Questions tagged [honorifics]
Affixes, particles and conjugations applied to words to mark respect.
127
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What does お do in ケーキはお好きですか? [duplicate]
ケーキはお好きですか
So I started learning Japanese and something caught my attention quite often.
In some sentences there is an お in front of a verb. What is it doing?
How does it affect the sentence. Can ...
3
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1answer
199 views
Usage of さん when talking about famous people
When referring to a famous person while talking to friends, I always just use their full name, but I always end up unsure if I should add さん.
Part of the reason for that is that when I was watching TV ...
3
votes
1answer
153 views
Pitch Accent for Honorifics
I have been studying pitch accent for a few months now, primarily from the NHK Accent Dictionary. My Japanese is not terribly strong, so it took me a while to muddle through the explanations and ...
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1answer
220 views
Which honorific is correct, oshumi or goshumi?
I want to ask a person about their hobbies. Go/O shumi ha nan desu ka? 趣味
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1answer
2k views
If my business card says 〇〇さん, does that mean I'm referring to myself with an honourific?
My company (a Japanese startup) issued me a set of business cards. The information on the card is almost entirely in English. Except for the company address, the only other bit in Japanese is「ムルさん」in ...
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1answer
120 views
られる honorific/polite versus passive origin
Is the られる used as a honorific (some sources use "polite", but I assume it's a honorific?) related to the passive form (perhaps it's alternative usage) or is it something that emerged separately? (...
3
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1answer
107 views
Is an honorific necessary when using someone’s name to say “you”?
Since people often just use someone’s name to say “you” do you always need an honorific?
Like could I just say 「ボブの犬が大好きな！」to say “I love your dog!” to Bob? Or would it need be ボブさん?
4
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2answers
244 views
Why does ゆっくり take the honorific prefix ご?
Is ゆっくり the only mimetic expression that accepts the honorific prefix ご?
And for that matter, why does it take the honorific prefix ご- which is usually meant for 漢語?
5
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1answer
153 views
Historical use of さん
In the song 宮さん宮さん (明治時代)
宮さん宮さん お馬の前に
ひらひらするのは 何じゃいな
As far as I can see it is referring to the emperor using さん、has its formality changed since that era? Or is it being ironic
5
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1answer
426 views
Is honorific speech ever used in the first person?
I'm just starting out learning Japanese, and I've read that when using honorific and humble forms and conjugations, you use humble forms to refer to yourself, and honorific forms to refer to others, ...
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1answer
79 views
Is the お used at the start of the sentence a honorific お?
Is the お used at the start of the following dialogue a honorific お?
[お得意の洗脳か]
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1answer
94 views
How to decide between ている and てます
ています is the polite form of ている. On the other hand, てます is the casual and colloquial form of ています. The plain form 「ている」is also used in casual situation. How to know if it is better to use ている or てます?
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1answer
115 views
Family questions
When I speak with my mother I must say "haha", when I talk about other people's mother, I must say "okaasan", but what about when I talk about my mother to other people?
There is nothing about that ...
4
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1answer
136 views
Honorific suffix 御 as in 甥御 and 姪御?
Just learned that the honorific equivalents of nephew and niece in Japanese are:
甥御 and 姪御, which raise the question:
How come 御 functions as a suffix instead of a prefix which is the case we usually ...
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2answers
501 views
Is there a kanji term for “-san” when used to address someone?
All other titles, used when addressing someone, have a kanji character. Was/Is there a kanji term for -san?
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1answer
429 views
Use of でいらっしゃる and でござる
I found a chart listing the plain, polite, honorific, and humble forms of verbs. The chart listed だ →です→でいらっしゃる→でござる with the note “animate only.” I know that だ and です can be used for inanimate ...
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1answer
142 views
Adding honorific prefix in a compound construction? (E.g. 買ってくれになる)
I'm currently learning how to use くれる/あげる correctly, and I want to practice using 敬語 in my sentence. However, I am not sure where I should put the pre-verb honorific prefix お used in おVERB+になります as I ...
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2answers
552 views
San, sama and other honorifics in translated literature
I have always been told that centuries of Japanese literature had been successfully translated without keeping "san" or "chan" suffixes. Is it an unbreakable rule or are there famous examples of such ...
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2answers
1k views
Standard phrases to use in presentation speech
I'm going to speak a short foreword in a conference attended by Japanese guests, so I'm looking for standard phrases (as usually there are) to connect the sentences. I tried to translate them ...
2
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1answer
129 views
お祖父さん and 祖父さん: is there a difference?
Probably a stupid question, but I would like to clear up any doubts...
For a native speaker, is there a difference between the word お祖父さん and the word 祖父さん? The first one, simply, is more honorific?
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1answer
286 views
What does it mean when someone uses -kun after a person's name?
I have heard in many Anime they use then ending -kun. I'm interested on knowing since I can get more of the feeling of how the person feels about the other.
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1answer
467 views
Can さん or 君 be used on animals?
In Mikan Enikki, the protagonist cat was referred to as ネコさん when his name was not known (e.g. Kikuko Kusanagi called him as such when she didn't know his name), and as みかん君 when someone else talked ...
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1answer
2k views
Do all verbs have an honorific and humble form?
I was reading about this phenomenon in a few places and saw, for instance, this table of transformations and substitutions for various verbs.
Is it only these common verbs which change, or do all ...
3
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2answers
519 views
Appropriate Honorifics for Fan Letter
I wrote a fan letter to Japanese actors that I admire.
It was compulsory to write his name on the envelope,
so I just simply put Xさん
However, I later noticed that everyone seems to address him as ...
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2answers
110 views
Meaning of ごきけんになるわけだ
The narrator explains his way of talking to adults, and then:
するとそのおとなは、自分と同じように趣味のいい人間と知り合えたと感じて、ごきけんになるわけだ....
And that adult feels that he has been able to get to know a person with good ...
2
votes
1answer
145 views
Historically, how would a military lord and his direct subordinate address each other? [closed]
I am currently writing a short story, for a text prompt demanding I set my plot among medieval Japan's nobility, but I am unfamiliar with older honorifics.
The main dialogue takes place between a ...
3
votes
2answers
467 views
Quotation marks around name without honorific: invitation to 呼び捨て?
Last week I began corresponding with a Japanese penpal. I initially addressed her with 丁寧語, but she responded using 尊敬語/謙譲語 so I began responding that way as well. We've been addressing each other ...
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1answer
92 views
If I were named San, and somebody wanted to write out my name with the san honorific, what would it look like? [closed]
A fiend of mine wants to name a plant San-san, but written correctly.
5
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1answer
156 views
How to refer to a famous writer? （-さん？-先生？）
I was trying to write something about Osamu Dazai, I know that for mangakas we use 先生, but usually celebrities' names are mentioned without any honorifics.
2
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2answers
305 views
Can the honorific o be used in front of all nouns?
Can the honorific o be used in front of all nouns? I was thinking of sentence structures and wondering if o could be placed in front of all nouns. Thank you.
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1answer
696 views
Is the honorific postfix -氏{し} usually used towards men?
Is using the honorific postfix -氏{し} usaged biased towards men or is it equally appropriate to be used for women as well?
Building from this excellent answer about honorifics: What does 氏 mean after ...
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4answers
414 views
Is 最愛の神さん the proper way to write “Dear God?”
Say, you're writing a love letter to God. Is this the right thing to write on the envelope?
最愛の神さん
(I'm writing a short story featuring that theme.)
EDIT:
Maybe this 親愛なる神へ is better grammar?
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2answers
110 views
The humble （謙譲語） prefix 愚 when used to refer to own family members
I read about kenjougo (here and here) and understood that it is a type of honorific speech used to lower your rank below the person you are speaking to when you describe the actions of yourself or ...
3
votes
1answer
236 views
What is this archaic female honorific form called, and what relationship does it describe?
I stumbled upon this way of referring to women that was apparently used in pre-war Japan。I can't remember where I found it, or what was said about it's name or purpose, just that it went something ...
8
votes
1answer
379 views
What should I say when a senior colleague is leaving before me?
When leaving before a senior colleague does, people say お先に失礼します, and the senior employee responds お疲れ様でした or ご苦労様でした. お疲れ様でした is also usually said when a colleague of the same seniority is leaving.
...
3
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2answers
114 views
Using 「～さん」 when referring to both oneself and others: precedence?
In this question ("When shouldn't I use 「〜さん」when referring to a third person?"), the consensus seems to be that one should avoid referring to one's own boss, coworker, etc. in an elevating manner by ...
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3answers
2k views
When shouldn't I use 「〜さん」when referring to a third person?
In In actual Japanese society, how often are second-person pronouns used?, the accepted answer says:
You can either refer to a person by the name like 山田, which is not
(particularly) polite, or ...
5
votes
2answers
184 views
How would one refer to someone else's lover in 尊敬語?
I've searched the internet, but can't really find anything. My first thoughts were お恋人 and お付き合いの方, but the first doesn't seem very common, and the latter seems to have a different meaning.
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1answer
138 views
神 compared to 神様
When the Abrahamic God is referred to in Japanese, 神様 is very common, but on occasion I simply see 神 on its own. This even applies when they are clearly speaking reverentially, using words such as 御心{...
2
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2answers
233 views
Can the honorific お be used with a person's name?
I have seen the honorific used in front of nouns and was wondering if it can be used in front of a person's name. Thank you.
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1answer
119 views
Adding さん to places [duplicate]
i have recently come across text which adds さん to places. For example, bookstore is ほんやさん. Is this normal, and in what context?
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1answer
3k views
How to address a family?
I am sending a gift to a Japanese family (friends of ours). Rather than address the gift to one individual I want to address it to the entire family.
How do I write
The Tanaka Family
in Japanese?...
2
votes
2answers
1k views
Honorific and humble forms of suru verbs
This question is about suru-verbs,
verbs made from a noun and the verb suru (for ex: 鼓 + する).
I am familiar with the potential form of suru being 出来る,
then suru-verbs potential become Xしえる or Xしうる or ...
3
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2answers
254 views
The politeness level of 辞書形(ある／する) in replacement of ます form
こんにちは！
I'm just a beginner in Japanese (started my Japanese self-study from this March) but now I'm working in a Japanese company in Tokyo. Since most people in my company can't really speak English, ...
4
votes
2answers
570 views
Under what Japanese honorific should manga/anime fans address manga-ka/anime directors?
I speculate that there might be some sort of spectrum of the honorifics to use for manga-ka/anime directors.
For example, I think one might be able to get away with addressing younger, and more, for ...
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1answer
1k views
What is the difference between chan and san and sempai?
What is the difference between chan and san and sempai?
3
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1answer
15k views
-たん (-tan) suffix (honorific) meaning?
Came across the honorific -たん in Re:Zero (episode 4, 6 minutes in):
You saved me, didn't you, Emilia-tan?
Does anyone know what it means?
The protagonist who said it clearly likes the female lead ...
1
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1answer
500 views
What is お in お元気ですか?
Sorry if this is a very basic question, but I'm trying to understand everything in my first lesson (online, Rocket Japanese). I don't understand what the purpose of お is in the phrase お元気ですか, which ...
7
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2answers
2k views
How rude is it to speak to a Japanese stranger informally instead of using the polite form?
Are there any native Japanese here that could tell me how rude it is to speak informally to Japanese people I have never met instead of using the polite form? I'm assuming it's more rude the older the ...
4
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1answer
131 views
In this sentence, is changing “迎える” to “迎えられる” for a potential or honorific reason?
Here is part of a document that I am reading:
本日は、世界最高の大学のひとつで卒業式を迎えられる皆さんとご一緒できて、とても光栄です。
"everyone who is able to be attending" or
"everyone who is attending" as an honorific ?
