Polite Japanese

by Target Language Translation Services

- October 19 2021

Considered one of the world’s most polite country, Japan is particularly known to have a strict code of etiquette and unwritten social rules that are reflected in their language. Japanese has two verbs for giving – one for giving “upwards” or “outbound” and one to give “downwards” or “inbound” and one of the basic tenets of the politeness rules in Japanese: speak highly of those outside your circle and/or above your rank, and speak humbly about yourself and those in your group.

Using words such as hierarchy, rank, in-group or out-group often gives foreign learners of Japanese the idea of an almost feudal level of language and society. In reality, though, things such as politeness levels and honorifics exist in almost all languages. No one bats an eye when addressing someone older as “ma’am” or “sir”, and we certainly do not speak with strangers or our bosses the same way as we do with our friends. Having said that, Japanese grammar makes you think more often of hierarchy, and it has a great impact over things such as verb conjugations.

Polite speech in Japanese is called keigo (敬語, which literally means “respectful language”) and is, in turn, normally divided into three categories: teineigo (丁寧語) or polite language, sonkeigo (尊敬語) or respectful language, and kenjougo (謙譲語) or humble language. While we will address the last two, we will mostly concentrate our studies in this chapter in the first type.

Teineigo

There are polite verb conjugations that end with ます and the copula です is the polite version of だ.

Plain                  私はみどりだ。

Polite (teineigo) 私はみどりです。

English               I am Midori.

Plain                  すしを食べるの？

Polite (teineigo) すしを食べますか？

English               Do you eat sushi?

We can find the changes are not that massive. In addition to the transition of the plain form to the polite form, and from だ to です, there are some other things to check out.

Which first-person pronoun should I use?

私

Watashi is the pronoun we have been using as a standard in this series, and rightly so. 私 can be used by both women and men in most formal occasions as well as in more casual situations too. Also note that 私 can be used with two different pronunciations: the first is わたくし, and is the most formal pronoun, best reserved by very formal situations. The second one is あたし, used almost exclusively by females to give them a girlish or “ladylike” ring.

僕 (ぼく)

Originally meaning “servant”, 僕 is a pronoun you will increasingly hear as you become more acquainted with people in Japan. It is mostly a masculine pronoun, but it can also be heard from women, especially young ones or those who want to show some disdain for customary gender divisions in Japan. Although it is softer than the next pronoun, it is not recommended for formal situations.

俺 (おれ)

俺 has a definite coarse sounding to it, and, as such, it should only be used in casual settings and/or with people who are very close to you. It gives the impression that the person with whom you are talking to is of lower standing compared to you, which is something you might want to be careful about in Japan. Again, it has a very masculine ring to it, although use by females is not unheard (but certainly uncommon).

うち

Derived from the 内 (inside, as in inside-group) kanji, although always written in Hiragana, うち is very common first-person pronoun in the Kansai region, which includes Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe and Nara, among other cities. うち is mostly used by females, although in can be heard being used by males, especially in some regions in Kyushu (the southernmost of the four main Japanese islands).

Japanese honorifics

An honorific is prefix, suffix or otherwise a title that is appended to one’s name in order to show esteem, respect or politeness when addressing or referring to that person. Known as けいしょう (敬称) in Japanese, the use of honorifics in Japanese is one of the most distinctive marks of the language.

さん

さん is the most common honorific, especially when spoken, and also probably the first one you ever heard. さん is the most used honorific because it can be used in both formal and informal contexts, for both male and female names, and with either surnames or given names.

Although さん is often compared to English honorifics such as “Mr.” or “Ms.”, bear in mind its usage is broader than those terms – for example, high school and college students often address each other by さん.

Finally, さん can be used to create some somewhat humorous sentences.

Please note thatさん is always written in Hiragana.

さま (様)

さま is the more respectful version of さん, normally used for people of higher rank than oneself. Like さん, it can be used regardless of the gender of the addressee.

The two things that さま conveys are 1) a difference in rank between the speaker and the addressee, and 2) some familiarity with the addressee. Its usage can range, then, from simple flattery towards customers to real admiration you have to someone.

Finally, さま also appears in set phrases such as おつかれさま, which is said to departing work colleagues or students and means something akin to “thank you for a good job”.

君 (くん)

Differently from the two previous honorifics, くん is used by people of senior status towards those of junior status. Far from implying disdain, it implies some degree of endearment, which is more commonly used towards males, especially young men and boys. But it can also be used towards females. ちゃん. くんcan be used to name a close friend or family member of any gender.

くんalso has a kanji (君), but it is more often written out in Hiragana. Note that the kanji 君 can also be used for きみ, a third-person pronoun that will not be covered in this article.

ちゃん

Possible the second most well-known Japanese honorific, ちゃん can be considered the diminutive suffix in Japanese, showing that the speaker finds a person or something to be “cute” or endearing.

As such, it is all over the kawaii culture to call people and things ちゃん: for babies, pets, close friends, one’s grandparents, lovers, etc. Some people even call themselves in the third-person using ちゃん. On the other hand, using it in the workplace would sound condescending and even demeaning.

The next honorifics may also be used as stand-alone title in addition to being used as suffixes:

先生 (せんせい)

Meaning “former-born”, 先生 is, as we have often seen in this series, used to refer to or address teachers, doctors, lawyers, writers, and authority figures. It is also used to show respect to someone who has achieved a certain degree of ability or mastery in an art, be it musicians or martial artists.

先輩 (せんぱい) and 後輩 (こうはい)

Another common word for the manga/anime crowd, 先輩 is used to address or refer to one’s senior colleagues at school or work (note the kanji 先 indicating seniority). The opposite of 先輩 is 後輩, a junior. Although presented here for completeness, 後輩 is not nearly as common as 先輩 as an honorific; normally, さん, くん or even ちゃん are used to refer to one’s junior.

氏 (し)

You will very rarely hear this honorific, as 氏 is more commonly used in formal writing, such as newspapers, legal documents, academic journals and the kind. Note that, although certainly respectful, appending氏 to a name lacks the familiarity which さんor さま imply. 氏 may also be used as a stand-alone title without the person’s name as long as there is only one person being referred to.

Other marks of politeness: お and ご

An extraneous お is added to some words, such as おいしゃさん (doctor), おきゃくさま, and おつかれさま (“thank you for your efforts”). This お, which also appears in some words that have entered the English lexicon such as ofuro, is not nominally part of the word, but a prefix added to make it sound more polite.

Following the basic rules of Japanese politeness, you can guess that you never add お to yourself or your own things, only to someone else’s. So while you would say やまださんはおいしゃさんです (Mr. Yamada is a doctor), you would never say 私はおいしゃさんです, only 私はいしゃです (I am a doctor).

In addition to お, there is also the prefix ご, which serves a similar function (you might have heard the word ごはん, meaning cooked rice; the ご was actually once a prefix making it more polite).

No honorific! (よびすて)

Japanese people do not use honorifics all time with everyone. Dropping the honorific – what is called よびすて – means the speaker is addressing someone with whom he is familiar, and is therefore better reserved family, close friends, or one’s spouse. English speakers may think of this as the equivalent of being on a “first-name basis” with someone.

Be careful that addressing someone without honorifics without this closeness can be seen as rude; on the other hand, some Japanese people may, believing that foreigners have no knowledge of Japanese rules of formality and etiquette, address them without any honorifics, trying to come across as friendly or unreserved. The misunderstandings that might arise are part of the charm of living with people from different cultures.

A word of advice: when to use politeness

While the use of politeness can vary according from place to place, as a good rule of thumb, you should be speaking keigo whenever you feel you would be speaking in a more polite way in English: in the workplace, toward your superiors – like your professor or your boss – or older people, and with people you are not yet comfortable with.

Many Japanese often mention that keigo can be a marker of politeness as well as detachment, so using it with closer friends can give the wrong impression of being stiff or avoiding familiarity (there is something as being too polite, even in Japanese!). When in doubt, though, I would stick to keigo, especially if you find yourself not knowing people around you or among older people, and let them know you if you can be more informal.

Polite Japanese phrases

Let’s look at some commonly used expressions for situations you may encounter when visiting Japan in the following example sentences, along with their meanings and usage.

Arigatou gozaimasu

ありがとうございます

Literal translation: to express thanks and gratitude

Closest English equivalent: Thank you

Usage: This is a phrase to express thanks and gratitude. You can shorten the phrase to "arigatou" in a casual situation, but "arigatou gozaimasu" is more polite. If somebody tells you “Arigatou gozaimasu,” you can reply with “Dou itashimashite (どういたしまして),” or “You’re welcome.”

Sumimasen

すみません

Literal translation: an apology and as thanks

Closest English equivalent: Excuse me

Usage: This useful phrase can be used as both an apology and as thanks, as well as to address a stranger or unfamiliar person. Its nuance is quite similar to the English equivalent “excuse me.”

O-tazune shite mo ii desu ka?

おたずねしてもいいですか？

Literal translation: a phrase to begin the interaction with

Closest English equivalent: May I ask you a question?

Usage: When asking someone for directions, this is a good phrase to begin the interaction with. Alternatively, you can use the previously mentioned "Sumimasen" (Excuse me). If they can help you, they will probably respond, "Hai, ii desu yo" (Yes, that's fine), and stop to help you. But if they say "Gomen nasai” or "Sumimasen" (both meaning “I’m sorry”), they may not be able to help you, so thank them and look for someone else to ask.

Ohayou-gozaimasu / Kon’nichiwa / Konbanwa

おはようございます / こんにちは / こんばんは / こんばんは

Literal translation: words used in greeting vary depending on the time of day

Closest English equivalent: Good morning / Hello (during daytime only) / Good evening/hello (during evening/night)

Usage: In Japan, the words used in greeting vary depending on the time of day: morning, noon/daytime, and evening/night. In the mornings, say “Ohayou-gozaimasu” (lit. ‘Good morning), during the day say “Kon’nichiwa,” and in the evening/at night, “Konbanwa” (lit. ‘Good evening’).

This article is reprinted from LIVE JAPAN and GaijinPot.

If there is a copyright, please inform us in time, we will delete it right the first time.