N4 · Politeness
Honorific verbs
honorific language (sonkeigo)
Special verbs that raise the person who acts — used for others, never for yourself.
Honorific language, 尊敬語, shows respect for the person who does something. You use it for the actions of a teacher, a boss, a customer or somebody's parents — and never for your own. The most common actions have their own honorific verbs, which replace the ordinary one entirely. The table reads, for each verb: plain, honorific, humble.
いらっしゃる covers "go", "come" and "be"; 召し上がる "eat" and "drink"; おっしゃる "say"; ご覧になる "see"; なさる "do"; ご存じだ "know"; くださる "give (to me)". They take ます like any verb, with one twist: いらっしゃる, おっしゃる, なさる and くださる use い before ます, not り — いらっしゃいます, おっしゃいます.
An honorific verb does not replace です and ます; the two work together. ます is politeness towards the listener, the honorific verb is respect for the person acting. Talking to a friend about a teacher, you can use an honorific verb in plain style: 先生はもういらっしゃった？
English shows respect with titles and with indirect questions — "would you like", "might I ask". Japanese changes the verb, and that means the verb tells you who is acting even when nobody is named. That is the point to hold on to: 召し上がりますか, with nobody named, can only be about the listener, and using a verb like it about yourself sounds as if you were praising your own eating.
The form
| each row: plain → honorific → humble | 普通→尊敬語→謙譲語 |
| go, come | 行く・来る→いらっしゃる→参る |
| be (of people) | いる→いらっしゃる→おる |
| eat, drink | 食べる・飲む→召し上がる→いただく |
| say | 言う→おっしゃる→申す |
| see, look at | 見る→ご覧になる→拝見する |
| do | する→なさる→いたす |
| know | 知っている→ご存じだ→存じている |
| give (to me) — no humble form | くれる→くださる |
| sleep — no humble form | 寝る→お休みになる |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is aboutThe word that calls for it
Use honorific verbs only for the actions of people you are showing respect to.
社長は今、会議室にいらっしゃいます。The president is in the meeting room at the moment.
いらっしゃる, おっしゃる, なさる and くださる take い before ます, not り.
先生は何とおっしゃいましたか。What did the teacher say?
In honorific speech, ている becomes ていらっしゃる.
部長は新聞を読んでいらっしゃいます。The manager is reading the newspaper.
The te-form of an honorific verb plus ください makes a respectful invitation.
どうぞ召し上がってください。Please, help yourself.
A closer look
Three layers of politeness
Japanese grammars traditionally divide polite language into three layers (newer guides split the humble layer in two and add a fifth for polite words such as お茶, but three is enough to start). 丁寧語 is です and ます: politeness towards the person you are talking to. 尊敬語 raises the person who acts. 謙譲語 lowers you, and with you the people on your side.
The layers are independent, and that is what makes them precise. いらっしゃいます is honorific and polite at once — respect for the person who came and for the person you are telling. いらっしゃった keeps the respect for the person who came but speaks plainly to a friend. Once you can tell the three apart, keigo stops looking like one huge list and becomes three small decisions.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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a verb has no special honorific form
use the regular pattern お〜になる, or the lighter passive form with られる.
部長はもう帰られました。The manager has already gone home.
Only the commonest actions have verbs of their own; every other verb is made honorific by pattern.
How to spot it
- いらっしゃる
- 召し上がる
- おっしゃる
- ご覧になる
- なさる
- ご存じ
- くださる
Example sentences
明日は何時ごろいらっしゃいますか。Around what time will you come tomorrow?
先生、この本をもうご覧になりましたか。Have you already looked at this book?
何を召し上がりますか。What would you like to eat?
社長がそうおっしゃったので、計画を変えました。The president said so, so we changed the plan.
山田さんのお父さんは何をなさっているんですか。What does Ms Yamada's father do?
この件について、ご存じですか。Do you know about this matter?
8 more example sentences
部長は今日、大阪にいらっしゃいます。The manager is in Osaka today.
お客様がいらっしゃいました。A customer has arrived.
週末は何をなさいましたか。What did you do at the weekend?
奥様はお元気でいらっしゃいますか。Is your wife keeping well?
先生はお酒を召し上がらないそうです。I hear the professor does not drink.
社長が私に声をかけてくださいました。The president was kind enough to speak to me.
ご存じのとおり、来月から料金が変わります。As you know, the fees change from next month.
先生はどちらにお住まいですか。Where do you live, if I may ask?
Worth knowing (2)
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Respect by name, not by pronoun
English can be perfectly polite with "you". Japanese あなた is not used to a teacher, a boss or a customer at all; it sounds distant or even rude. Use the person's name or title, and let the honorific verb make clear who you mean.
田中さんはどう思われますか。What do you think, Mr Tanaka?
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いらっしゃる has three meanings
Because one honorific verb stands for 行く, 来る and いる, a sentence with いらっしゃる has to be read from its particles and the situation: に with a place and no movement means "is there", へ or a time of departure means "is going". Native speakers rarely notice the ambiguity, because the context almost always settles it.
先生は来週、京都へいらっしゃるそうです。I hear the professor is going to Kyoto next week.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
English politeness is about the whole sentence, so it seems natural to make every verb as polite as possible. Honorific verbs are different: they lift the person acting, and lifting yourself is boasting. For your own actions use the ordinary polite form, or a humble verb such as いただきます.
Honorific verbs are for what others do; for yourself, ます is enough.
Your turn
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