"Desu" just for politeness

[MFoogle]

When you're talking to someone older/with more respect than you, I know you normally need to say "desu" a lot. But after everything? Like can you just say "Hontou ni?" or "Doushite?" or something just by itself, or do you always need desu?
So...is there ever too much desu?

[chikara]

Your examples are both questions so you need to add "desu ka" not simply "desu" to both of those to make them more polite sounding.

"Hontou ni desu ka"
"Doushite desu ka"

[MFoogle]

Well yah, but do you need to add "desu [ka]" after everything (with the exceptions of verbs and such)? Does it ever get tiring during a conversation at all? "Sou desu ka?" "Maji desu ka?" "Hontou desu ka?" "Doushite desu ka?" "Kore desu." "Sore desu." "Asoko desu."

And bringing up "hontou ni desu ka?" do you need the "ni" when it's only desu? I thought you didn't use it then.

[richvh]

I don't think 本当にですか is grammatical. You ought to say 本当ですか instead.

[chikara]

I don't think 本当にですか is grammatical. You ought to say 本当ですか instead.

I wondered that but I got plenty of Googits.

[Yudan Taiteki]

Well yah, but do you need to add "desu [ka]" after everything (with the exceptions of verbs and such)? Does it ever get tiring during a conversation at all? "Sou desu ka?" "Maji desu ka?" "Hontou desu ka?" "Doushite desu ka?" "Kore desu." "Sore desu." "Asoko desu."

I would recommend against "maji desu ka" since "maji" is a slang word to begin with. Sometimes kids will say "majissu ka" but that's not really something to emulate, IMO.

But yes, in general, you always need to end sentences with masu forms when speaking politely to someone, whether you are tired of it or not. Often native Japanese will end sentences with -te forms or "kedo..." even in polite speech so they actually don't end up using "desu" as much as you might think.

And bringing up "hontou ni desu ka?" do you need the "ni" when it's only desu? I thought you didn't use it then.

This is an example of the widening use of "desu" as a general politeness marker that can be added to virtually anything. I think that "hontou ni desu ka" is still not widespread enough to recommend its use, though.

(Are "hontou?" and "hontou ni?" interchangeable?)

[richvh]

I don't think 本当にですか is grammatical. You ought to say 本当ですか instead.

I wondered that but I got plenty of Googits.

Put quotes around it and the numbers drop drastically.

[two_heads_talking]

(Are "hontou?" and "hontou ni?" interchangeable?)

As far as I know there is no real distinction.

[MFoogle]

Not a big change, really, I guess. One's just an adverb and one's a noun/adj.

本当に 【ほんとうに(P); ほんとに(ik)】 (adv) really; truly;
本当 【ほんとう(P); ほんと(ik)】 (adj-na,n) truth; reality

And I have another question now that I think about it.

When you're talking to your parents/grandparents/etc., and you're really close to them, do you still need to use formal speech just because of their age/status? And what if you have a really close friend who's twice your age or something?

[two_heads_talking]

Not a big change, really, I guess. One's just an adverb and one's a noun/adj.

本当に 【ほんとうに(P); ほんとに(ik)】 (adv) really; truly;
本当 【ほんとう(P); ほんと(ik)】 (adj-na,n) truth; reality

And I have another question now that I think about it.

When you're talking to your parents/grandparents/etc., and you're really close to them, do you still need to use formal speech just because of their age/status? And what if you have a really close friend who's twice your age or something?

AS for parents, none of the kids I ran into would be extra polite to their parents. It was a mix of plain and polite forms. most conversation was plain form. I imagine that it might change as the children get older. Those that I saw were from the ages of 3-14 or so.

I just don't know that there is a "hard" rule and I imagine that each family has their own set of do's and don'ts when it comes to "keigo."

[Mike Cash]

Does it ever get tiring during a conversation at all?

Only about as tiring as having to use am/are/is/etc is when speaking English.

[MFoogle]

Another real quick and somewhat stupid question: you can answer a question with just "tabemasu," etc. and without a subject or anything. Can you answer a question with just "desu?"

[Yudan Taiteki]

No. "desu" is not a predicate by itself.

[MFoogle]

Ok, thank you. It sounded a bit funny to me, but I didn't know if it was possible or not.

[Sairana]

You can, however, reply with そうです　or just そう