Study Japanese 101

Do Beginners Need Keigo? です/ます First, Honorifics Later

です/ます is the polite type of keigo and belongs at the start. Respectful 尊敬語 and humble 謙譲語 can wait for active use until work, interviews or formal writing, but learn to recognize the common customer-service phrases early.

Study Japanese 101 editorial team · · 5 min read

Beginners need the polite です/ます form from the start, and it is already one kind of keigo (敬語, polite language). The respectful 尊敬語 (sonkeigo) and humble 謙譲語 (kenjōgo) forms can wait for active use until you need Japanese at work, in a job interview or in formal writing. Learn to recognize a handful of common ones early, though, because shop and station staff use them with customers every day.

What counts as keigo

Keigo is often explained as three types: respectful, humble and polite. The Council for Cultural Affairs’ 2007 report 敬語の指針 (Guidelines on Keigo) uses five. It says the five types do not conflict with the three. They split humble language and polite language into two groups each:

  • 尊敬語 (respectful): raises the other person or a third party when you talk about their actions, things or state. Examples: いらっしゃる, おっしゃる, 召し上がる, お名前.
  • 謙譲語Ⅰ (humble I): describes an action by you or your side toward someone, and raises that person. Examples: 伺う, 申し上げる, お届けする.
  • 謙譲語Ⅱ (humble II, also called 丁重語): describes what you or your side do courteously to the listener. Examples: 参る, 申す.
  • 丁寧語 (polite): polite to the listener. The guide labels this group the です・ます type.
  • 美化語 (refined words): makes the wording more refined. Examples: お酒, お料理.

So if the question is “do I need keigo?”, the answer is yes, and you are probably already learning it. The parts beginners can delay are 尊敬語 and 謙譲語.

The same sentence at three levels

Compare how the verb changes:

  • Will you eat? 食べる？ (taberu?, casual), 食べますか (tabemasu ka, polite), 召し上がりますか (meshiagarimasu ka, respectful).
  • I will go tomorrow. 明日行く (ashita iku, casual), 明日行きます (ashita ikimasu, polite), 明日参ります (ashita mairimasu, humble).

Respectful forms describe the actions of the other person or a third party. Humble forms describe your own actions or those of your side, such as your family or company. Never use 尊敬語 for yourself: 私がいらっしゃいます is wrong. Choosing the right direction takes practice, which is why the polite middle form is the safer default while you learn.

When です/ます is enough

These are editorial suggestions. です/ます is a sound default for:

  • strangers, shop staff, hotel staff and people you meet while traveling;
  • classmates, teachers in a language class, and language-exchange partners;
  • your first messages to anyone you do not know well.

As a customer, you do not need to answer staff in honorific language. Staff raise you with 尊敬語, and you reply in plain polite Japanese.

Keigo to recognize early

Tae Kim’s chapter on honorific and humble forms notes that you will often hear this kind of language in customer situations such as restaurants and fast food counters. A few common examples:

  • いらっしゃいませ (irasshaimase): welcome. It comes from いらっしゃる.
  • 少々お待ちください (shōshō omachi kudasai): please wait a moment.
  • ポイントカードはお持ちですか (pointo kādo wa omochi desu ka): do you have a point card?
  • かしこまりました (kashikomarimashita): certainly. A very polite way for staff to say “understood.”

Recognizing these is enough for daily life as a beginner. You do not need to produce them.

When active keigo matters

Start producing 尊敬語 and 謙譲語 when you will use Japanese at work, apply for jobs in Japanese, write business email, or work with customers. Native speakers study it too. Japan’s national course of study asks fifth and sixth graders to understand and get used to commonly used keigo, and returns to it in the second and third years of middle school.

Workplace keigo also depends on whose side a person is on. The guidelines discuss a common case: when you speak to someone from another company about your own manager, you treat the manager as part of your side. You call the manager 田中 or 部長の田中 (buchō no Tanaka, Tanaka, our manager), not 田中部長 with a title. For example, you might say 部長の田中は外出しております (buchō no Tanaka wa gaishutsu shite orimasu, our manager Tanaka is out of the office). おる is a 謙譲語Ⅱ verb, the humble counterpart of いる.

A sensible first step is the humble self-introduction: 田中と申します (Tanaka to mōshimasu, my name is Tanaka). It uses 申す, a 謙譲語Ⅱ verb, and it fits interviews and first meetings.

How to learn it when you need it

Learn keigo in situations, not as a verb table. Take one situation, such as a phone call, an interview or a business email, and learn the five or six phrases it uses. For explanations, start with the Tae Kim chapter above or your course. For lookup, the grammar resources guide lists deeper references such as A Dictionary of Japanese Grammar. For practice, a tutor on italki can role-play an interview and correct your choices.

Limits

Keigo is not only grammar. Who to raise depends on the relationship and the setting, and the guidelines describe modern keigo as based on mutual respect and as a form of self-expression. People also differ in how strictly they use it. If you are unsure, clear です/ます is better than a misplaced honorific.

Next step: make sure です/ます feels automatic in your own course. Then learn the four customer phrases above by ear, and add 田中と申します with your own name to your self-introduction.

Sources

Prepared by our editorial team with AI assistance. Product details are checked against the sources below.

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