パパ vs お父とうさん vs 父ちち vs 父親ちちおや: What is the Difference?

I’d say you’ve got pretty complicated the word choice of “パパ”, “お父とうさん”, “父ちち” and “父親ちちおや“. However, you will be able to choose which word is better for you in daily conversation and in public after reading this. Let me introduce how you correctly use them and check the voice of native Japanese speakers today!

パパ(papa) / お父とうさん(otousan) / 父ちち(chichi) / 父親ちちおや(chichioya)

Daddy / Dad / Father

“パパ, お父とうさん, 父ちち and 父親ちちおや” mean “Daddy, Dad or Father”. “パパ” is used as a child’s word for father, “お父とうさん” is used as someone’s father which is informal, “父ちち” is used as someone’s father which is formal and individual and lastly “父親ちちおや” is used as someone’s father which is formal and a role of a father. For instance, although “My father is strict.” can be translated to both “父ちちは厳きびしい” and “父親ちちおやは厳きびしい”, “父ちちは厳きびしい” means “My father is strict” and “父親ちちおやは厳きびしい” means “My father is strict AS a parent”. This is what the role of a father means. So, native speakers feel a sense of closeness with using “父ちち” than “父親ちちおや“. Among your friends, you would be using “お父とうさん” or “父とうさん” which is pretty boyish. However, you might want to use “父ちち” or “父親ちちおや” in public. Again, “パパ” is a pretty childish word, so after being 13 to 15 years old, we don’t normally use “パパ” rather we use “お父とうさん” or “父とうさん” in front of our friends.

Example

お父とうさんの仕事しごとは何なに？ (What does your dad do?) (你父亲的工作是什么？) (아버지 직업은 뭐야?) (Công việc của bố bạn là gì?)

父親ちちおやが昨日きのう、新あたらしい車くるまを買かいました。 (My father bought a new car.) (我父亲昨天买了一辆新车。) (아버지께서 어제, 새 차를 사셨습니다.) (Hôm qua bố tôi đã mua một chiếc xe hơi mới.)

パパ帰かえってきたかな！？ (Is that daddy!?) (爸爸应该会回来了吧！？) (아빠 왔을까나?!) (Bố đã về chưa nhỉ!)

父ちちの仕事しごとは建築家けんちくかです。 (My father is an architec.) (我父亲的工作是建筑师。) (아버지 직업은 건축가입니다.) (Công việc của bố tôi là kiến trúc sư.)

父ちちと来週東京らいしゅうとうきょうに行いきます。 (I’m gonna go to Tokyo with my father next week!) (下周要和父亲一起去东京。) (아버지와 다음주 도쿄에 갑니다.) (Tôi sẽ đi Tokyo với bố vào tuần tới.)