Is calling your older brother/sister お姉さん/お兄さん wrong?


So I've just found out that apprently お兄さん and お姉さん aren't used for your older
siblings, and only for other people's siblings or just other people older than
you. Is this true? This doesn't seem right but I would like to confirm if this
is right or wrong

Does that only mean 姉さん/兄さん, お兄ちゃん/お姉ちゃん etc... only work here? I guess what
I'm asking is it rare or strange to use お when talking to your own older
sibling? I believe that お just make words more formal so what about here?




It’s not wrong to call your elder sibling お姉さん or お兄さん, of course.

It’s just that you should use 姉 or 兄 to refer to them when you are talking to
someone outside of your family, or outside of whatever you consider to be your
“inner group”, in relatively formal settings. If you are talking to a friend,
it’s totally fine to call them お姉さん or お兄さん (though お姉ちゃん or お兄ちゃん is more
likely).

