What is the difference between 兵隊、兵士 and 軍人


They all seem to mean soldier. Could anyone help me?




These words do not have strict definitions, but I think the primary difference
between 兵隊 and 兵士 is the level of formality.

**兵隊** is a relatively casual word for 'soldier'. For example, one can
friendly address a solider as 兵隊さん. Note that when this word is used on its
own, it rarely refers to a group of soldiers, despite its appearance. There
are some words which happen to contain 兵隊 and refer to a group of soldiers:
海兵隊 (Marine), 騎兵隊 (Cavalry), etc., but don't mix them up.

**兵士** sounds more formal and technical to me, and usually refers to lowest
ranked soldiers. (roughly corresponds to Private, and sometimes Sergeant, I
think) I feel people higher than commissioned officers are unlikely to be
called 兵士.

**軍人** refers to military personnel in general, and includes everyone in the
military hierarchy (General, Colonel, Lieutenant, ...).

Note that there's no official 軍人/兵隊/兵士 in modern Japan. So-called "Japanese
Army" is officially called 自衛隊 or Self Defense Force. The politically-correct
way to refer to them is 自衛隊員.




These words do not have strict definitions, but I think the primary difference
between 兵隊 and 兵士 is the level of formality.

**兵隊** is a relatively casual word for 'soldier'. For example, one can
friendly address a solider as 兵隊さん. Note that when this word is used on its
own, it rarely refers to a group of soldiers, despite its appearance. There
are some words which happen to contain 兵隊 and refer to a group of soldiers:
海兵隊 (Marine), 騎兵隊 (Cavalry), etc., but don't mix them up.

**兵士** sounds more formal and technical to me, and usually refers to lowest
ranked soldiers. (roughly corresponds to Private, and sometimes Sergeant, I
think) I feel people higher than commissioned officers are unlikely to be
called 兵士.

**軍人** refers to military personnel in general, and includes everyone in the
military hierarchy (General, Colonel, Lieutenant, ...).

Note that there's no official 軍人/兵隊/兵士 in modern Japan. So-called "Japanese
Army" is officially called 自衛隊 or Self Defense Force. The politically-correct
way to refer to them is 自衛隊員.

