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Apr 25, 2024 · Formal Japanese. Formal Japanese can be divided up into three major categories: 丁寧語 (ていねいご, polite language), 尊敬語 (そんけいご, honorific language) and 謙譲語 (けんじょうご, humble language). Depending on the situation and the statuses of those involved, the type of formal Japanese you use will be different:
Sep 2, 2023 · Japanese has different types of formality. There are two main groups: futsūtai (普通体/ふつうたい) and keigo (敬語/けいご). Futsūtai is informal/casual Japanese and keigo is formal Japanese. There are 5 subgroups within keigo. Learn how to identify and when to use each level of formality to level-up your Japanese!
- Honorifics. Japanese honorifics are special endings attached to names to show respect or indicate the nature of the person's relationship. Honorifics can be added to a last name, first name, or full name.
- Names and titles. In general you'll always use an honorific or title to refer to someone, instead of using their first name alone. Using first names is pretty rare outside of family or very close friends and romantic partners!
- Pronouns. Most people use names or titles instead of a second person pronounfor talking directly to someone. (In English, our second person pronoun is "you.")
Feb 24, 2022 · The Japanese language has a system like that: we have several levels of formality in our language built into the very grammar we use. Depending on our relationship to the person we’re speaking with, Japanese speakers adjust their language to show the proper amount of respect for their conversational partner.
Apr 19, 2024 · But Japanese isn’t only polite, formal language! There’s also a level of informality separate from keigo. This is casual speech, which you can use when you’re talking with people younger than you, in a lower position than you, or who you know well, like certain friends and family members.
Dec 11, 2020 · Formal or informal Japanese might seem a complicated choice for the student of the language, but it gets easier once the basics of formal Japanese are mastered along with a few mental shifts about respect and rank. Let’s look at how all of this works in real situations and examples. Basic Differences of Formal and Informal Japanese
What makes Japanese different from many other languages is that "politeness" or "formality" is explicitly coded into the grammar. If you think about English, in formal speech we change our choice of words and use more complete (or even excessively long) ways of phrasing what we want to say.
