Business Japanese – Keigo | 敬語

Keigo, which means “respectful language” in Japanese, is an important aspect of the language. Politeness is an integral part of the Japanese society, and hence using ‘respectful’ and ‘polite’ language is of utmost importance for them. Keigo is mainly used when talking to people outside one’s group – customers, clients, seniors or highly respected people.

Keigo can be categorized into: Teineigo (polite language), Sonkeigo (respectful language) and Kenjogo (humble language).

Using correct keigo is important for those who want learn business Japanese. In this lesson, let us learn how and when to use the three keigo – Teineigo, Sonkeigo and Kenjogo.

Teineigo 丁寧語

In Teineigo, the speaker uses polite words in their speech. The sentences should end with ですます form, and words should start with an ‘o’ or ‘go’ (お/ご).

The following are some examples of teineigo,

です comes after  nouns and adjectives.

Example: これは本です。(本 is a noun)

ます is a suffix to verbs.

Example: 学校に行きます。(行く is a verb)

お and ご are two prefixes that are used before words  to make them sound polite.

Example: ご注文はお決まりですか。(ご+注文 and お+決まり )

Now, お and ご cannot be used before every word. As a general rule, お is used as prefix before native Japanese words or 和語, like お電話します(verb)、お元気(adjective)、おみやげ(noun). ご is used as a prefix before words of Chinese origin or 漢語, like ご連絡します(verb)、ご満足(adjective )、ご計画(noun).

お is also used as a prefix before words that refer to someone else’s family.

Example: お父さん、お母さん、おじいさん、お嬢さん。

In order to sound more polite while asking a question, the sentence is ended with でしょうか instead of ですか.

Example: これはいかがでしょうか。

Sonkeigo 尊敬語

In Sonkeigo, the speaker has high regards for the listener or the third person and directly speaks to them or about them with respect.

The three patterns of sonkeigo are:

お/ご~になります/ください pattern

Example: 先生、きょうの新聞、お読みになりましたか。

れる/られる pattern

Example: 先生、コーヒー、飲まれますか。

Using special words

Like using いっらしゃいます instead of います

Example: 先生はどこにいっらしゃいますか。

In all the above examples, the speaker is either directly talking to or talking about 先生 (sensei). The speaker is giving respect to sensei by using one of the three patterns of sonkeigo.

Kenjogo 謙譲語

In Kenjogo, the speaker uses humble words in their speech to lower themselves infront of the listner. It is an indirect way of being polite or showing respect to the listener.

Ending the sentence with ~いたします/~させていただきます

Example: ご連絡させていただきます。

Using special words

Like usingはいけんします instead of 見ます

Example: その映画、はいけんしました。

The following table shows some basic examples of keigo words