Hot answers tagged keigo
14
Politeness and Keigo are strongly related, but they are not necessarily the same, neither does one contains all cases of the other.
Politeness (丁寧語 teineigo) is a general term that is used for gauging the acceptability of different forms in different situations. Polite forms are expected to be used in formal situations, with most strangers, with peers you ...
13
Like pretty much all pronoun (hell, all politeness-level related) issues in Japanese, there just isn't an absolute answer: it's all down to context and to the nature of your relationship with the listener.
The short answer is: a lot less rude than you may have been led to believe
I do remember being given very stern warnings (in manuals or language ...
11
For the younger generations, the rude connotations seem to be disappearing fast. I spent considerable time with Japanese in their '20s over the past two years and the vast majority of males consistently used 俺 to refer to themselves in casual situations. Many of them were far removed from the type of personality that wants to present themselves as rude in ...
11
I will answer the two questions separately.
How to make the form of i-adjectives before ございます
Grammatically はよう, ありがとう, めでとう, たのしゅう, おいしゅう in these examples are called ウ音便 (うおんびん) of はやく, ありがたく, めでたく, たのしく, おいしく, respectively. 音便 (おんびん) means the form modified for easy pronunciation.
The actual form of ウ音便 of an i-adjective depends on the vowel before く ...
8
Boaz already gave a nice explanation of the meaning of おいで. Here is why おいで is written as お出で in kanji (although in many cases it is written in hiragana).
In Classical Japanese, there is a verb 出づ (いづ) which means to go outside of some place or to appear. The conjugation type of this verb is 下二段活用, and it would have become 出でる (いでる) in the modern Japanese ...
7
敬語 comes from the union of the Kanji 敬 which means "awe, respect, honor, revere" and 語 which means "word, speech, language"; it means "respectful language", it's a form of honorific speech, so here you can start to see the difference.
Politeness, in English, apart from being "the practical application of good manners or etiquette", it also refers to some ...
5
Keigo (敬語) is the general term for honorifics in the Japanese language, which can be further classified into three main categories: sonkeigo (尊敬語), respectful language; kenjōgo (謙譲語), humble language; and teineigo (丁寧語), polite language. The former are the so called ‘referent honorifics’ and are used to show respect for the person being talked about. The ...
5
I think this shouldn't count as a humble form, but rather as a patronizing form - which is still quite respectful to the recipient, but it's only that usually implies that the speaker is in superior position than the recipient of this form.
There are several forms of patronizing requests, and I'm not entirely sure about the nuances of each and when exactly ...
5
I think the best choice would be:
({先日 / [date] に} [event]で) お目にかかりました
I think this would also work:
ご挨拶させていただきました
These sound a bit awkward to me:
お目にかからせていただきました
お会いしていただきました
お会いさせていただきました
5
A hearty いらっしゃいませ! from the staff or owner brings back happy memories of Japanese restaurant/bar life. いらっしゃい is a perfectly ordinary word of greeting. A person who feels like the 'owner' of the get-together might well shout a いらっしゃいませ especially if alcohol is involved. There is also the possibility of using it ironically or with hostility on a late-comer - ...
4
Although 本日 will usually be too formal for most situations, there are many cases where you would use it over 今日 (with slightly different nuances).
Typically when referring to something tied to the day's date:
本日の魚 (in a restaurant)
本日の会議 (in a professional context)
etc.
4
Voting for "simply casual speech" (obviously ;)). Here is one link that shows how using "タメ語" sometimes to seniors can better communication. IMO the writer here is using it to simply mean "casual speech".
Online definitions such as these also tend to focus on the description of the nature of the speech.
However, the etymology of this term is "speech ...
4
I think in general you are safe using plain form with people in your group who are younger than you and in lower position (usually the same at a Japanese company though).
the tricky part is someone who is younger than you in a different dpt. I would just use Teine-go which is what desu/masu can be referred to.
In general, you don't need to use keigo in ...
4
These phrases are about politely telling someone they "can do" or are "allowed to do" an action. I like to think of it as the action "is available to you".
Many people misunderstand this basic point (@istrasci: I know you get this). I am only mentioning it because even native speakers frequently use incorrect keigo forms (oh, and so do I, but I looked this ...
4
Polite forms are like this
kureru → kuremasu → kudasaimasu
morau → moraimasu → itadakimasu
So, if you want to use polite form, use kudasaimasu, or itadakimasu depends on situation.
or choose the formers if you prefer normal form.
Difference between kuremasu and moraimasu is depends on the side of the subject.
She gave me an apple (りんごを彼女がくれました）
I ...
3
ようこそ means welcome but it's mostly used in written context rather than colloquial. いらっしゃいませ actually means "please come in" (literally) but it often carries the meaning of welcome, this is why you hear staff saying that whenever you visit a store, it is mostly colloquial.
In a big event you may also hear ようこそ、いらっしゃいませ used together as well.
3
I think this is a rather hard question to answer, since you'll find people using the term keigo in both senses. I prefer to use in the first sense, but it's practically inevitable that keigo training manuals (especially those directed at foreigners) will also teach about the second one, since knowing keigo without knowing when and where to apply is kinda ...
3
I had been wondering for years why we hear ～いただきましてありがとうございます more often than ～くださいましてありがとうございます, but now I can make up a plausible explanation, inspired by Boaz’s comment on the question. This is very incomplete, but let me post it as an answer because I hope that it explains a small part of the question.
As a background, as explained in the answers to ...
3
Ok, so, in "modern" Japanese, the norm is "ある" for things, and "いる" for beings.
However, it seems that it's not a mandatory rule to follow.
〜くださる方がある has probably survived today as a fixed form from more liberal times.
You'll find more such idiosyncrasies around, as in words like 在宅{ざいたく} which means "to be home" but where the root is 在る{ある}.
3
The first is used when you're having someone take a look at something. In this case I think it's safe to assume it means, "let's show [them] the new products."
Source (Weblio)-->
目にかける
(2)（「お目にかける」の形で）見せる。見ていただく。
The second is the Keigolicious way to say 会う. More specifically, 会うing with a person well above your status. In the Japanese version of "7 Years ...
3
I think the お is simply there to make it sound more polite and is more a part of 丁寧語 than a part of 謙譲語. I would consider the classification of your third example as follows.
口語体 案内するよ。
文語体 案内します。
丁寧語 ご案内します。
謙譲語 ご案内致します
with increasing level of politeness.
ご連絡差し上げます。
would be another example of you "giving" something and adding a polite お ...
3
I don't have expertise in this area, but here's the extent of what I've been able to find about it.
The main distinction that you'll be looking for is between 謙譲語 and 丁重語. Both serve to elevate the listener, and they overlap quite a bit. The key, however, is that the main use of 謙譲語 shows respect to those who appear in the conversation while 丁重語 expresses ...
3
I would add a comment to the above answer, but it appears I need "reputation" to do so. Anyways, for the last two words, look here http://archive.org/stream/historicalgramma00sansuoft#page/162/mode/2up
[on the classical passive form]
(3) to form honorific verbs
An important feature of the passive forms is their frequent use in an
honorific sense. ...
2
Let's look at each of these one-by-one:
いらっしゃる is a contraction of 入らせらる, which is the 文語 form of 入らせられる, a lexicalized combination of (入る→入ら) + (す→せ) + られる.
おっしゃる is a contraction of おおせある, which appears to be the simple combination of 仰す→仰せ and 有る (not 在る).
くださる appears to come from (下す→下さ) + る.
I'm not sure about なさる, but it seems likely that 為{な}さる ...
1
I think it is OK.
I used to do it a lot, but the staff may have trouble not using keigo.
It works well at a CD shop, not that well at the bank…
Also, it's quite impossible to be satisfied over the phone.
Indeed, in a shop, the boss will see you're a foreigner having trouble, and maybe let his staff use less formal wordings.
However, in a call center, the ...
1
I think it should be made clear, since nobody else did, that お出でになる is considered a 尊敬語 (respectful) of 来る, (not 出る), and the connection with 出る is mostly etymological.
Other 尊敬語 for 来る are お見えになる,いらっしゃる and お越しになる, although they might have slightly different nuances.
お出でになる is respectful, so using it for the addressee is not patronizing. It is the ...
1
The size of the area seems to be the most crucial factor. For example, you can use ようこそ in welcoming someone to a country, prefecture, city, amusement park, etc, but いらっしゃいませ is for welcoming someone into an establishment (such as a restaurant or a store) within that larger area. いらっしゃいませ can also be used to invite people into an establishment; ようこそ does not ...
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