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Questions tagged [keigo]

敬語. Honorific speech in Japanese.

Questions related to the use of honorific speech in Japan.

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194 questions
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I don't understand how お世話になっております is a valid expression

In a post about the validity of お待ちになっております: The grammar おVになる is 尊敬語, respect language. You can't use it to talk about yourself. -⁠ておる, on the other hand, is 謙譲語 (well, in the standard dialect at least). So what you said didn't make sense.…
Jirei
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Is there a keigo expression which can be translated as playing or pretending to do?

I have heard that, in former times, there was a very polite form of speaking in the form of, e.g., "the emperor liked playing to die" instead of "the emperor died". Is this true that there is a style of japanese in which people speak about playing…
Eddy
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Relationship between Respect and Politeness in Japanese

As I begin to learn sonkeigo and kenjougo, I have come across several websites stating that levels of politeness and levels of respect are independent and not to be confused. I understand the concept of politeness without respect, but it seems to me…
NattoYum
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Giving a reason for asking for a letter of recommendation

I have a quick question about giving a reason for asking for a letter of recommendation. I'd like to ask for a letter of rec from a Japanese language teacher and also explain that I need it for a scholarship. This is not the entire letter I will be…
user17646
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What distinguishes 丁重語 from other honourific forms?

On my bookshelf I have a book on formal speech, 敬語{けいご}, and it delineates respectful speech, 尊敬語{そんけいご}, from humble speech, 標準語{ひょうじゅんご}. And it combines both of these with polite speech, 丁寧語{てねいご}, as a matter of course. This question mentioned…
Questioner
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Why is 礼 honorific in 「お礼を申し上げます/give my thanks [to someone]」?

In 謙譲語 the addition of honorific to a direct object depends on who owns it: （先生に）本をさしあげます。| I will give teacher my book （先生の）ご本をお借りします。| I shall borrow teacher's book （先生を）会場へご案内します。| I will show teacher to the meeting place There are some words…
Tim
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Both parties in conversation using *kenjougo*?

So I'm reading a kid's story, where a tanuki with a swollen stomach calls a rabbit doctor. I believe that both parties are using kenjougo/sonkeigo when speaking with each other. (I'm guessing that this is because one is a customer - thus deserving…
Daniel Van Olst
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How can I say "we met at x event" politely in an email?

I'm trying to email someone pretty high up in a company and want him to remember who I am. Edit: I met him briefly at a trade show. We exchanged business cards and spoke for less than five minutes. Should I use: お目にかかりました or, what I think is…
jefflovejapan
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Does "こちらのテーブルをお使いいただけます。" mean "I can use the table, and you cannot?"

I would like to ask a follow-up question about the 敬語 used in Why “お食事の際は、…” instead of “ご飯を食べる際は、…”?. example sentence: こちらのテーブルをお使いいただけます。 Sounds like: I can use this table. So, the listener certainly must be a 3rd party who has nothing…
kairua
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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 "me" the permission to "do something"? B: "I" is the subject, can "I" have…
Mathis
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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｝もいるかもしれません。 In the first case, it uses いらっしゃる, a…
user154989
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The use of 申し上げる and 申す

According to Jisho.com, 申す　and 申し上げる　are both kenjougo. From what I can tell, the meanings are also very similar, if not identical. However, the words are not interchangeable. We can use 申す (not 申し上げる)　in sentences like ケイトと申します. And we can't use 申す…
Enguroo
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Appropriate polite language when referencing yourself in a letter written on behalf of others?

Maybe this is a bit too hypothetical, but I thought it was an interesting question nonetheless. I was writing a business email in Japanese, using pretty formal language, on behalf of someone who doesn't speak Japanese. In this email I wanted to let…
kinbiko
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What kind of conjugation is「お召しなすって」?

This is from 茨海{ばらうみ}小学校 by 宮沢賢治, probably written almost 100 years ago. 「どうぞスリッパをお召しなすって。只今{ただいま}校長に申しますから。」 My question is about お召しなすって. I think 召す is 尊敬語 meaning "to wear" in this case. I know there are some patterns like お～になる and お～する. Is…
Axe
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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 the body the op uses 無事に新しいおうちに引っ越ししました (We have…
konsty
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