group. In that case, even when talking about
your boss, you drop the さん (or 社長, 部長, etc.) and just refer to them by their
name. So if I'm talking to 鈴木さん (a person at another company) about my boss,
Yamada, I would say "山田", not "山田さん". (I'm not certain about this rule, so
correct me if I'm wrong).
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2011-05-31T20:28:41.020
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2012-01-02T09:59:49.757
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"-さん" is an honorific suffix added to give respect. It can be used either with
_males_ and _females_ , and also with given names and family names, **not** to
your own name, though.

It can be even used attached to the name of the occupation and titles.

It's ok to use it with people that you are familiar with, but it's kind of
mandatory when you are talking to people you aren't familiar with or people
that are not close.

Finally, as stated in this page about the "[Proper use of
"-san"](http://ezinearticles.com/?Japanese-Language-Learning-Tips---Proper-
Use-of--San&id=3090046)", don't drop the -さん suffix unless you're being
specifically invited to. You can see further info in that link I just gave
you.
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2011-05-31T20:32:11.020
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2011-10-10T10:13:28.740
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Also, while さん is right for almost all cases, [先]{せん}[生]{せい} should be used
for:

Doctors, lawyers, politicians, professors, of course teachers, or anyone else
that's (a) a direct mentor or (b) has some serious professional qualifications
(ala a professor).
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2011-06-02T12:59:13.123
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San, always a sign of respect, is used in a few other situations such as 象さん,
the elephant, precisely the kind of animal you do not want to make angry :-)
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2011-06-20T06:56:40.577
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