Polite Japanese 敬語
There are three basic types of honorifics for verbs. It depends on your social rank as to which form to use.
A) Humble (謙譲語 kenjougo) - This is when referring to oneself or one's family members and (usually) speaking to someone higher up in social rank, position or some other criteria for determining status. However even some people with high positions may choose to use the humble form with those under him/her.
B) ~masu - As mentioned above ~masu / desu is actually 丁寧語 teineigo or polite language, but I'm using the familiar ~masu form for an easy comparison to the the kenjougo and sonkeigo forms.
C) Respectful (尊敬語 sonkeigo) - This is what you say to your boss or those higher up when speaking to them. If you are speaking about yourself, you will use the humble form.
Humble (speaking to your boss about yourself) |
Normal (speaking to your friends) |
Respectful (speaking to your boss about your boss) |
| 拝見します haiken shimasu |
見ます mimasu to see |
ご覧になります goran ni narimasu |
| 申します moushimasu You know this from "name to moushimasu" |
言います iimasu to say |
おっしゃいます osshaimasu |
| 頂きます itadakimasu |
食べます tabemasu to eat |
召し上がります meshi agarimasu |
参ります This is the humble form for both to come and go! |
来ます 行きます |
いらっしゃいます This is the respectful form for both to come and go! |
| 致します itashimasu |
します shimasu to do |
なさいます nasaimasu |
For a more detailed explanation and many more examples see here.
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Teineigo / kenjougo
This article says that teineigo is humble speech, but actually it's desu/masu speech, or what you call "normal" here. The word you're looking for is 謙譲語 (kenjougo).
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Thanks--fixed here too!
Thanks--fixed here too!
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