Learn the honorific form of the Japanese language
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| INTRODUCTION |
| Naomi: なおみです。(Naomi desu.) |
| Peter: Peter here. Please Speak Respectfully to My Japanese Parents! In this lesson, you will learn how to use extra formal Japanese. |
| Naomi: そうですね。 (Sō desu ne.) You'll also learn how to make extra Formal requests, such as お待ちください (o-machi kudasai). |
| Peter: “Please wait.” Where does this conversation take place? |
| Naomi: 会社と駅です。(Kaisha to eki desu.) |
| Peter: First, the speakers are talking in the office and then they walk to the train station. Who is this conversation between? |
| Naomi: 下山 新さんと上司ですね。(Shimoyama Shin-san to jōshi desu ne.) |
| Peter: Shin Shimoyama and his boss. What's the formality level of this conversation? |
| Naomi: 丁寧 (teinei) |
| Peter: Formal Japanese. |
| Naomi: では聞きましょう。(Dewa kikimashō.) |
| Peter: Let's listen to the conversation. |
| DIALOGUE |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : じゃ、すみません。お先に失礼します。(Ja, sumimasen. O-saki ni shitsurei shimasu.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : あ、もう、お帰りになりますか？下山様。(A, mō, o-kaeri ni narimasu ka? Shimoyama-sama.) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : へ？ああ、部長。すみません。今日、僕の誕生日なんですよ。(He? Ā, buchō. Sumimasen. Kyō, boku no tanjōbi nan desu yo.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : だから、彼女とデートなさるんですね。(Dakara, kanojo to dēto nasaru n desu ne.) |
| : 仕事より彼女の方が大切だとお思いになっているんですね。そうですか。(Shigoto yori kanojo no hō ga taisetsu dato o-omoi ni natte iru n desu ne. Sō desu ka.) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : 本当にすみません。(Hontō ni sumimasen.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : 冗談だよ。俺ももう帰るよ。駅まで一緒に行こう。(Jōdan da yo. Ore mo mō kaeru yo. Eki made issho ni ikō.) |
| 駅のアナウンス (eki no anaunsu) : １番線に電車がまいります。線の内側でお待ちください。(Ichi-bansen ni densha ga mairimasu. Sen no uchigawa de o-machi kudasai.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : そういえば、「足立医院」って家から近いか？(Sō ieba, "Adachi Iin" tte ie kara chikai ka?) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : ええ。近いですよ。俺が生まれた病院ですよ。(Ee. Chikai desu yo. Ore ga umareta byōin desu yo.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : 今、大きいニュースになっているぞ。「赤ちゃんを間違えた」って。(Ima, ōkii nyūsu ni natte iru zo. "Akachan o machigaeta" tte.) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : へー。そうなんですか。ひっどい話ですね。(Hē. Sō nan desu ka. Hiddoi hanashi desu ne.) |
| Naomi: もう一度、お願いします。今度はゆっくりお願いします。(Mō ichi-do, onegai shimasu. Kondo wa yukkuri onegai shimasu.) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : じゃ、すみません。お先に失礼します。(Ja, sumimasen. O-saki ni shitsurei shimasu.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : あ、もう、お帰りになりますか？下山様。(A, mō, o-kaeri ni narimasu ka? Shimoyama-sama.) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : へ？ああ、部長。すみません。今日、僕の誕生日なんですよ。(He? Ā, buchō. Sumimasen. Kyō, boku no tanjōbi nan desu yo.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : だから、彼女とデートなさるんですね。(Dakara, kanojo to dēto nasaru n desu ne.) |
| : 仕事より彼女の方が大切だとお思いになっているんですね。そうですか。(Shigoto yori kanojo no hō ga taisetsu dato o-omoi ni natte iru n desu ne. Sō desu ka.) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : 本当にすみません。(Hontō ni sumimasen.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : 冗談だよ。俺ももう帰るよ。駅まで一緒に行こう。(Jōdan da yo. Ore mo mō kaeru yo. Eki made issho ni ikō.) |
| 駅のアナウンス (eki no anaunsu) : １番線に電車がまいります。線の内側でお待ちください。(Ichi-bansen ni densha ga mairimasu. Sen no uchigawa de o-machi kudasai.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : そういえば、「足立医院」って家から近いか？(Sō ieba, "Adachi Iin" tte ie kara chikai ka?) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : ええ。近いですよ。俺が生まれた病院ですよ。(Ee. Chikai desu yo. Ore ga umareta byōin desu yo.) |
| 部長 (buchō) : 今、大きいニュースになっているぞ。「赤ちゃんを間違えた」って。(Ima, ōkii nyūsu ni natte iru zo. "Akachan o machigaeta" tte.) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : へー。そうなんですか。ひっどい話ですね。(Hē. Sō nan desu ka. Hiddoi hanashi desu ne.) |
| Naomi: 今度は、英語が入ります。(Kondo wa, Eigo ga hairimasu.) |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : じゃ、すみません。お先に失礼します。(Ja, sumimasen. O-saki ni shitsurei shimasu.) |
| If you excuse me, I'll be leaving now. |
| 部長 (buchō) : あ、もう、お帰りになりますか？下山様。(A, mō, o-kaeri ni narimasu ka? Shimoyama-sama.) |
| Oh, you are returning home already, Mr. Shimoyama? |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : へ？ああ、部長。すみません。今日、僕の誕生日なんですよ。(He? Ā, buchō. Sumimasen. Kyō, boku no tanjōbi nan desu yo.) |
| Huh? Ohh, Manager. Please excuse me...it's my birthday today, you see. |
| 部長 (buchō) : だから、彼女とデートなさるんですね。(Dakara, kanojo to dēto nasaru n desu ne.) |
| So...you're going on a date with your girlfriend, aren't you? |
| : 仕事より彼女の方が大切だとお思いになっているんですね。そうですか。(Shigoto yori kanojo no hō ga taisetsu dato o-omoi ni natte iru n desu ne. Sō desu ka.) |
| You think that your girlfriend is more important than work, is that it...? |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : 本当にすみません。(Hontō ni sumimasen.) |
| I'm really sorry! |
| 部長 (buchō) : 冗談だよ。俺ももう帰るよ。(Jōdan da yo. Ore mo mō kaeru yo.) |
| Just joking! I'm on my way out too. |
| : 駅まで一緒に行こう。(Eki made issho ni ikō.) |
| Let's go together to the station. |
| 駅のアナウンス (eki no anaunsu) : １番線に電車がまいります。線の内側でお待ちください。(Ichi-bansen ni densha ga mairimasu. Sen no uchigawa de o-machi kudasai.) |
| The train will be arriving at Track One. Please wait inside the line. |
| 部長 (buchō) : そういえば、「足立医院」って家から近いか？(Sō ieba, "Adachi Iin" tte ie kara chikai ka?) |
| I just remembered something...is Adachi Hospital close to your home? |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : ええ。近いですよ。俺が生まれた病院ですよ。(Ee. Chikai desu yo. Ore ga umareta byōin desu yo.) |
| Yes, it is. That's the hospital I was born at. |
| 部長 (buchō) : 今、大きいニュースになっているぞ。(Ima, ōkii nyūsu ni natte iru zo.) |
| It's making headlines right now. |
| :「赤ちゃんを間違えた」って。("Akachan o machigaeta" tte.) |
| They say that they had a baby mix-up. |
| 下山 新 (Shimoyama Shin) : へー。そうなんですか。ひっどい話ですね。(Hē. Sō nan desu ka. Hiddoi hanashi desu ne.) |
| Wow, really? That's awful! |
| POST CONVERSATION BANTER |
| Peter: 部長, Shin's boss uses extra formal language to Shin... Why is that? Shin's his subordinate, right? |
| Naomi: あ～、そうそうそう。でも…。(Ā, sō sō sō. Demo…) He said he was joking, didn't he? He said 冗談だよ (jōdan da yo). |
| Peter: Ah, so he was just playing around. |
| Naomi: うん。(Un.) |
| Peter: I see. Now if you look at the transcript, you'll notice that before he said 冗談だよ (jōdan da yo), he was speaking extra formally. But after he said 冗談だよ (jōdan da yo) he started speaking informally. |
| Naomi: In this case, he was joking. But I think sometimes people use extra formal language when they're being sarcastic. I believe you do that in English too, right? |
| Peter: Yes. I actually do this sometimes to joke around. |
| Naomi: へええ。(Hee.) In Japanese? |
| Peter: Of course! かんべ様。(Kanbe-sama.) |
| Naomi: I like that. |
| Peter: So the interesting thing here is that I'm elevating Naomi-sensei, calling her by her last name |
| Naomi: Plus 様 (sama). |
| Peter: When she is actually a subordinate. |
| VOCAB LIST |
| Peter: OK. Let's take a look at the vocabulary for this lesson. |
| The first word is: |
| 冗談 (jōdan) [natural native speed] |
| Peter: joke |
| 冗談 (jōdan) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 冗談 (jōdan) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| まいる (mairu) [natural native speed] |
| (humble language) to go, to come, to visit |
| まいる (mairu) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| まいる (mairu) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 番線 (bansen) [natural native speed] |
| track number, platform |
| 番線 (bansen) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 番線 (bansen) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| 医院 (iin) [natural native speed] |
| clinic |
| 医院 (iin) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| 医院 (iin) [natural native speed] |
| Next: |
| ひどい (hidoi) [natural native speed] |
| cruel, terrible |
| ひどい (hidoi) [slowly - broken down by syllable] |
| ひどい (hidoi) [natural native speed] |
| VOCAB AND PHRASE USAGE |
| Peter: Let's have a closer look at the usage for some of the words and phrases. The first one we look at is? |
| Naomi: ひどい (hidoi) |
| Peter: “cruel”, “terrible” |
| Naomi: If someone is being mean to you, you can say ひどい (hidoi)! |
| Peter: That's mean! In the dialogue, Shin inserted a stop around it, right? |
| Naomi: あ～、そうそう。(Ā, sō sō.) Yeah, he said ひっどい (hiddoi). |
| Peter: And that is for emphasis, right? |
| Naomi: Exactly. It's used in very informal spoken language. You can't apply this rule to all adjectives, though. |
| Peter: Can you give us some examples? |
| Naomi: Sure. やすい (yasui) |
| Peter: “cheap” |
| Naomi: becomes やっすい (yassui). たかい (takai) |
| Peter: “expensive” |
| Naomi: becomes たっかい (takkai). So how about this? まずい (mazui) |
| Peter: “taste bad” |
| Naomi: becomes? |
| Peter: まっずい (mazzui) |
| Naomi: そう。まっずい。(Sō. Mazzui.) |
| Peter: OK. What's the next one we'll look at? |
| Naomi: 医院 (iin) |
| Peter: “clinic” |
| Naomi: 医院は病院より小さいです。(Iin wa byōin yori chiisai desu.) |
| Peter: So you say that 医院 (iin), clinic is smaller than 病院 (byōin), a hospital? |
| Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) Right. And we don't usually say 医院に行きます (iin ni ikimasu) |
| Peter: “I'm going to a clinic.” |
| Naomi: Instead we say 病院に行きます (byōin ni ikimasu). |
| Peter: “I'm going to a hospital” |
| Naomi: Or 医者に行きます (isha ni ikimasu) |
| Peter: “I'm going to a doctor” |
| Naomi: Even if you're going to a clinic. |
| Peter: OK. So when do you use the this word 医院 (iin)? |
| Naomi: ん～とねぇ。(N to nee.) It's usually part of the name of a clinic. Like 足立医院 (Adachi Iin), Adachi clinic. |
| Peter: And also, don’t you have a katakana word for clinic? |
| Naomi: あ、そうね。クリニック。(A, sō ne. Kurinikku.) |
| Peter: Ok. And finally, the last word is? |
| Naomi: 1番線 (ichi-bansen) |
| Peter: “platform one” or “track number one” |
| Naomi: 気をつけてください。(Ki o tsukete kudasai.) Because you cannot use 番線 (bansen) by itself. |
| Peter: It always has to come after a number, right? |
| Naomi: Right. そうです。(Sō desu.) Like 一番線 (ichi-bansen) |
| Peter: “platform one” |
| Naomi: 二番線 (ni-bansen) |
| Peter: “platform two” |
| Naomi: 三番線 (san-bansen) |
| Peter: “platform three”. So how do you say just "platform" then? |
| Naomi: We say ホーム (hōmu). |
| Peter: ホーム (hōmu) |
| Naomi: そうです。(Sō desu.) |
| Peter: On to the grammar section. |
Lesson focus |
|---|
| Peter: In this lesson, you'll learn an extra formal way of requesting that someone do something. |
| Naomi: I think you're already familiar with this grammar in some set phrases. Like… お待ちください。(O-machi kudasai.) |
| Peter: "Please wait", said in an extremely polite Japanese. The formation is [honorific prefix お (o) ＋ masu-stem of a verb ＋ ください (kudasai)] |
| Let's start with the phrase "Please wait". Naomi-sensei. How do you say "to wait"? |
| Naomi: 待つ (matsu) |
| Peter: The masu-form is? |
| Naomi: 待ちます (machimasu) |
| Peter: Drop ます (masu) to get the masu-stem. |
| Naomi: 待ち (machi) |
| Peter: Add お (o) the honorific prefix to the front of it. |
| Naomi: お待ち (o-machi) |
| Peter: Finally, add ください (kudasai). |
| Naomi: お待ちください (o-machi kudasai) |
| Peter: "Please wait." Let's do one more example. Let's say "Insert your money"or "Put your money in". Naomi-sensei, how do you say "to insert"? |
| Naomi: 入れる (ireru) |
| Peter: The masu-form is? |
| Naomi: 入れます (iremasu) |
| Peter: The masu-stem is? |
| Naomi: 入れ (ire) |
| Peter: Add the honorific prefix お (o) to the beginning of it. |
| Naomi: お入れ (o-ire) |
| Peter: Then add ください (kudasai) after it. |
| Naomi: お入れください (o-ire kudasai) |
| Peter: "Please insert". How do you say "Insert your money"? |
| Naomi: お金をお入れください。(O-kane o o-ire kudasai.) |
| Peter: “Please insert your money.” |
| Naomi: You'll hear this phrase at ticket machines at the station. |
| Peter: Exactly. Now, in a business situation, when an employee (or a machine) makes a request or gives advice or instructions to a customer, this [お (o)＋masu-stem of a verb＋ください (kudasai)] is used more often than [-te from of a verb＋ください (kusadai)]. |
| Naomi: そうですね。(Sō desu ne.) The machine never say お金を入れてください。(O-kane o irete kudasai.) It says… お金をお入れください。(O-kane o o-ire kudasai.) |
| Peter: Let's review this lesson with a quiz. How do you say "Please take your train ticket"? Here's a hint. "To take" is とる (toru), "train ticket" is |
| Naomi: 切符 (kippu) |
| Peter: [pause] “Please take a train ticket” is? |
| Naomi: 切符をおとりください。(Kippu o o-tori kudasai.) |
| Peter: OK listeners, listen and repeat. "Please take your train ticket." |
| Naomi: 切符をおとりください。(Kippu o o-tori kudasai.) |
| Peter: Say "Please take your train ticket." in Japanese. |
| Naomi: [pause] 切符をおとりください。(Kippu o o-tori kudasai.) |
| Peter: OK. There's a detailed write up about the usage of 尊敬語 (sonkei-go), or honorific language in the lesson notes. Be sure to check it out! That's all for this lesson. |
| Naomi: And for this series! シリーズも終わりです。(Shirīzu mo owari desu.) Beginner Series Season 5 has come to an end. |
| Peter: Thank you for listening, everyone! See you in the next series. |
| Naomi: 次のシリーズで会いましょう。じゃ、また。(Tsugi no shirīzu de aimashō. Ja, mata.) |
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