N2 · Politeness
Keigo at work
business keigo: the telephone, customers and the company as we
Inside and outside: your boss is honoured in the office and humbled on the phone to a client.
At work, keigo is organised around うち and そと, inside and outside. Within the company you use honorific language for your boss. Speaking to anybody from outside — a client, a supplier, a caller — your boss is part of "us", so you use humble verbs for them and drop their title: 田中はただいま外出しております. This is the rule English speakers break most often, because in English "Mr Tanaka" is polite everywhere.
The company itself has a pair of names. Your own is 弊社 or わたくしども; the other company is 御社 in speech and 貴社 in writing. You yourself are 私, the formal reading of the usual kanji.
The telephone has conventions of its own. A company answering the phone does not say もしもし but はい、〜でございます. Almost every call and email to a client opens with いつもお世話になっております, whether or not any favour has been done, and closes with よろしくお願いいたします. Messages are taken with 承ります, and you promise to ring back with 折り返しお電話いたします.
Before a request or bad news comes a cushion phrase: 恐れ入りますが, お手数ですが, あいにく. They add no information, and that is the point — they show that you know you are asking something or disappointing somebody. Their absence is noticed far more than their presence.
The form
| our company (humble) | 弊社・わたくしども |
| your company (spoken, written) | 御社・貴社 |
| I, at work | 私 |
| answering the phone | はい、さくら商事でございます。 |
| opening a call or an email to a client | いつもお世話になっております。 |
| your manager, to an outsider | 部長の田中は席を外しております。 |
| promising to call back | 折り返しお電話いたします。 |
| offering to take a message | ご伝言を承りましょうか。 |
| cushion: excuse me, but | 恐れ入りますが |
| cushion: sorry to trouble you, but | お手数ですが |
| cushion: unfortunately | あいにく |
The rules one by one
To an outsider, call people from your own company by their surname alone and use humble verbs for them.
田中はただいま外出しております。Mr Tanaka is out of the office at the moment.
Call your own company 弊社 or わたくしども, and the other company 御社 when speaking.
弊社の新しいサービスについてご説明いたします。Let me tell you about our new service.
Open a call or an email to a client with お世話になっております.
いつもお世話になっております。さくら商事の山本です。Thank you for your continued support. This is Yamamoto from Sakura Trading.
Put a cushion phrase before a request or bad news.
恐れ入りますが、お名前をもう一度お願いできますでしょうか。I am sorry, could I have your name once more?
A refusal is softened with あいにく and a humble verb rather than said outright.
あいにく、その日は予定が入っております。Unfortunately, I already have something on that day.
A closer look
The circle moves
What counts as inside depends on who you are talking to. At home, your family is inside; at work, your department is inside when you talk to another department, and the whole company is inside when you talk to a client. The same manager is honoured in one conversation and humbled in the next, and nobody thinks that strange.
The circle can also shrink. When the caller is your manager's own family, many people do use honorific language about the manager, because next to the family the company is the outsider. Rules like this are not written anywhere; they are learned by listening to how colleagues handle the phone.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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you are speaking to somebody inside your own company
use honorific language for your boss as usual, and keep the title.
部長、山本様からお電話です。There is a call for you from Mr Yamamoto, sir.
Inside and outside are relative: within the company, your boss is above you and is treated that way.
How to spot it
- 弊社
- 御社
- お世話になっております
- 恐れ入りますが
- あいにく
- 承ります
Example sentences
はい、さくら商事営業部でございます。Hello, Sakura Trading, sales department.
申し訳ございません。山本は本日休みをいただいております。I am very sorry, Ms Yamamoto is off today.
戻りましたら、こちらから折り返しお電話いたします。When she is back, we will call you back.
御社のご都合のよろしい日時を教えていただけますでしょうか。Could you let us know a date and time that suits you?
お手数ですが、書類にご署名の上、ご返送ください。We are sorry for the trouble, but please sign the documents and send them back to us.
今後ともどうぞよろしくお願い申し上げます。We very much look forward to working with you in future.
7 more example sentences
お電話が少し遠いようなのですが。I am afraid the line is a little faint.
弊社の佐藤がよろしくと申しておりました。My colleague Sato asked me to pass on his regards.
確認いたしまして、後ほどご連絡いたします。I will check and get back to you later.
あいにく山本は会議中でございます。Unfortunately, Ms Yamamoto is in a meeting.
本日はお忙しい中、お時間をいただき、ありがとうございました。Thank you for making time for us today, busy as you are.
ご検討のほど、よろしくお願いいたします。We would be grateful if you would consider it.
恐れ入りますが、来週の会議の日程を変更させていただけますか。I am sorry, but could we move next week's meeting?
Worth knowing (2)
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Passing a message to your own side
Taking a message for a colleague, it is tempting to say お伝えします, and you will hear it often. In careful business keigo it is avoided: お〜する is humble towards the person you deliver it to, and that person is your colleague — you would be honouring your own side in front of the client. The right verb is 申し伝える, which is humble towards the listener.
田中に申し伝えます。I will pass that on to Mr Tanaka.
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One company, two names: written and spoken
In a letter, an email or an application, the other company is 貴社; in speech, 御社, because きしゃ sounds like several other everyday words. Job applicants are expected to get this right in both directions.
貴社の求人を拝見し、応募いたしました。I saw your job advertisement and am applying for the position.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
Inside the office, 田中部長はいらっしゃいません is exactly right. On the phone to a client it honours your own manager in front of an outsider, which sounds as if your company ranked itself above the client. To the outside, the manager is plain 田中 and humble おります.
Inside the company your boss is honoured; to the outside, your boss is us.
Your turn
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