Your speech will differ accordingly to the person in front of you: a friend, a colleague, a chief or a client and to whom you a referring to yourself, your friend, colleague or client.īut don’t believe keigo speech is easier for native speakers, too. It can be based on a different position or experience in a company, like your senpai (someone who’s more senior). To use keigo is to show your consideration and respect for a person older than you or someone with a higher social standing. Despite the disappearance of the caste system, honorific speech is still used to mark the degree of intimacy or social standing between people. We’ll discuss the honorific forms, humble forms, conjugations and phrases.ĭo you know that Japan had a caste system in the past? Until the Meiji restoration, people in different castes would not speak the same Japanese as a form of respect for social ranks. So in this article, we’re guiding you through all the nooks and crannies of Japanese keigo - from the viewpoint of a non-native.
Or, at least, that was at the beginning.Īs you reach for the intermediate step, the fun fades away and you are shaking your head with despair as you try to understand Japanese honorific speech. Gradually, you were able to express yourself and hold a steady casual conversation in Japanese. You enjoyed writing your first hiragana and katakana. Whatever the reason you are studying Japanese, we believe you were having fun.
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