|
Polite forms
The distinction between polite and informal is much more
pronounced in Japanese than it is in English. Not using the polite
form while talking or writing to a stranger or superior is extremely
insulting. Mastering the correct level of politeness is of paramount
importance when communicating with the Japanese.
Here we will focus on the most neutral form of politeness, the
honorific and humble forms will be discussed in later lessons, since
they are probably the most difficult part of the Japanese language.
Most of the time you'll be able to get away with using this form
though.
There are two distinct forms of politeness. Being polite when talking
to someone, and being polite when talking about someone or something.
The honorific forms we've seen so far: The honorific prefix お… and
the honorific suffix …さん are polite when talking about someone or
something. These words are sometimes translated as "honourable"
in movies or cartoons, but should normally be left out of the translation,
since the English language doesn't have words that can be used in
such situations.
The "-masu" (…ます) form
The "masu" form is the general polite form. It is neither
humble nor honourific, and is used when two people are of the same
status, or when the status of the other person is not known. This
form is polite to the person you are speaking to, it is not related
to the topic of your conversation. This translates to speaking to
colleagues, people on the street, and on the telephone. Almost every
verb can be made polite by adding …ます (masu) to the ren'youkei conjugation.
Note that the "u" on "-masu" is silent.
| Group 4 |
| 書く (kaku) |
to write |
→ |
書きます (kakimasu) |
to write |
| 買う (kau) |
to buy |
→ |
買います (kaimasu) |
to buy |
| ある (aru) |
there is/are |
→ |
あります (arimasu) |
there is/are |
| 入る (hairu) |
to enter |
→ |
入ります (hairimasu) |
to enter |
| |
| Group 2 |
| いる (iru) |
there is/are |
→ |
います (imasu) |
there is/are |
| 食べる (taberu) |
to eat |
→ |
食べます (tabemasu) |
to eat |
| 出る (deru) |
to appear |
→ |
出ます (demasu) |
to appear |
| 見る (miru) |
to see |
→ |
見ます (mimasu) |
to see |
| |
| Irregular verbs |
| する (suru) |
to do |
→ |
します (shimasu) |
to do |
| 来る (kuru) |
to come |
→ |
来ます (kimasu) |
to come |
| |
As you can see, the translations stay the same.
Desu (です)
There is only one exception: だ (da), which has as its polite form:
です (desu). As explained in the third lesson, だ is a contraction
of である (de aru). です is also a contraction, in this case from the
extremely polite でございます (de gozaimasu). This extreme level of politeness
is lost when it is contracted into です, and the verb takes on a neutral
level of politeness, the same as …ます.
Note that the "u" on "desu" is silent.
| である (de aru) |
to be |
→ |
であります (de arimasu) |
to be |
| だ (da) |
to be |
→ |
です (desu) |
to be |
| |
Time
Words indicating time are followed by the particle に (ni). Words
indicating a period of time rather than a specific point in time
are preferably used without the particle. These words include "tomorrow",
"today", "this morning", "last year",
"every month", et cetera.
| 明日に来る。 |
Ashita ni kuru. |
He's coming tomorrow. |
| 明日来る。 |
Ashita kuru. |
He's coming tomorrow. |
| |
| 今日にする。 |
Kyou ni suru. |
I'll do it today. |
| 今日する。 |
Kyou suru. |
I'll do it today. |
| |
For some statements of time more than one pronunciation exists.
As a general rule, the Chinese reading "音読み" (on'yomi)
is the formal reading, the Japanese reading "訓読み" (kun'yomi)
is the normal reading.
| |
Kun'yomi (normal) |
On'yomi (formal) |
| 明日 |
Ashita |
Myounichi |
In some cases, the on'yomi can have a different meaning:
| |
Kun'yomi |
On'yomi |
| 今日 |
kyou |
today |
konnichi |
nowadays |
The particle の as a relative pronoun
An important function of の (no) is the relative pronoun. I have
briefly touched upon this point in lesson 1, but I will further
elaborate on it here.
When used as a relative pronoun you can usually translate の as "which
is" or "who is". The second statement is described
by the first statement.
| 田村さんの先生 |
Tamura-san no sensei |
The teacher of Mr. Tamura /
Mr. Tamura's teacher |
| 先生の田村さん |
Sensei no Tamura-san |
Mr. Tamura who is a teacher /
The teacher, Mr. Tamura |
| |
Sometimes the relative pronoun seems superfluous in English, in
these cases you can replace the explicative with a single word.
| 男の子 |
Otoko no ko |
The child who is a man /
The boy |
| 女の人 |
Onna no hito |
The person who is a woman /
The woman |
|
