From social politeness ("please", "thank you", etc) to the technical Japanese grammatical concepts of honorifics and respectful and humble forms known as "keigo".
10
votes
2answers
336 views
Why is the honorific o used for the bathroom?
I've seen the honorific "o"/"go" (is it called bikago?) being used as politness or reverence: o-cha for non-western tea, o-namae when talking about someone else's name, o-genki instead of just genki, ...
13
votes
1answer
247 views
Politeness in examination questions
1) Why do Japanese school examination questions get more rude as the year gets higher?
In elementary school
...してください。
or
...しましょう。 ... です。 ...ですか。
In junior high school to high school
...
6
votes
1answer
331 views
Was desu and masu originally geisha-speak?
Nihonjin no Shiranai Nihongo (The Japanese language the Japanese people don't know) seems to be claiming, at around 6:20 of this YouTube clip of language-specific portions of episode 4 of the show, ...
4
votes
2answers
248 views
In customer settings, is it ok to ask for keigo to be repeated in more “normal” Japanese?
In the context of restaurants, convenience stores and similar situations, is it ok for a customer to ask for something that was said in keigo (or in manual keigo) to be repeated in more "normal" ...
4
votes
1answer
192 views
Making a sentence that ends in なかった polite
What are the different ways to make a sentence that ends in なかった polite?
6
votes
1answer
580 views
What is proper letter ending greeting for a letter to a teacher?
In Chinese letter writing there is a phrase "教祺" that can be roughly translated as "good luck in teaching" and is used exclusively in the letter ending greeting. Is there a counterpart in Japanese ...
16
votes
1answer
1k views
How do I politely ask my boss for a moment of his time?
My boss is a native Japanese speaker.
In English, when I have a question or an issue to bring up, I can ask "Do you have a minute?" to see if it is an appropriate time to interrupt them. In ...
9
votes
1answer
268 views
When to use 頂戴します instead of いただきます?
In rather formal situations, when would you use 頂戴します ?
I use いただきます all the time to express the fact of receiving something, but I just heard a colleague using 頂戴します over the phone.
If I understand ...
5
votes
1answer
108 views
Is the regular form of verbs with irregular polite/honorific forms still grammatical?
Hi all I was wondering for verbs with irregular polite/honorific forms, is the regular form still used/grammatical ?
For example, the humble form of 借りる is 拝借する. But would お借りする be acceptable ?
...
13
votes
3answers
973 views
“You don't have to be so polite.” Really?
Sometimes a Japanese person will say to me:
そんなに丁寧な言葉を使わなくてもいいんですよ。
This is an invitation to be less formal. But how much less formal? As I have experienced, sometimes unintentional gaffes can ...
11
votes
2answers
167 views
What are the origins of ド when used as emphasis, and is it always negative?
Sometimes I've seen ド as a prefix that adds emphasis to words. So saying someone is ドバカ is saying that they are much more stupid than just バカ.
I'm wondering what the origin of ド in this context is. ...
12
votes
2answers
241 views
Usage of 「ごめんください」
In all the anime and j-drama I have watched all these years, as far as I can remember, the only scenario where the greeting 「ごめんください」 is used is when the characters are in front of an ajar or open ...
7
votes
2answers
124 views
When do you use -san about a company?
I assume you don't -san about the company or organization that employs you, on the grounds it'd be akin to using it about your own family members.
But when is it usually used? Is it merely when ...
11
votes
4answers
456 views
How do you respond to thanks given?
How do you respond to ありがとうございます and other ways of giving thanks?
Are there any expressions similar to the English "You're welcome" or "No problem", or is it appropriate to not respond at all?
12
votes
1answer
2k views
How would I say “Get well soon”?
Last summer my family hosted a Japanese exchange student for two weeks, and we've kept in touch with her a lot. Unfortunately, about 2 months ago I found out she had Leukemia. She said she'll ...
8
votes
3answers
195 views
correctness of い adjective + です
Generally, in all Japanese language classes, the rule you're taught is that です does not follow い adjectives. Instead, い adjectives can act like stative verbs, and as such terminate a sentence by ...
6
votes
1answer
404 views
When asking for holidays, should I be more polite than usual?
I saw an colleague's email asking for a few days of vacation, and I was surprised by the ultra-polite level. This colleague is usually on relatively casual terms with the boss, so it was quite ...
9
votes
5answers
342 views
What to say when leaving the table before everybody else?
For example, while having lunch with your coworkers and you have to attend some matter soon, what would be a natural way to leave the table? I think that in this case saying お先に失礼します would be wrong.
9
votes
1answer
228 views
When and to whom should I use the expression ご苦労様 (gokurousama)?
In what context and relationship wise to who can I safely say ご苦労様 (gokurousama)?
I often defer to using otsukaresama since I'm not sure if I'm talking down to someone by saying gokurousama. Please ...
15
votes
4answers
475 views
How would I respectfully disagree with a superior?
If my manager says something that I know to be factually incorrect, how can I point that out without sounding disrespectful? (Is ~違います appropriate in this context or is that too strong?)
Is this a ...
11
votes
1answer
277 views
When can I exchange くださる for いただく in expressions of gratitude?
Way back when, I remember being taught that when you want to say a really polite "thank you", sentences such as these are basically the same:
文章を訂正していただきましてありがとうございます。
...
8
votes
2answers
253 views
why is it that some 形容動詞 accepts の after it while some only accepts な after it?
why is it that some 形容動詞 accepts の after it while some only accepts な after it?
Examples:
の only: 普通、大勢
な or の: 初心、特別、特殊
Is there a way for us to tell if a 形容動詞 needs a の or な particle after ...
7
votes
4answers
312 views
遅刻 / 遅い when we wanna say “Hey hurry up! you'll be late!” which would be more appropriate?
when we wanna say "Hey, hurry up! you'll be late!" which would be more appropriate?:
遅刻するぞ！
遅くなるぞ！
？
11
votes
1answer
158 views
What's the difference in usage between 氏名 (しめい) and 名前 (なまえ)?
What's the difference in usage between 氏名 (しめい) and 名前 (なまえ)?
I often see these two words used interchangeably, but more often than not I see 氏名 on websites. Is this a politeness difference or an ...
11
votes
5answers
259 views
Can I say なるほど when talking with customers?
I was told in class by a Japanese teacher that なるほど can not be used when talking with people above, but in the same lesson we listened to a CD (training material) where a student was saying なるほど to ...
8
votes
2answers
285 views
How can I thank somebody for pointing out my mistakes?
Thanking and apologizing in several forms is essential in a Japanese working environment. I currently have the following list that I have picked up from mails amongst my Japanese coworkers but I'm ...
6
votes
2answers
248 views
Concretely, on what scenarios should I say either お世話になっています or いつもお世話になっております?
Furthermore, what is its different in meaning between the both? When I was in training as a fresh graduate at a Japanese company, they told me to use いつもお世話になっております all the time and so I did. But ...
14
votes
2answers
501 views
ありがとうございます vs. ありがとうございました
When thanking someone, what is the rule for using ありがとうございます vs. ありがとうございました? My sensei taught us to use ありがとうございました when the action you're thanking someone for occurred in the past, but I've heard ...
