敬語の基礎を使うUsing Basic Keigo
Chapter Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Explain why respectful (尊敬語), humble (謙譲語), and polite (丁寧語) language exist as separate systems within Japanese keigo.
- Recognize and produce common お/ご〜になる respectful forms when describing another person's actions in a formal context.
- Recognize and produce common お/ご〜する humble forms when describing your own actions toward someone you are treating with respect.
- Use a set of high-frequency fixed keigo expressions in emails, service encounters, introductions, visits, and interviews.
- Distinguish situations that call for keigo from situations that call for ordinary polite or plain Japanese.
- Read and listen to short formal exchanges and emails that use basic keigo, and identify their respectful and humble forms.
- Write and perform a short formal email or introduction using only the keigo patterns authorized in this chapter.
Communication Scenario
Emma has arranged a short informational interview with a staff member at a local library association, Tanaka-san, to ask about volunteer opportunities for her discussion group's community project. Before the meeting, she needs to write a formal email requesting the appointment, and during the meeting she needs to introduce herself, ask questions, and thank Tanaka-san appropriately — all without the casual language she uses with Yuki. Yuki helps her prepare by reviewing which everyday polite sentences need to become more formal, and which set phrases she can simply memorize and use as they are. This chapter's Practical Performance Task asks you to write a similar request email and perform a short formal self-introduction and interview exchange, using only the basic keigo patterns introduced here.
- The writer or speaker uses appropriate opening and closing formulas for a formal request.
- The writer or speaker uses at least one respectful (尊敬語) form to describe the other person's action.
- The writer or speaker uses at least one humble (謙譲語) form to describe their own action.
Core Vocabulary
This chapter's vocabulary supports emails, service encounters, requests, introductions, visits, and interviews. All items below are productive for this chapter and recycle in Chapters 7 through 10.
| Function | Japanese | Reading | English meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Formal contact | 連絡 | れんらく | contact; communication |
| Formal contact | 返信 | へんしん | reply (to a message) |
| Visit / appointment | 訪問 | ほうもん | visit |
| Visit / appointment | 面接 | めんせつ | interview |
| Visit / appointment | 都合 | つごう | convenience; circumstances |
| Respect / relationship | 担当者 | たんとうしゃ | the person in charge |
| Respect / relationship | お世話になる | おせわになる | to be helped by; to be in someone's care |
| Request / service | 依頼 | いらい | request (formal) |
| Request / service | 確認 | かくにん | confirmation |
| Introductions | 自己紹介 | じこしょうかい | self-introduction |
These items combine with the お/ご〜になる and お/ご〜する patterns introduced in this chapter's Grammar section.
れんしゅう — Practice: Choose four words from the table and write one plain-style sentence with each, describing a formal situation such as scheduling a visit or replying to an email.
Script and Kanji Focus
This chapter introduces kanji for respect, visit, meeting, contact, reply, and formal service language, consistent with the Kanji Recognition and Kanji Production Matrices for this volume. Furigana is provided for these new kanji on first appearance in this chapter and reduced in later readings once the chapter has established them; furigana remains available for names and any unscheduled readings.
The honorific prefixes お and ご attach to many nouns and verb stems in this chapter's grammar patterns. お usually attaches to native Japanese (和語) words, such as お電話 and お名前, while ご usually attaches to Sino-Japanese (漢語) words, such as ご連絡 and ご確認. This is a useful tendency for guessing which prefix a new word takes, but it is not a rule without exceptions, so check new vocabulary items individually rather than applying the pattern automatically.
In this chapter's readings, only names, unfamiliar loanwords, and this chapter's new kanji on first appearance receive furigana.
れんしゅう — Practice: Write the readings for 連絡, 訪問, 面接, 返信, and 担当者. Then decide whether お or ご would attach to 連絡, 返信, and 確認, and check your answers against the Grammar section below.
Pronunciation Focus
Formal spoken Japanese, such as the language used in an interview or a first visit, is often produced somewhat more slowly and clearly than casual conversation, with fuller pronunciation of vowels and endings that might otherwise be reduced. This chapter's vocabulary includes several long vowels and moraic ん that are easy to shorten under nervousness; holding them at full length supports both accuracy and a calm, formal impression.
- 訪問 (ほうもん): two long vowels in a row, in ほう and もん's preceding vowel; do not shorten either.
- 面接 (めんせつ): the moraic ん before せ must be held for its own mora, distinct from めせつ.
- お世話になっております: a common fixed expression from this chapter's Grammar section; practice it as one connected phrase rather than word by word.
Practice reading the Model Dialogue aloud at a clear, moderate pace, as if greeting someone for the first time in a formal setting.
Grammar and Sentence Patterns: Basic Keigo
Japanese keigo (敬語) is not one system but three related systems: respectful language (尊敬語), which raises the status of someone else's action; humble language (謙譲語), which lowers the status of your own action to show respect toward someone else; and polite language (丁寧語), the です／ます style you have already used since Volume I. This chapter introduces the basic productive forms of respectful and humble language, along with several fixed expressions that are learned as set phrases before their internal grammar is fully analyzed. Advanced and less common keigo forms remain outside this chapter's scope and will be developed further in Volume IV.
お/ご〜になる — Respectful forms for another person's action
Purpose: to describe an action performed by someone you are treating with respect — a customer, a supervisor, an interviewer, or an unfamiliar adult — without using their action in plain です／ます form.
- 田中さんはもう資料をお読みになりましたか。Has Tanaka-san already read the materials?お + Vます-stem + になる — respectful, for the other person's action
- ご担当者様は何時にご出発になりますか。What time will the person in charge be departing?ご + noun/する-verb stem + になる — respectful, Sino-Japanese base
お attaches mainly to native Japanese verb stems; ご attaches mainly to Sino-Japanese する-verb stems. A small number of high-frequency verbs, such as 言う, 見る, 行く／来る, and する, use irregular respectful forms (おっしゃる, ご覧になる, いらっしゃる, なさる) that must be learned individually rather than built with this pattern; these irregular forms are introduced here for recognition and limited use in fixed contexts only.
お/ご〜する — Humble forms for your own action
Purpose: to describe your own action toward someone you are treating with respect, lowering your own action rather than raising theirs.
- 明日の午後、資料をお送りします。I will send the materials tomorrow afternoon.お + Vます-stem + する — humble, describing the speaker's action
- 来週、そちらにご連絡いたします。I will contact you next week.ご + noun + いたす — humble, formal variant of する
いたす is a humble equivalent of する and combines with ご〜 to sound more formal than ご〜する alone; both are acceptable in this chapter, and いたす is preferred in written formal correspondence.
Common fixed keigo expressions
Purpose: several everyday formal expressions are learned first as complete, memorized units. Their internal grammar draws on the patterns above, but they should be used as set phrases at this stage rather than freely rebuilt from parts.
- いつもお世話になっております。Thank you for your continued support. (lit., I am always in your care.)fixed opening for business and formal email correspondence
- よろしくお願いいたします。Thank you in advance for your kindness in this matter.fixed closing for requests and formal correspondence
- 恐れ入りますが、〜I'm sorry to trouble you, but ~fixed softener before a formal request
- 失礼いたします。Excuse me. / Please excuse me. (used both entering and leaving a formal setting)fixed formula for formal arrivals and departures
Building a basic keigo request email
Grammar Practice
- Rewrite 田中さんは資料を読みましたか。 using an お〜になる respectful form.
- Rewrite 来週、連絡します。 using a ご〜いたします humble form.
- Write one sentence using いつもお世話になっております as the opening of a short message.
- Write one sentence using 恐れ入りますが before a polite request.
- Write a short email following the Building Block pattern above, requesting a meeting on a topic of your choice.
Model Dialogue
Setting: Emma visits the library association office and greets Tanaka-san, the staff member she emailed, for her informational interview.
ないようりかい — Comprehension questions:
- How does Emma introduce herself when she arrives?
- What respectful form does Tanaka-san use when inviting Emma to sit down?
- What humble form does Emma use to describe looking at the materials?
Guided Practice
タスク１ — Identify the register. Read five short sentences provided by your instructor or partner and decide whether each is plain, ordinary polite, or basic keigo.
タスク２ — Transform to respectful. Rewrite three ordinary polite sentences describing another person's action using お/ご〜になる or the irregular respectful forms introduced in this chapter.
タスク３ — Transform to humble. Rewrite three ordinary polite sentences describing your own action using お/ご〜する or お/ご〜いたす.
タスク４ — Assemble fixed expressions. Practice using いつもお世話になっております, よろしくお願いいたします, 恐れ入りますが, and 失礼いたします in short exchanges provided by your instructor or partner.
タスク５ — Plan your email. Using the Building Block pattern from the Grammar section, outline a short formal request email of your own, on a topic such as arranging a visit, requesting information, or scheduling an interview.
Listening Practice
Ask your instructor, a partner, or a text-to-speech tool to read the following passage aloud at a clear, moderate pace.
きくタスク — A formal phone message
お世話になっております。市民センターの担当者、佐藤と申します。先日ご依頼いただいたボランティア説明会の件で、ご連絡いたしました。説明会は来週の水曜日、午後三時からを予定しております。ご都合がよろしければ、当日は受付でお名前をお伝えになってください。ご不明な点がございましたら、いつでもご連絡ください。よろしくお願いいたします。
聞くタスク — Listening task: Identify (1) who is speaking and their role, (2) the reason for the call, (3) the date and time mentioned, (4) one respectful form and one humble form used in the message, and (5) what the listener is asked to do.
This script combines this chapter's fixed expressions with its productive お/ご〜になる and お/ご〜する patterns in a realistic formal phone-message context.
Speaking Practice
コントロールされた練習 — Controlled practice: Quick transformation prompts
- 「田中さんは本を読みましたか」を尊敬語にしてください。
- 「明日、連絡します」を謙譲語にしてください。
- 「すみませんが、教えてください」を、恐れ入りますがを使って言い換えてください。
コミュニケーションタスク — Partner role-play
With a partner, role-play a short formal visit: one partner is a visitor arriving for an appointment, and the other is the staff member greeting them. Use at least one fixed expression, one respectful form, and one humble form from this chapter.
ひとりでもできる練習 — Solo practice: A rehearsed self-introduction
Prepare and record a thirty-to-sixty-second formal self-introduction as though meeting Tanaka-san for the first time, as in the Communication Scenario. Include your name, your reason for the meeting, and at least one fixed keigo expression. Listen back and check your pronunciation of long vowels and moraic ん under formal, careful speech.
Reading Practice
Read the following email, then answer the questions below.
ボランティア説明会についてのお礼のメール — A Thank-You Email About the Volunteer Information Session
佐藤様 いつもお世話になっております。○○大学のエマと申します。先日は、お忙しい中、ボランティア説明会についてご説明いただき、誠にありがとうございました。おかげさまで、活動内容についてよく理解することができました。もしよろしければ、来月の説明会にも参加させていただきたいと思っております。お手数をおかけしますが、参加方法についてご連絡いただけますでしょうか。よろしくお願いいたします。
This email combines the fixed opening and closing expressions with productive お/ご〜になる and お/ご〜する patterns from this chapter's Grammar section.
ないようりかい — Comprehension questions:
- What is the purpose of this email?
- What does the writer say she was able to do thanks to Sato-san's explanation?
- What does the writer request at the end of the email?
- Identify one fixed keigo expression and one productive お/ご〜 pattern used in the email.
Writing Workshop
In this workshop you will draft the written portion of your Practical Performance Task: a short formal request email following the Building Block pattern from the Grammar section.
- Open your email with いつもお世話になっております or an equivalent fixed opening.
- Identify yourself and your reason for writing in one or two sentences.
- Make your request, softened with 恐れ入りますが or a similar hedge, and include at least one お/ご〜になる or お/ご〜する pattern.
- Close your email with よろしくお願いいたします.
- Revise your draft using the checklist below.
チェックリスト — Editing checklist:
- My email opens and closes with an appropriate fixed formula.
- I identified myself and my reason for writing clearly.
- I used at least one respectful (尊敬語) form correctly for the other person's action.
- I used at least one humble (謙譲語) form correctly for my own action.
- My request is softened rather than direct.
- I did not mix keigo with casual plain-form endings.
- I checked this chapter's new kanji readings without relying on furigana where possible.
Culture and Communication
Keigo is often introduced to learners simply as "being polite," but it more precisely marks social distance, role, and relationship: a person may use keigo toward a stranger, a customer, or a supervisor regardless of that person's age, and may use plain or ordinary polite forms with a close colleague of higher status. Choosing keigo is less about how much respect one personally feels and more about signaling the kind of relationship and setting the conversation is taking place in.
Many languages mark social distance and formality through separate address forms, verb forms, or fixed expressions, though the details differ widely — some rely mainly on pronoun choice, others on verb conjugation, and others on vocabulary substitution as in Japanese keigo. Comparing how your own language signals formality can help clarify what is functionally similar to keigo and what is genuinely distinct to Japanese.
Using keigo with a close friend or family member can sound distant or even sarcastic rather than respectful, just as failing to use keigo with a first-time business contact can sound careless. This chapter's exercises are limited to contexts where keigo is expected — emails, service encounters, visits, and interviews — so that keigo is practiced where it naturally belongs rather than as a blanket "more polite is always better" habit.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Error: *私はお読みになりました。 using the respectful form お〜になる to describe the speaker's own action.
Correction: 私は拝見しました。 or 私は読みました。 — respectful forms describe someone else's action; describe your own action with a humble or ordinary polite form instead.
Error: *田中さんはもうご連絡しましたか。 using the humble form ご〜する to ask about another person's action.
Correction: 田中さんはもうご連絡になりましたか。 — humble forms lower the speaker's own action; use a respectful form to describe someone else's action.
Error: *いつもお世話になっております。明日行くね。 mixing a formal opening with a casual plain-form ending in the same message.
Correction: いつもお世話になっております。明日、伺います。 — maintain one consistent formal register throughout a keigo message, just as register consistency matters across a longer essay.
Chapter Review
Section A — ごい (Vocabulary)
1. Use 連絡, 訪問, 面接, 確認, and 自己紹介 each in one original sentence about a formal situation.
Section B — もじ (Script)
1. Write the readings for all four new kanji words in the Script and Kanji Focus section from memory, then check them against that section.
Section C — ぶんぽう (Grammar)
1. Complete the five Grammar Practice items above, if you have not already done so.
2. Explain, in your own words, the difference between what respectful (尊敬語) and humble (謙譲語) language each do.
Section D — どっかいりかい (Reading comprehension)
1. Look again at the email in the Reading Practice section. Write two sentences summarizing its purpose and its request, using at least one keigo form of your own.
Section E — かくこと (Writing)
1. Complete your formal request email, following the Writing Workshop steps, as part of the Practical Performance Task below.
Section F — はなすこと (Speaking)
1. Present your rehearsed self-introduction and perform the role-play exchange with a partner, instructor, or recording, as part of the Practical Performance Task below.
Practical Performance Task
パフォーマンスタスク
敬語の基礎を使う — A formal request and interview visit
Prepare the request email and interview exchange described in the Communication Scenario, on a topic of your choice such as volunteering, an informational interview, or a formal visit. Complete all four components below.
- Written email: Write a short formal email of at least five sentences that follows the Building Block pattern: opening formula, self-identification and reason for writing, softened request using at least one respectful and one humble お/ご〜 pattern, and closing formula.
- Spoken introduction: With a partner, instructor, or recording, perform a thirty-to-sixty-second formal self-introduction as though arriving for the appointment described in your email.
- Role-play exchange: With a partner or instructor, perform a short formal exchange in which you ask at least two questions and respond to at least one respectful or humble form used by the other speaker.
- Peer or self-audit: Exchange your email and role-play notes with a partner, or review your own after a break, and check specifically for correct use of respectful versus humble forms, appropriate fixed expressions, register consistency, and clear pronunciation of long vowels and moraic ん.
Assessment focus: accurate use of this chapter's vocabulary and kanji; correct distinction between respectful (尊敬語) and humble (謙譲語) forms; appropriate use of fixed keigo expressions; consistent formal register throughout; and comprehensible, appropriately careful pronunciation.
Answer Key
Core Vocabulary and Script Review
Open-ended; check readings and sentences against the Core Vocabulary table and the Script and Kanji Focus section above.
Grammar Practice
- Model answer: 田中さんは資料をお読みになりましたか。
- Model answer: 来週、ご連絡いたします。
- Open-ended; check that いつもお世話になっております appears as a natural opening.
- Open-ended; check that 恐れ入りますが precedes a polite request.
- Open-ended; models should follow the Building Block pattern in the Grammar section, with a fixed opening, self-identification, a softened request containing at least one お/ご〜になる or お/ご〜する pattern, and a fixed closing.
Model Dialogue — Comprehension
- Emma introduces herself by saying 失礼いたします, giving her name, and mentioning her two o'clock appointment.
- Tanaka-san uses お座りになってください, the respectful form of 座る with お〜になる.
- Emma uses 拝見します, the irregular humble form corresponding to 見る.
Listening Practice — Model summary
The speaker is Sato, a staff member at the citizen center, calling about a volunteer information session that was previously requested. The session is scheduled for next Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. The message uses the humble form ご連絡いたしました for the speaker's own action and the respectful form お伝えになってください for the listener's action, and asks the listener to give their name at the reception desk on the day of the session.
Reading Practice — Comprehension
- The purpose of the email is to thank Sato-san for explaining the volunteer information session and to request information about joining next month's session.
- The writer says that thanks to Sato-san's explanation, she was able to understand the volunteer activities well.
- The writer requests information about how to participate in next month's session.
- A fixed expression is よろしくお願いいたします; a productive pattern is 参加させていただきたい or ご連絡いただけますでしょうか (a respectful request form).
Chapter Review — Sections A and B
Open-ended; check against the Core Vocabulary and Script and Kanji Focus sections above.
Chapter Review — Section C
Open-ended for item 1; see Grammar Practice guidance above. For item 2, a correct explanation notes that respectful (尊敬語) forms raise the status of someone else's action, while humble (謙譲語) forms lower the status of the speaker's own action, and both are used to show respect toward the listener or a third party, distinct from ordinary polite (丁寧語) です／ます language.
Chapter Review — Section D
Model answer: 佐藤様への手紙は、説明会についてのお礼と、来月の説明会への参加についての依頼だ。書き手は「参加させていただきたい」という謙譲語の表現を使っている。 (Other accurate answers accepted.)
Chapter Review — Sections E and F, and Practical Performance Task
These are open-ended production tasks. Evaluate the written email against the Writing Workshop checklist above, and evaluate the spoken introduction, role-play, and peer or self-audit against the assessment focus listed under the Practical Performance Task.
Looking Ahead
いまできること — What you can do now
You can recognize and use basic respectful and humble keigo forms, along with a set of common fixed expressions, in emails, introductions, and formal visits. This begins Unit II, 視点と条件, and gives you a foundation of formal register that will combine with the passive forms and perspective work introduced in the next chapter.