The Basics guide mentioned that above plain-polite (です/ます) sits a whole system called keigo (敬語), and that you don't need it as a beginner. That's true — but you will hear it constantly the moment you interact with any shop, station, or office, so understanding it (long before producing it) is worth a read.
The three branches
Keigo isn't one thing. It's three coordinated systems:
- 丁寧語 (teineigo) — polite language. The です/ます you already use. Politeness toward the listener, neutral about status.
- 尊敬語 (sonkeigo) — respectful language. Raises the person you're talking about (the customer, the boss) by elevating their actions.
- 謙譲語 (kenjōgo) — humble language. Lowers your own actions when they touch a person you're respecting. Same goal — showing deference — from the other direction.
The mistake to avoid conceptually: sonkeigo is for the other person's actions, kenjōgo is for yours. Applying respectful forms to yourself, or humble forms to the listener, is the classic backwards error.
丁寧語 — the layer you already have
You're already doing keigo every time you say 食べます or 学生です. The only addition worth noting now is ございます, the extra-polite copula/existence verb you'll hear in service speech: 〜でございます ("it is…"), ありがとうございます (literally built on it).
尊敬語 — elevating the other person
Two productive patterns plus a set of special verbs. The productive honorific is お + verb stem + になる (お読みになる = "[you/they] read"). The honorific passive — identical in form to the passive — 行かれる, 来られる — is a lighter, common alternative. But the highest-frequency verbs have dedicated honorific forms you simply memorize:
| Plain | Honorific (尊敬語) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 行く・来る・いる | いらっしゃる | go / come / be |
| 言う | おっしゃる | say |
| する | なさる | do |
| 食べる・飲む | 召し上がる | eat / drink |
| 見る | ご覧になる | see |
| くれる | くださる | give (to me) |
謙譲語 — lowering yourself
The productive humble pattern is お + verb stem + する / いたす (お持ちします = "I'll carry it"). And again, the common verbs have dedicated humble forms:
| Plain | Humble (謙譲語) | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 行く・来る | 参る / 伺う | go / come (伺う: visit, ask) |
| 言う | 申す / 申し上げる | say |
| する | いたす | do |
| 食べる・飲む・もらう | いただく | eat / drink / receive |
| 見る | 拝見する | see / look at |
| いる | おる | be (existing) |
Set phrases you'll hear immediately
You don't conjugate your way to these — they're fixed chunks of service keigo. Recognizing them is more urgent than producing anything:
| Phrase | Reading | Use |
|---|---|---|
| いらっしゃいませ | irasshaimase | Welcome (said to you in any shop) |
| 少々お待ちください | shōshō omachi kudasai | Please wait a moment |
| お待たせしました | omatase shimashita | Sorry to have kept you waiting |
| かしこまりました | kashikomarimashita | Certainly / understood (staff) |
| 申し訳ございません | mōshiwake gozaimasen | I am very sorry |
| 〜でございます | de gozaimasu | It is … (extra-polite です) |
Common pitfalls
- Double keigo (二重敬語) — stacking two honorific mechanisms on one verb (e.g. honorific special verb and the お〜になる frame). It sounds overcooked, not extra polite.
- Honorific self — using 尊敬語 for your own actions. You are never いらっしゃる; you 参る.
- Register whiplash — a casual だ or 〜ちゃう dropped into otherwise keigo speech is jarring. Pick a register and hold it.
How much you actually need
As a learner, the order of operations is: recognize keigo when you hear it (so service interactions don't bewilder you), use the fixed phrases above as memorized units, and only much later produce keigo generatively. Native speakers themselves study this formally for work; nobody expects a learner to wield full kenjōgo. Don't let it intimidate you — it's a late polish, not a gate.