# 처자/내자



## Hyperpolyglot

I know 아내 and 부인 are most commonly used to address one's wife, but when do you use 처자 and 내자


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## Hit Girl

아내: when you talk about your own wife
부인: when you talk about someone else's wife

내자 is literally 안사람 (another word for 아내) and has the same usage as 아내.
I think it's used by older (and pretentious) people. I don't hear it much in real life.

처자 means a young woman. It's also supposed to be an older generation word but actually you would hear it often on TV and stuff.
You can definitely use this in real life when you want to sound old or folksy.


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## JM the puffin

Hi hyperpolyglot 

As far as I know, the word 처자 has two meanings.
1) a wife and a child/children
2) a girl usually around age of 20-30

But I guess you're talking about the first meaning.

We use 처자/처자식 when we address one's wife and children at the same time.

처자식이 있는 남자.
A man who has a wife and children.


We often put 식 at the end of the word, as 자 is actually a short for 자식. 처 means a wife, and 자(식) means (his/her) children. For me 처자 without 식 is okay to be a seperate word itself, but it sounds a bit unnatural to be used in a full sentence. (But it's still understandable.)

We use 내자 when one's addressing one's own wife to somebody else. However
I've never heard 내자 before in actual conversations. I saw it a few times from old Korean novels, and that's all. I don't think people use that word anymore, at least in Seoul (where I was born and raised)


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## Hyperpolyglot

Thanks, very helpful 
감사합니다, 너무 도움입니다


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