Politeness & Style

Introduction

Politeness is woven into the fabric of Japanese grammar. From the basic です/ます forms to the giving/receiving verbs that encode social relationships, understanding politeness levels is essential.

This chapter covers the basic politeness patterns that every learner needs.

Themes

All Japanese Grammar Basic in This Chapter (13)

1. お～ (polite prefix) お A prefix attached to nouns, adjectives, and some verbs to express politeness, respect, or refinement. It elevates the social register of ...
2. お～する (humble action) おする A humble expression used when the speaker describes their own action performed for the benefit of someone of higher status. It lowers the...
3. お～になる (honorific action) おになる An honorific expression used to describe the actions of someone the speaker respects, such as a superior, teacher, or customer. It elevat...
4. 自分・じぶん (reflexive, speaker-identified) じぶん A reflexive pronoun that refers back to a human subject with whom the speaker empathises or identifies. It is used when the speaker takes...
5. 自分・じぶん (reflexive, subject-bound) じぶん A reflexive pronoun that refers back to a human subject, where the referent is determined by grammatical structure rather than the speake...
6. ～しい (adjective suffix) しい An infix attached to the stem of certain い-adjectives to indicate a quality that one can perceive, feel, or sense subjectively. It often ...
7. って (colloquial topic marker) って A colloquial particle used to introduce or highlight a topic in casual speech. It functions similarly to は but carries a more informal, c...
8. って (colloquial quotation) って A colloquial quotation marker used to report what someone said or what one heard. It is a casual equivalent of と (quotation particle).
9. 様・さま (honorific suffix) さま A suffix attached to names and certain nouns to indicate the speaker's deep respect or politeness toward the person referred to. It is mo...
10. 君・くん (familiar suffix) くん A suffix attached to the first or last name of a male equal or to the first or last name of a younger male, expressing familiarity and a ...
11. 屋・や (store/trade suffix) や A suffix attached to names of stores, inns, and Japanese-style restaurants, or to words describing a trade or occupation, indicating a pl...
12. 方・かた (way of doing) かた A noun-forming suffix that indicates a way or manner in which one does something. It attaches to the verb stem to create a noun meaning '...
13. 毎・まい (every) まい A prefix meaning 'every' that attaches to units of time to express regular repetition or habitual occurrence.