Questions tagged [keigo]
敬語. Honorific speech in Japanese.
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How would you express the phrasing “Courtesy of [x]” in Japanese?
I’m having a bit of trouble figuring out how to phrase this sort of thing. I’m thinking of this in the context of “acknowledging that someone has formally done a service for another”.
Examples might ...
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Why is なさい condescending but お/ご～なさい respectful?
I have learnt that ～なさい is used to tell someone to do something, from someone of a higher social standing to someone of a lower social standing (eg from a parent to a child), and hence should not be ...
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Keigo ます after a noun
I found this sentence in an anime.
娘さんたちも悲しみます
The context is that this lady is dying and a guy says to her that her daughters will be sad.
I understand that he transformed the adjective 悲しい into a ...
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Humble form (謙譲語) of i/na-adjectives and nouns?
With u/ru-verbs, one can easily make the humble form as such: “読む” -> “お読みいたします” or “ご到着いたします", but I'm at a loss as to how to make these forms for sentences that end on an adjective or noun. ...
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When to use させていただきます vs いたします？
I have read this answer, and while it helped me understand how the term came about, I am still confused about when it is ok or not to use it.
I understand is mostly ok to use it in situations where ...
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Meaning of 信用していなさる
「ダンブルドア先生は大切な用事をいつも俺に任せてくださる。おまえさんを迎えに来たり、グリンゴッツから何か持ってきたり....俺を信用していなさる。な?」 (Harry Potter, Japanese TL)
Professor Dumbledore always entrusts important errands to me. Things like picking you up, ...
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Struggle with understanding this use of ていらっしゃる
Sorry for the beginner question. I'm on Genki chapter 20 and one question asks to translate "he did not bring" with honorific language. The answer the book gives is "持ってきていらっしゃらなかった&...
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When speaking openly with a group of people, is it okay to speak casually with some and formally with others?
Say that I'm having lunch with my buddy outside, and my boss comes over and starts talking to me. Obviously, with my boss, I'll talk with proper keigo and stuff. But in front of my boss, am I allowed ...
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How to say [Can you buy this for me?] in polite Japanese
Usually I always said [注文してくれてできませんか」
When I ask someone to buy some item for me. But I always wonder if that sentence is right.
Especially if the one I ask is my 社長. So I wonder how to ask for ...
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でた, いてる, でない: Are they incorporating (or equivalent to) ～いる or not?
Each of the following sentences seem to be nearly unrelated, however I'm not sure if these sentences are incorporating ～いる in someway or not. I have looked at quite a few resources for each individual ...
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Kaguya-sama: Dropping keigo when narrating?
Related: Kaguya-sama: 女の子 (onnanoko) as an opposite for 男子 (danshi)?
In Kaguya-sama Chapter 52 / S02E02, there's a character named Moeha Fujiwara (the imouto of a main character Chika Fujiwara) who ...
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Stem-form + する - How does this work?
I saw this recently and can’t find anything about it online with a simple Google search. I’m assuming it’s literally stem-form as a nominal being done (する), sans a particle. I find this this rather ...
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What (if anything) does it typically mean when a native speaker switches from casual to keigo with you?
Over the last month, I've been texting daily with someone I met during my recent trip to Japan. We've only used casual language but today, she called me (name) 氏 whereas she has used 君 before. We ...
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The conjugation 護らねば and the use of 謙譲語 for suspects/criminals [duplicate]
https://twitter.com/N3EK80/status/1601878878611738624
For this ひぐらしのなく頃に fan art illustration, in the sentence "叔父から沙都子を護らねば思っと", is 護らねば another form of "護らなければいけません"?
And in &...
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Is Keigo really that hard? [closed]
I’ve heard people say that Keigo is complicated, but I’ve also heard someone say that all you have to do is add -desu or -masu at the end of the sentence. Is this true? What makes Keigo so difficult? ...
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Why add お～ in おすすめ even when talking about YOUR own advice? [duplicate]
I am basically checking my own understanding:
I remember from 敬語 basics in Minna that you say ご案内いたします, for example, with the honorific prefix, even though it's essentially you who are doing the ...
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Using お早うございます right next to a -です form
If I have a sentence, for example
お早うございます 名前はエリアスです
Is having both ございます and です unnatural? because it feels weird. In which case should I use each of them in this example?
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Is お引っ越しします a humble form used only in the title?
I searched the Internet and found that people use お引っ越しします in the title/headline, but when it comes to the body, they omit the お.
Here is the posts I saw:
the title of this post is お引越ししました～(^^)/. In ...
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What level of politeness is お出でになる
I am prepping for my JLPT N5 exam in December and one of the prep tests I was reviewing threw お出でになる at me. Jisho.org says it is sonkeigo for いる
くる and いく, but I always thought that the sonkeigo for ...
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How to politely say "I wonder..."
In Japanese, when speaking casually, if I want to say
I wonder if that computer was expensive, I believe, I would say
そのコンピューターは高かったかな
But how do you say "I wonder if that computer was ...
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Is using 賜る correct when listening to or accepting a condition?
From ひぐらしのなく頃に。The 園崎 clan (sort of mafia, no spoilers please!) are negotiating the handover of a scrap book to the police, in return for the police cancelling a search/raid of a building.
刑事「（...）...
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Doubt about the 謙譲語 form
I understand that 謙譲語 is used when the subject is the speaker (myself) but does it sound too much for example during a 自己紹介 in a sentence like: 「一年間東京に留学いたしました」? Also because it is an interview for a ...
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Use of で in 彼のことで何かご存知ですか
彼のことで何かご存知ですか
Do you know anything about him?
I'm not sure what で is doing in this sentence. It's mentioned in this thread but not broken down in detail.
I'm familiar with Xのこと as "about X" ...
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申し訳ないです not used as an apology?
I read the following sentence:
あんなおまけイラストまで喜んで貰えて却って申し訳ないです。
As far as I know 申し訳ないです is usually used for formal apologies but translating it like "I'm sorry that you are pleased ..." ...
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Humble verbs in plain form
I saw in Sekiro that some characters are using humble verbs like 参る but in their plain form.
What's the point of this?
Would anyone actually use a humble verb without the polite ending in real life?
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How do I solve the Dirac equation in Japanese?
In a famous book of Richard Feynman there is a story about him struggling with the Japanese language when it comes to keigo.
Take a look at the excerpt from “Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!“, part ...
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what is ございまする?
Watching Gintama, ep. 35. Teenage girl, talking to her date (and also previously, other characters), have used でございまする as a sentence ending "desu" phrase. Is this an archaic / made up ...
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Short form of extra modest expression
I recently came across an example of someone saying 'お返しする' rather than 'お返しします' about 18 seconds into this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vazHI4jN6lc&t=18s
Under what circumstances should ...
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Confusion over whose actions can be used with もらう/いただく
I encountered this sentence in the first book of Minna Intermediate:
わざわざお時間をとっていただいたのに
It is used by a student discussing her meeting with a professor regarding her (the student's) thesis paper.
So ...
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What level of politeness/respect should a customer use towards a shop owner?
I made a purchase at a store and received an email from the shop owner.
What level of respect/politeness should my reply be, in addition to using 丁寧形 throughout? For example, how should I choose ...
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Understanding でございます in「ただ今ご紹介いただいた田中でございます」
I was looking up ございます in デジタル大辞泉. I found an odd sentence example
（２）（補助動詞）補助動詞「ある」の意の丁寧語。「すでにお願いして―・す」「いかがお過ごしで―・しょうか」「ただ今ご紹介いただいた田中で―・す」「おめでとう―・す」「いっそ死にとう―・す」
I'm puzzled why でございます is used in「...
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Parsing a humble form expression (maybe)
その鞄は機内へのお持ち込みはできません
You cannot bring that bag on board
I'm struggling to understand the grammar of this sentence. I'm aware that you can make the humble form of a verb by adding an お onto the masu-...
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Terminology: Does the term 美化語 include all ご・お・etc. prefixes, or only ones outside of a 敬語 context?
This seems like a basic question, but I can't find an answer to it:
As far as I know, 美化語 refers to the ご・お・etc. prefix on words for mere beautification. However, I have seen some ambiguity in its ...
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Confusion on the politeness vs. formality terminology
I was reading the "Dictionary of Japanese Grammar" series, and I found the way it uses the term formality vs. politeness contradictory and confusing, so I wanted some clarifications.
Here ...
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Honorific on a number
I've been having a play with Duolingo and I came across this utterance:
果物をお一つどうぞ。
So far I've come across some pretty unnatural stuff and it's left me rather skeptical.
I've never seen an honorific ...
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The grammar behind お願いできる
Lesson 1 of みんなの日本語中級I teaches that
何とかお願いできないでしょうか
can be used to insist on a request while acknowledging that it is unreasonable. Regarding the grammar behind お願いできる, is the following ...
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contradictory evidence for 何に as (1) なんに and (2) なにに
is 何に pronounced (1) なんに or (2) なにに here: お飲み物は何になさいますか。?
(1) www.youtube.com/watch?v=fU-hnuSM098 @0:20 provides evidence (NB: despite the possibly incorrect ローマ字 (roumaji) found there and in the &...
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Difference and usage between こちら and 私
I would like to know the difference between the two sentences
こちらを見ていた
and
私を見ていた
The translation is the same I think
She was looking at me
is こちら and 私 interchangeable when using を after ?
EDIT:...
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Who's the implicit subject in お世話になりました?
Which (if any at all) of the following two understandings of お世話になりました is correct?
The implicit subject is あなた. The お〜になります pattern is a 敬語 construction. The full sentence in plain form is あなたが（私の）...
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「させていただく」or「させてくださる」
その俳優が大好きなので、ぜひ私に彼へのインタビューを（ ）。
A.させてくださいませんか B.させていただけませんか
Here is my understanding of these two options (which can be wrong):
A: "you" is the subject, will "you" not give "...
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ご存じ how to use properly and why
I found a couple of examples using this noun; neither makes a lot of sense.
i think that ご存じ is an irregular polite form of 知る. However, if that is the case it is a bit odd as the polite form of a ...
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How does 参｛まい｝る relate to love?
Google translate lists "be madly in love" and "be infatuated" as alternate translations for 参｛まい｝る.
When I saw it I was like, huh?
I searched 参｛まい｝る 意味｛いみ｝ on Google too and the ...
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謙譲語：お「verb stem」する
男：今朝の新聞、お読みになりましたか。
女：いえ、お読みしませんでした。
According to my textbook, this response is incorrect? Why? I thought this pattern is 謙譲語 and suitable. Are there additional rules around this pattern that I'm ...
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Mixing formal and informal language?
I recently wrote something and has someone check it, and then had someone else look over it to see if it's natural. The text in question was this,
人間は生存を唯一の目的とする獣であり、これらの進化の衝動がなければ、他の目的はありません。
...
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Question about 際 usage in Shinkansen Master N2
Studying for the JLPT N2, I came across the following question in the Shinkansen Master Grammar book.
( ) 際は、こちらのテーブルをお使いいただけます。
a) お食事の
b) ご飯を食べる
c) お一人様の
I thought that a) and b) are good enough ...
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Using いらっしゃる vs いる when referring to 方
I have the following from a tourism article:
ただ、2018年｛ねん｝に築地｛つきじ｝から豊洲｛とよす｝に市場｛いちば｝機能｛きのう｝が移転｛いてん｝したことをご存知｛ぞんじ｝の方｛かた｝もいらっしゃるでしょう。「築地｛つきじ｝は今｛いま｝も観光｛かんこう｝に値｛あたい｝するスポットなの？」。そんな疑問｛ぎもん｝を持｛も｝つ方｛かた｝...
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Understanding 「…でけっこうですので、…」
In my textbook, I encountered the phrase
先生のお時間があるときでけっこうですので、[わからない言葉を教えていただきたいんですが]
I assume that the meaning is approximately "I'd like to ask you something, but it's OK if you don't have time"...
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Does 'masu' form have its own te-form?
Things like「どういたしまして」, someone used「と申しまして」to their name, and more that I can't recall at the moment, it seemed like it's a te-form of masu-form, but I can't find any explanations of it.
If it exists, ...
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ございます after adjective (with ウ音便)
If I understand this correctly, ありがとうございます is formed as follows. First, the adjective ありがたい is turned into the adverb ありがたく. Then, in ありがたく+ございます, ウ音便 takes place and ありがたく becomes ありがとう.
But in ...
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When to use 丁寧語 and when to use 謙譲語 when talking about myself
Like probably everbody I have a hard time with Keigo. I get the basic concept of in-group and out-group and neutral-group but I am really confused about switching between 丁寧語 and 謙譲語 when talking ...
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