Yome(よめ・嫁),tsuma(つま・妻)and okusan(おくさん・奥さん)all mean wife. What is the difference?
I would like to tell you my opinion reffering the usages of these words with possessive forms.
Yome(よめ・嫁)should be with 1st person possessive forms
Yome(よめ・嫁)
・On the net, yome is most used.
・Most casual among these words.
〇 watashino yome(わたしのよめ・私の嫁)= my wife
△ anatano yome(あなたのよめ・あなたの嫁)= your wife
△ kareno yome(かれのよめ・彼の嫁)= his wife
The usages of the latter two are not wrong, but sound a bit umcorfortable and rude to me. Yome get along with 1st person posseissive forms, such as watashino(わたしの・私の)bokuno(ぼくの・僕の)or oreno(おれの・俺の).
Tsuma(つま・妻)never follows 2nd person possessive forms
Tsuma(つま・妻)
・Sounds more refined than yome or okusan.
・Tsuma never follows anatano(あなたの・your).
〇 watashino tsuma(わたしのつま・私の妻)= my wife
× anatano tsuma(あなたのつま・あなたの妻)= your wife
△ kareno tsuma(かれのつま・彼の妻)= his wife
Though the last combination is widely used, it does not feel right to me. I do not say the usage is grammatically wrong, but I do not recommend those who learn the Japanese language to use it. What is the recommendation then? I would say okusan.
Okusan(おくさん・奥さん)most usable except with 1st person possessive forms
Okusan(おくさん・奥さん)
・Most usable among these words.
・Not too casual, nor too polite, a moderate word
〇(△)watashino okusan(わたしのおくさん・私の奥さん)= my wife
〇 anatano okusan(あなたのおくさん・あなたの奥さん)= your wife
〇 kareno okusan(かれのおくさん・彼の奥さん)= his wife
The first one is OK, but to me(again), it doesn’t quite feel right. If you want to say something about your wife in Japanese, choose yome or tsuma. The former sounds casual, the latter polite or formal.