Chapter 16 — 尊敬語: Respectful Language

Chapter 15 gave you the conceptual framework: keigo encodes social position, not mere politeness. This chapter puts that framework to work with the first major category you need to master for comprehension: 尊敬語, or respectful language.

尊敬語 elevates the actions, states, and possessions of the person you are showing respect to. It is never used for your own actions. When someone says 先生がいらっしゃいます, the verb いらっしゃる tells you two things: the teacher exists in some location (the content) and the speaker respects the teacher (the social signal). The content is identical to 先生がいます. The social signal is what keigo adds.

This chapter covers three ways to form 尊敬語: irregular respectful verbs (which must be memorized), the productive お〜になる pattern (which works with most verbs), and the passive form used as lightweight keigo (which you already know how to form). It also covers respectful nouns and prefixes. By the end, you will be able to recognize respectful language in business greetings, customer service, formal announcements, and everyday polite conversation.

The following diagram shows how the three categories of keigo relate to the speaker and listener. Keep this in mind as you study 尊敬語 in this chapter and 謙譲語 in the next:

Keigo: Who Is Elevated?
───────────────────────

  ┌─────────────┐          ┌─────────────┐
  │  Speaker     │          │  Listener /  │
  │  (わたし)     │          │  Third party │
  └──────┬──────┘          └──────┬──────┘
         │                        │
         │   尊敬語 (sonkeigo)     │
         │   elevates their ──────┤
         │   actions        ↑     │
         │                  │     │
         │   謙譲語 (kenjougo)    │
         │   lowers own ──→ │     │
         │   actions   ↓    │     │
         │                        │
         └────── 丁寧語 ──────────┘
              (teineigo: です/ます)
           general politeness level

  Example:
  先生が いらっしゃいます。 ← sonkeigo (elevates 先生)
  わたしが まいります。    ← kenjougo (lowers わたし)
  先生が 来ます。         ← teineigo (neutral polite)

16.1 Irregular Respectful Verbs

The most important 尊敬語 forms are irregular. They are completely different words from their plain equivalents — there is no formation rule, only memorization. The good news is that there are only about six that you need at this level, and you have already encountered several in Stage 1's keigo preview.

These irregular forms are the highest-frequency 尊敬語 in the language. You will hear them constantly in service settings, formal conversation, and business Japanese.

いらっしゃる — Respectful for いる, 行く, 来る

いらっしゃる replaces three plain verbs. Context determines which meaning is intended.

As いる (to exist / to be somewhere):

社長は会議室にいらっしゃいます。 "The president is in the meeting room."

田中先生はいらっしゃいますか。 "Is Professor Tanaka here?"

As 行く (to go):

明日、大阪にいらっしゃいますか。 "Will you be going to Osaka tomorrow?"

As 来る (to come):

部長は三時にいらっしゃるそうです。 "I hear the department head is coming at three."

Conjugation: いらっしゃる is a special 五段 verb. Its ます-form is いらっしゃいます (not いらっしゃります). This irregular ます-form is shared by several 尊敬語 verbs.

The imperative form いらっしゃいませ is the greeting you hear at every shop and restaurant. It literally means "please be here" or "please come in" — a respectful welcome.

Note: いらっしゃい is the casual form of this imperative, often heard from family members welcoming someone home: おかえり! — いらっしゃい!

おっしゃる — Respectful for 言う

おっしゃる replaces 言う when referring to someone else's speech respectfully.

先生がおっしゃったとおりです。 "It is just as the teacher said."

何とおっしゃいましたか。 "What did you say?" (respectful)

おっしゃるとおりです。 "It is as you say." (a polite way of expressing agreement)

Conjugation: Like いらっしゃる, おっしゃる has an irregular ます-form: おっしゃいます.

ご覧になる — Respectful for 見る

ご覧になる replaces 見る when referring to someone else's act of seeing or looking respectfully.

この写真をご覧になりましたか。 "Have you seen this photo?" (respectful)

どうぞご覧ください。 "Please have a look." (respectful request)

先生がご覧になった映画は何ですか。 "What is the movie the teacher watched?"

Formation: ご覧 is a respectful noun (meaning "a look / viewing"), and になる is added as a productive pattern. This is technically the お〜になる pattern (Section 16.2) applied to a ご-noun. But because ご覧になる is so common, it functions as a fixed expression.

Conjugation: ご覧になる conjugates as a regular 五段 verb (なる is 五段).

Request form: ご覧ください is the most common request form, used in announcements and formal speech.

召し上がる — Respectful for 食べる and 飲む

召し上がる replaces both 食べる and 飲む when describing someone else's eating or drinking respectfully.

どうぞ召し上がってください。 "Please eat / please help yourself." (respectful)

コーヒーを召し上がりますか。 "Would you like some coffee?" (respectful)

社長は昼ご飯をもう召し上がりました。 "The president has already eaten lunch."

Conjugation: 召し上がる is a 五段 verb with regular conjugation.

なさる — Respectful for する

なさる replaces する when describing someone else's actions respectfully.

何をなさいますか。 "What will you do?" (respectful)

お仕事は何をなさっていますか。 "What kind of work do you do?" (respectful)

先生は研究をなさっています。 "The professor is doing research."

Conjugation: Like いらっしゃる and おっしゃる, なさる has an irregular ます-form: なさいます. The imperative form なさい is familiar from Stage 1 — it is used as a softened command (食べなさい, 起きなさい), and it is in fact the imperative of this respectful verb.

くださる — Respectful for くれる

くださる replaces くれる when describing someone else's act of giving (to the speaker or the speaker's in-group) respectfully. You already know its imperative form: ください.

先生が本をくださいました。 "The teacher gave me a book." (respectful)

部長が説明してくださいました。 "The department head explained it for me." (respectful)

わざわざ来てくださって、ありがとうございます。 "Thank you for going out of your way to come."

Conjugation: くださる follows the same irregular ます-form pattern.

The ます-form irregularity

Notice that いらっしゃる, おっしゃる, なさる, and くださる all share the same irregularity: their ます-form replaces る with います rather than the expected ります.

This is a distinctive feature of these 尊敬語 verbs. When you hear a verb ending in 〜います or 〜いました with a long stem, you are very likely hearing a respectful verb.

Summary table

ご存知 — Respectful for 知る

ご存知 replaces 知っている when referring to someone else's knowledge respectfully. It is one of the most frequently encountered keigo expressions in daily business Japanese.

ご存知ですか。 "Do you know?" (respectful)

この言葉をご存知ですか。 "Do you know this word?" (respectful)

先生はもうご存知でした。 "The teacher already knew." (respectful)

ご存知 is technically a noun (a respectful form of the noun 存知, meaning "knowing"), so it takes the copula: ご存知だ / ご存知です. It does not conjugate as a verb. The negative is ご存知ない or ご存知ではない.

Note: The humble counterpart 存じる / 存じ上げる is covered in Chapter 17.

16.2 The Productive Pattern: お〜になる

The irregular verbs in Section 16.1 cover the most common actions (being, going, coming, saying, seeing, eating, doing, giving, knowing). But what about other verbs? You cannot create a special irregular form for every verb in the language. Instead, Japanese provides a productive pattern that works with most verbs:

お + ます-stem + になる

This pattern transforms any eligible verb into its respectful form. "Eligible" means the verb is not one of the irregular forms from Section 16.1 and is not a する compound verb (those use ご instead of お).

Formation

Take the ます-stem of the verb (the form before ます) and wrap it with お before and になる after.

Examples in sentences

先生はもうお帰りになりました。 "The teacher has already gone home." (respectful)

この本をお読みになりましたか。 "Have you read this book?" (respectful)

どうぞお座りになってください。 "Please have a seat." (respectful)

社長はお休みになっています。 "The president is resting." (respectful)

何をお持ちになりますか。 "What will you bring?" (respectful)

Conjugation

Since the pattern ends in なる (a regular 五段 verb), conjugation is straightforward:

For する compound verbs: ご〜になる

When the verb is a Sino-Japanese noun + する (a する compound), the prefix changes from お to ご:

何時にご出発になりますか。 "What time will you be departing?" (respectful)

この資料をご確認になりましたか。 "Have you reviewed this document?" (respectful)

However, be aware that not all する compounds accept this pattern. Very common ones do; unusual or technical ones may sound strange. When in doubt, the passive-as-respectful pattern (Section 16.3) is a safe alternative.

Shortened form: お〜ください

For requests, the お〜になる pattern has a convenient short form:

お + ます-stem + ください

This is extremely common in service settings.

お座りください。 "Please have a seat." (respectful, shorter than お座りになってください)

少々お待ちください。 "Please wait a moment."

お気をつけください。 "Please be careful."

こちらにお書きください。 "Please write here."

For する compounds, the pattern is ご〜ください:

ご利用ください。 "Please use (this service)."

ご確認ください。 "Please confirm."

ご注意ください。 "Please be careful." (used in announcements)

You hear お〜ください and ご〜ください constantly in public spaces. They are among the most practical 尊敬語 forms to recognize.

Verbs that do not use お〜になる

A few categories of verbs do not take the お〜になる pattern:

1. Verbs that already have irregular 尊敬語 forms — use the irregular form instead. Do not say お言いになる; say おっしゃる. Do not say お食べになる; say 召し上がる.

2. Very short verbs — verbs with one-mora ます-stems (like 見る → 見, 寝る → 寝, いる → い) tend to sound awkward with お〜になる. お見になる is not standard; ご覧になる is used instead.

3. Foreign loanword verbs — verbs like コピーする or チェックする do not take this pattern naturally.

16.3 Passive as Respectful

In Chapter 3, you learned the passive form of verbs (書く → 書かれる, 食べる → 食べられる). In that chapter, the passive expressed that something was done to someone, often with an adversative nuance. But the passive form has a second life in Japanese: it functions as a lightweight form of 尊敬語.

How it works

The passive form of a verb, when applied to someone else's action, can express respect. It is less formal than the お〜になる pattern or the irregular 尊敬語 verbs, but it is perfectly acceptable in business and formal settings.

社長は何と言われましたか。 "What did the president say?" (respectful, using passive of 言う)

先生は何時に来られますか。 "What time will the teacher arrive?" (respectful, using passive of 来る)

部長はもう帰られました。 "The department head has already gone home." (respectful, using passive of 帰る)

田中さんはこの本を読まれましたか。 "Has Tanaka read this book?" (respectful, using passive of 読む)

Comparison of respectful levels

The three methods of forming 尊敬語 exist on a scale of formality:

When an irregular form exists, it is the most respectful. お〜になる is the standard productive form and is solidly respectful. The passive is the lightest touch — still clearly 尊敬語, but not as elevated.

In practice, many speakers use the passive-as-respectful form in semi-formal situations where full お〜になる feels excessive. It is a comfortable middle ground.

Ambiguity with true passive

The passive-as-respectful form is identical in shape to the true passive. Context resolves the ambiguity:

この本は多くの人に読まれている。 "This book is read by many people." (true passive — the book is the subject receiving the action)

先生はこの本を読まれましたか。 "Has the teacher read this book?" (respectful — the teacher is the respected subject performing the action)

The distinction is usually clear from the subject and the social context. If the subject is a respected person performing an action, the passive is respectful. If the subject is a thing or person receiving an action from an agent, it is a true passive.

一段 verbs: potential or passive or respectful?

For 一段 verbs, the passive form is identical to the potential form (食べられる = "can eat" or "is eaten" or respectful "eats"). With three possible meanings collapsed into one form, context becomes essential:

先生はもう食べられましたか。 Most likely: "Has the teacher already eaten?" (respectful) Less likely: "Can the teacher eat now?" (potential)

In practice, when the subject is a respected person and the sentence structure suggests a completed action, the respectful reading is default. True ambiguity is rare.

16.4 Respectful Nouns and Prefixes

尊敬語 is not limited to verbs. Nouns referring to the respected person's possessions, attributes, family, or circumstances can also be elevated. The primary mechanism is the お/ご prefix system you already know from 美化語, but used specifically to elevate the other person rather than to add general refinement.

お + Native Japanese nouns (referring to the other person)

お名前は何とおっしゃいますか。 "What is your name?" (respectful)

お体に気をつけてください。 "Please take care of your health." (respectful)

お忙しいところ、すみません。 "I'm sorry to bother you when you're busy."

ご + Sino-Japanese nouns (referring to the other person)

ご家族はお元気ですか。 "Is your family doing well?" (respectful)

ご質問はありますか。 "Do you have any questions?" (respectful)

ご連絡ありがとうございます。 "Thank you for contacting us."

Distinguishing 美化語 from 尊敬語 prefixes

The prefix お/ご serves double duty. When attached to words referring to the speaker's own things or to general concepts, it is 美化語 (beautification). When attached to words referring to the listener's or a respected person's things, it is 尊敬語 (respectful). The form is identical — the function differs based on whose possession or action is being described.

お茶をどうぞ。 — 美化語 (general refinement: "Please have some tea.") お考えをお聞かせください。 — 尊敬語 (your thoughts: "Please share your thoughts with us.")

In practice, you do not need to analyze which category a given お/ご belongs to. The important thing is to recognize that these prefixes signal politeness, and when they appear before words describing the listener, they signal respect.

Respectful noun replacements

A small number of nouns have entirely different respectful forms, parallel to the irregular verb replacements:

どなたですか。 / どちらさまですか。 "Who are you?" (respectful — used when greeting visitors)

どちらからいらっしゃいましたか。 "Where did you come from?" (respectful)

おいくつですか。 "How old are you?" (respectful)

16.5 Recognition Practice — Keigo in Context

Now that you know the forms, let us practice recognizing them in realistic contexts. For each passage below, identify the 尊敬語 forms and determine what plain verb they replace.

Business greeting

山田部長、おはようございます。昨日のレポートはご覧になりましたか。新しいデータが入っていますので、ぜひお読みになってください。

Analysis:

• ご覧になりましたか → 見ましたか (respectful: "Did you look at it?")
• お読みになってください → 読んでください (respectful: "Please read it.")

The speaker is addressing their superior (部長) and uses 尊敬語 for the superior's actions.

Customer service — at a restaurant

いらっしゃいませ。何名様ですか。こちらへどうぞ。メニューをご覧ください。ご注文がお決まりになりましたら、お呼びください。

Analysis:

• いらっしゃいませ → (welcome greeting, from いらっしゃる)
• 何名様 → 何人 (respectful counter + さま)
• ご覧ください → 見てください (respectful: "Please look.")
• お決まりになりましたら → 決まりましたら (respectful: "When you have decided")
• お呼びください → 呼んでください (respectful: "Please call us.")

The restaurant staff uses 尊敬語 for every customer action.

Train station announcement

まもなく三番線に電車が参ります。危ないですから、黄色い線の内側までお下がりください。お降りのお客様を先にお通しください。

Analysis:

• お下がりください → 下がってください (respectful: "Please step back.")
• お降りのお客様 → 降りるお客さん (respectful: "Passengers getting off")
• お通しください → 通してください (respectful: "Please let them through.")

Note: 参ります in this announcement is 謙譲語 II (humble language), not 尊敬語. The train company speaks humbly about its own train. But the requests directed at passengers use 尊敬語. This is typical of announcements: humble about the company, respectful toward the public.

Phone call to a company

はい、山本でございます。田中部長でいらっしゃいますか。少々お待ちくださいませ。ただいまおつなぎいたします。

Analysis:

• でございます → です (ultra-polite copula)
• いらっしゃいますか → ですか (respectful: "Is it Department Head Tanaka?")
• お待ちくださいませ → 待ってください (respectful: "Please wait.")
• おつなぎいたします → つなぎます ("I will connect you" — this is 謙譲語, the humble form, for the speaker's own action)

This short passage contains 丁寧語 (でございます), 尊敬語 (いらっしゃる, お待ちくださいませ), and 謙譲語 (いたします). All three work together in a single exchange.

Reading Passage 2 — ホテルの　チェックイン

Read the following passage depicting a hotel check-in scene. The hotel staff uses 尊敬語 throughout when addressing the guest.

山田さんは京都のホテルに着きました。フロントに行くと、スタッフが「いらっしゃいませ。ご予約のお客様でいらっしゃいますか」と言いました。

山田さんが「はい、山田です」と言うと、スタッフは「山田様ですね。お待ちしておりました。こちらにお名前とご住所をお書きください」と言いました。

山田さんが書き終わると、スタッフは「ありがとうございます。お部屋は五階の五〇三号室でございます。お荷物はお持ちいたします。エレベーターはあちらでございます」と説明しました。

山田さんが「朝ごはんは何時からですか」と聞くと、スタッフは「朝食は七時から召し上がれます。レストランは二階にございます。お好きなお時間にいらっしゃってください。何かご質問がございましたら、いつでもお電話ください」と答えました。

山田さんは「ありがとう」と言って、部屋に向かいました。

Translation

Mr. Yamada arrived at a hotel in Kyoto. When he went to the front desk, the staff said, "Welcome. Are you a guest with a reservation?"

When Mr. Yamada said "Yes, I am Yamada," the staff said, "Mr. Yamada, I see. We have been expecting you. Please write your name and address here."

When Mr. Yamada finished writing, the staff said, "Thank you. Your room is number 503 on the fifth floor. I will carry your luggage. The elevator is over there."

When Mr. Yamada asked, "What time is breakfast from?" the staff answered, "You may have breakfast from seven o'clock. The restaurant is on the second floor. Please come at whatever time you prefer. If you have any questions, please call at any time."

Mr. Yamada said "Thank you" and headed to his room.

Notes on the passage

ご予約のお客様 — "guest with a reservation." Both ご and お are respectful prefixes elevating the customer.

お待ちしておりました — This combines the humble pattern お〜する with おる (humble for いる). The staff humbles their own action of waiting. This is 謙譲語, not 尊敬語 — staff lower themselves before the guest.

でございます — The ultra-polite copula, used by staff throughout.

召し上がれます — The potential form of 召し上がる (respectful for 食べる). "You can eat" in respectful language.

いらっしゃってください — The て-form of いらっしゃる + ください. "Please come" in respectful language.

ございましたら — The たら conditional form of ございます. "If there are..."

Note: In this passage, the staff uses 尊敬語 for all of the guest's actions (いらっしゃる, 召し上がる, お書きください) and 謙譲語 for their own actions (お持ちいたします, お待ちしておりました). This combination is standard in Japanese hospitality.

16.6 Vocabulary List

All irregular 尊敬語 verbs and key respectful expressions from this chapter.