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The kanji 達 as a suffix is used to make explicit a plurality, like in 私/私たち and 子供/子供達. Also is used with person's name to indicate he/she and his/her group, like in ヒナ達 Hina and her group, サトシ達 Satoshi and his group. So my question is: what is the parameters with which I choose a certain name or another to attach to 達? Why should I use ヒナ, and not サトシ to indicate the same group?

One reason is, of course, that I don't know the other person's name, but what else?

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    This is asking why one says "A and others" and not "B and others" when A and B are in the same group. How would you answer if someone asked that about your language?
    – aguijonazo
    Commented May 10, 2023 at 22:54
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    I'm not sure what you're asking...
    – istrasci
    Commented May 10, 2023 at 22:55
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    You mean when to use ヒナとサトシ and when サトシ達? It is just an arbitrary choice.
    – sundowner
    Commented May 10, 2023 at 23:28
  • In English, why would you say "Hina's group" rather than "Satoshi's group"? Same reason.
    – ConMan
    Commented May 11, 2023 at 0:30
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    @user3856370 - It's up to who the speaker thinks is the most representative of the group (for the purpose of communication at hand). Age might indirectly affect that decision as well as other social factors, but no, there is no such rule. It's basically arbitrary.
    – aguijonazo
    Commented May 12, 2023 at 0:11

1 Answer 1

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Linguistically, you are free to pick any of the members when calling the group in the format of name-たち. It depends on which person you want to highlight for whatever reason. It's not like some names are grammatically compatible with たち and others aren't.

I would probably choose the name of a person both I and the listener know, because, well, otherwise they will be confused. I'm sure this is not specific to the Japanese language.

That said, if you, A and B form a three-person group, it will be weird for you to call the group Aたち or Bたち, instead of 私たち (and for me to call Aたち or Bたち, instead of あなたたち or its variations). There is a sense that name-たち is a third party and doesn't include "you" and "me".

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