行く・
A sentence ends in one of two styles: polite (です, ます) or plain (だ, 行く). The facts don't change. The ending shows how you stand with the person you are talking to.
to a stranger
Excuse me. Does this train go to Kyoto?
to family or a friend
Have you eaten breakfast yet?
| Plain | Polite | |
|---|---|---|
| Verb | 行く | 行きます |
| Noun | 学生だ | 学生です |
| な-adjective | 静かだ | 静かです |
| い-adjective | 高い | 高いです |
Who gets which
| Plain | Polite | |
|---|---|---|
| Talking to | Family, close friends, children, yourself | Strangers, shop and station staff, teachers, anyone senior to you, adults you have just met |
| Writing | Diaries, notes, novels, newspapers | Emails, letters and messages to anyone you would speak politely to |
Polite style is ordinary good manners, not stiffness. When you aren't sure, it is the safe one.
I will attend tomorrow's meeting.
A message to your boss.
I will attend tomorrow's meeting.
A note in your own diary.
It doesn't have to match
Someone older or senior may speak to you in plain style. That is normal, and it isn't a signal to answer the same way.
Have you done your homework yet?
A is a teacher, B a student.
From polite to plain
Adults who have just met start polite and move to plain as they become friends: students of the same age almost at once, colleagues over months. The older person usually goes first, and may say so.
You can talk casually with me.
タメ口 is plain talk between equals.
Going plain too early sounds over-familiar, and with a teacher or a boss, rude. Sudden polite style with a close friend can sound cold.
Plain style between friends
A question between friends drops か, and the voice rises instead. だ goes too: 元気？, not 元気だ？. はい becomes うん.
Are you going to watch a movie tomorrow?
Sounds odd: 明日、
Are you going to watch a movie tomorrow?
With か, a plain question sounds rough.
In the middle of a sentence
The end of the sentence sets the style. In front of a noun the verb is normally plain, however polite the sentence is.
The book I bought yesterday is very interesting.
Sounds odd: 昨日
The book I bought yesterday is very interesting.
One polite ending is enough.
Close neighbours
The four polite forms of a verb.
My father does not work on Sundays.
The four plain forms of a verb.
I went to Kyoto last week.
Respectful verbs honor the person you are talking about: a customer, a teacher. です and ます are polite to the person you are talking to.
What will you have?
Check yourself
1You stop someone in the street to ask the way. Which fits?
Choose an answer to see why.
2A senior colleague asks you this. Which reply fits?
この
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
Thinking aloud
What you say to yourself is plain, even in polite company. Nobody minds.
Oh, here's the bus.
More sentences
to a visitor
The reception desk is on the second floor.
a diary
It rained today. I read a book at home.
a note to yourself
I am going to the beach this weekend.
The person I met at the station is Ms. Tanaka.