The Honorific Form, the Humble Form, and the Polite Form https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-lessons/the-honorific-form-the...

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The Honorific Form, the Humble Form, and

the Polite Form
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You have started a new section: Keigo. This is one of the trickiest topics when learning 63,700 PV
Japanese. Keigo is a Japanese word and simply means “polite speech,” which consists of the
three forms: honorific, humble, and polite. The variety often confuses learners. In everyday life, Japanese Graded Readers (JLPT N4): 北風と太
there will be no problem if you can use the polite form. Thus, if you have no plan to work in 陽 / The North Wind and the Sun 46,255 PV
Japan, you may skip this section. If you are the person who is willing to work in Japan, you have
to master Keigo.
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The reason why Keigo is the trickiest is that you have to memorize the three conjugation rules
and use the three forms depending on certain situations. In this lesson, we would like to focus
on the basic ideas and the conjugation rules. Regarding the practical usages, you will learn them Latest Posts

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The Honorific Form, the Humble Form, and the Polite Form https://www.wasabi-jpn.com/japanese-lessons/the-honorific-form-the...

in the next lesson.

How to use “Yoroshiku Onegaishimasu” in
Japanese

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in Japanese

How to talk about the weather in Japanese

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Japanese

いってきます, いってらっしゃい, ただいま & お

かえり: Use & Distinction in Japanese

How to use I-Adjectives in Japanese

How to use “おつかれさま” and “ごくろうさま”

in Japanese

There are three ways to communicate with people in Japanese. As you can see, the chart
How to count to 10 (and beyond) in Japanese
doesnʼt include the polite form. For the sake of simplicity, you may consider the polite form as a
kind of tone. No matter which way you choose to communicate, you can speak in polite tone.
How to use “いただきます” & “ごちそうさま”
naturally in Japanese

The Polite Form

た なか じ たく い

⽥中さんのご⾃宅に⾏きました。
[I] went to Tanaka-sanʼs house.
さけ の

お酒を飲みました。
[I] had alcohol.

The essential function of the polite form is to show your respect to your listeners by speaking in
a polite tone. The polite form has two aspects. The first is to conjugate verbs like 飲む => 飲み
ます, which you are already familiar with. The second is to attach お or ご to nouns like 酒 => お
酒. It is said that お should be attached to words which come from Japanese origin and ご should
be attached to words which come from Chinese origin, though there are exceptions. Here are
some examples.

お + Nouns
さつ やす いも いわ

お札: paper money お休み: day off お芋: potato お祝い: celebration

うま か し かね きゃく

お⾺: horse お菓⼦: pastry お⾦: money お 客 : guest

きゅうりょう こめ さいふ さかな

お 給 料 : salary お⽶: rice お財布: wallet お ⿂ : fish

さけ さら しり しろ

お酒: alcohol お皿: dish お尻: hip お城: castle

ご + Nouns
き げん しゅじん しゅう ぎ えん

ご機嫌: mood ご主⼈: husband ご 祝 儀: gratuity ご縁: fate, destiny

Annoyingly, you cannot attach お and ご to any noun. There are nouns that are more commonly
used with お or ご attached, nouns that you must not attach, and nouns that will become the
honorific or the humble form (not the polite form) by attaching ご or お. (*You will learn the two
forms in detail later). You need to memorize the usages while exposing yourself to tons of
Japanese natural expressions.

かあ ちゃ はし しゅじん しゅうぎ
Generally Attach お⺟さん, お茶, お箸, ご主⼈, ご祝儀, etc.
けいたい でん わ ばこ こうえん じ てんしゃ
Must Not Attach 携帯電話, インターネット, ごみ箱, 公園, ⾃転⾞, etc

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でん わ かばん かさ か ぞく けんきゅう
Change Form お電話, お 鞄 , おタバコ, お傘, ご家族, ご 研 究 , etc.

Supplementary Learning: How to Recognize Which Origin Words Have

おん よ

Kanji often has two readings. The readings can be categorized into two groups: ⾳読み (Chinese
くん よ

reading) and 訓読み (Japanese reading). Thus, if the word has a Japanese reading, it has a
Japanese origin. Letʼs take the kanji ⼈ as an example. The feature of Japanese reading is that it
alone can become a word like “⼈（ひと）: person,” or become a word by combining hiragana.
For example, the reading of 主⼈ is しゅじん. じん cannot become a word alone or by attaching
hiragana. Therefore, thatʼs not a Japanese reading. It means that 主⼈ has a Chinese origin and
you will add ご to make it the polite form, i.e. ご主⼈. In this way, you can recognize origin by
checking whether a reading is a Japanese one or not

⼈ ‒ Chinese reading: じん, にん | Japanese reading: ひと

The Honorific Form

The function is to show your respects to particular people. It means that you can use this not
only to your listeners, but in third person as well. This is one of the big differences from the
polite form. Now, letʼs check out the conjugation rule.

All Verbs: お + the Polite Form + になる (Instead of ます)

Plain Honorific Form Honorific-Polite Form

ま ま ま

待つ お待ちになる お待ちになります
おし おし おし

教える お教えになる お教えになります

Although we have said “All Verbs,” there are a lot of exceptions that you need to follow. We have
made a list showing all of the exceptions below. These are very formal expressions. In the
authorʼs opinion, I use this to those who are of high status like government officials.

Exceptions

Plain Honorific Form Honorific-Polite Form

い く

⾏く・来る いらっしゃる いらっしゃいます

いる いらっしゃる いらっしゃいます
た の め あ め あ

⾷べる・飲む 召し上がる 召し上がります

ね やす やす

寝る お休みになる お休みになります
い おっしゃ おっしゃ

⾔う 仰 る 仰 います
み らん らん

⾒る ご覧になる ご覧になります
き め め

着る お召しになる お召しになります

する なさる なさいます
し ぞん ぞん

知っている ご存じだ ご存じです

くれる くださる くださいます

Some of verbs which end with る conjugate by using い instead of り. Although both of them are
used in everyday life, the ones with い are more commonly used today.

Alternative Form: To Use the Passive Form

Plain Honorific Form Passive Form

ま ま ま

待つ 待たれる 待たれる

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Plain Honorific Form Passive Form

と と と

泊まる 泊まられる 泊まられる

する される される
く こ こ

来る 来られる 来られる

The alternative form is exactly the same as the passive form. When using the passive form as a
honorific form, there are no exceptions. Since the potential form of ru-verbs are also the same,
you cannot apply the potential form here to avoid confusion. You need to use the first form, i.e.
待つ => お待ちになる => お待ちになれる. This honorific (passive) form is more frequently used
than the first form because it sounds a little less formal.

Adding お and ご to Nouns and Adjectives

お + Nouns
じ かん でん わ な まえ し ごと

お時間: time お電話: phone call お名前: name お仕事: job

へ や しょく じ て がみ からだ

お部屋: room お ⾷ 事: meal お⼿紙: letter お⾝体: body

お + Adjectives
げん き ひま す きら

お元気: fine, healthy お暇: spare time お好き: to like お嫌い: to dislike
はや いそが さび たか

お早い: early, quick お 忙 しい: busy お寂しい: lonely お⾼い: high

ご + Nouns
じゅう しょ りょうしん きょうだい か ぞく

ご 住 所: address ご 両 親: parents ご 兄 弟 : brother ご家族: family

けん きゅう い けん かんしん けいけん

ご研 究 : study ご意⾒: opinion ご関⼼: interest ご経験: experience

ご + Adjectives
た ぼう しんぱい まんぞく りっぱ

ご多忙: busy ご⼼配: worried ご満⾜: satisfied ご⽴派: splendid

む り ねっしん じ ゆう ていねい

ご無理: unreasonable ご熱⼼: eager ご⾃由: free ご丁寧: polite

Donʼt be confused with the polite form like お酒. The above words have become the honorific
form. When you are talking with your close friend, you can still use the polite form like “⼦供は元
気ですか (Is your kid fine)？” That just sound polite. However, it sounds strange if you use the
honorific form like “⼦供はお元気ですか？” because it indicates that you show your respect to
the friendʼs kid.

Honorific-Request Form: To Replace になる with ください

ま

お待ちください。
おし

お教えください。
らん

ご覧になってください。
おっしゃ

仰 ってください。
In general, you utilize the first sentence pattern: お + the polite form + になる here. By replacing
になる with ください, you can make a request with Keigo. As for the exceptions (Ex. 3 and 4),
you utilize the te-form and attach ください.

お待ち（くださる / くださいますか / くださいませんか）？

おし

お教え（くださる / くださいますか / くださいませんか）？

らん

ご覧になって（くださる / くださいますか / くださいませんか）？

おっしゃ

仰 って（くださる / くださいますか / くださいませんか）？

As you learned before, ください indicates a direct request. If you would like to ask indirectly, you
can use interrogative sentences. Keep in mind that they are too formal. In practice, the humble
form of もらう is more commonly used when making a formal request like “待っていただけます

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か？” Now, letʼs move to the topic of the humble form.

The Humble Form

The function is to show your respect to recipients of your actions by humbling yourself. Be
careful; the targets that you show your respect to are different from the polite form (listeners)
and the honorific form (particular people).

All Verbs: お or ご + the Polite Form + する (Instead of (し)ます)

Plain Humble Form Humble-Polite Form

ま ま ま

待つ お待ちする お待ちします
おし おし おし

教える お教えする お教えします

あんない あんない あんない

案内する ご案内する ご案内します

れんらく れんらく れんらく

連絡する ご連絡する ご連絡します

Be careful; as for suru-verbs, you differently conjugate them, i.e. just attach お or ご. As you
learned, お should be attached to words which have a Japanese origin and ご should be
attached to words which have a Chinese origin. When you use the humble form, there should be
a recipient of your actions. Thus, you cannot use the humble form in the following sentences.

あした うみ およ およ

明⽇、海を お泳ぎします・泳ぎます。
[I] will swim in the sea tomorrow.
こうえん ある ある

公園を お歩きしました・歩きました。
[I] walked in the park.

There are also a lot of exceptions. For the sake of simplicity, we will show you them along with
the ones for the honorific form.

Exceptions of the Humble Form

Plain Honorific Form Humble Form

い く うかが まい

⾏く・来る いらっしゃる 伺 う*¹ 参る*º

いる いらっしゃる おる*²
た の め あ

⾷べる・飲む 召し上がる いただく*º

ね やす

寝る お休みになる ‒

い おっしゃ もう もう あ

⾔う 仰 る 申す*º 申し上げる*¹
み らん はいけん

⾒る ご覧になる 拝⾒する*¹
き め

着る お召しになる ‒

する なさる いたす*º
し ぞん ぞん

知っている ご存じだ 存じている*º

くれる くださる ‒
さ あ
あげる ‒ 差し上げる*¹

もらう ‒ いただく*¹

Note:
*º Can be used both with and without a recipient.
*¹ Can be used only when there is a recipient.
*² Can be used only when there is NOT a recipient.

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The basic idea is that the humble form has to have a recipient of your actions. However,
depending on verbs in the exceptions, you can use it without a recipient. Then, if the humble
form shows your request to a recipient of your actions, what does it mean when used without a
recipient? We call such expressions “Extra Modesty.” Letʼs take ⾏く as an example.

た なか いえ うかが

⽥中さんの家に 伺 いました。
[I] went to Tanaka-sanʼs house. (*Respect to Tanaka-san)
こうえん まい

公園に参りました。
[I] went to the park. (*Respect to your listener)

Suppose that you are talking with your teacher about what you did yesterday. Then, if you use
the first example (the humble form with a recipient), you show your respect to Tanaka-san. By
contrast, if you use the second example (the humble form without a recipient), you show your
respect to your teacher. By using just the polite form, you can enough express your respect to
your listener; however, if youʼd like to express your extra modesty, the humble form can be
utilized without a recipient. For reference, this expression is often used by TV reporters.

お or ご + Nouns Which Indicate Actions

でん わ はなし しょく じ あんない

お電話: phone call お 話 : speech, story お ⾷ 事: meal ご案内: guidance

かいとう れんらく かくにん あいさつ

ご回答: answer ご連絡: contact ご確認: confirmation ご挨拶: greeting

Some nouns alone indicate actions. If you attach お or ご to such nouns, you can use them as a
だい じ はなし

humble form, e.g. “⼤事なお 話 があります。(I have something important that I need to talk with
you)”.

Summary

The polite form shows your respect to your listeners.

The honorific form shows your respect to particular people.
The humble form shows your respect to recipient of your actions.
Some of the humble verbs can work without recipients.

Again, you donʼt have to memorize the honorific form and the humble form unless you work in
Japan. The polite form allows you to communicate to Japanese people without causing any
trouble. Even if you work in Japan, you donʼt have to be a perfectionist. A lot of native speakers
cannot use Keigo in the proper way. In this lesson, we have explained only the basic idea with
the conjugation rule. Next, you will learn the practical usage.

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