1.
guest, visitor
A person visiting someone's home.
お客さんが来た。
A guest arrived.
お客さんにお茶を出した。
I served tea to the guest.
明日、お客さんが家に来る。
A visitor is coming to our house tomorrow.
2.
customer, patron
A person who buys goods or services from a business.
お客さん、何をお探しですか？
Customer, what are you looking for?
今日はお客さんが多い。
There are many customers today.
お客さんを大切にする店だ。
It's a shop that values its customers.
お客さん is the polite, everyday term for both guests and customers. The お～さん honorific pattern makes it warm and approachable.
FORMALITY LEVELS:
- 客: plain, can sound blunt when referring to people directly
- お客さん: polite everyday form (most common)
- お客様: very formal, used in business and service settings
AS A FORM OF ADDRESS:
Shop staff and service workers use お客さん or お客様 to address customers directly ("Excuse me, customer..."). This is natural in Japanese, unlike English.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- お客さんが来る: a guest is coming
- お客さんを迎える: to welcome a guest
- お客さんをもてなす: to entertain a guest
RELATED TERMS:
- 来客: visitor (formal/written)
- 顧客: client, customer (business term)