Common mistakes in keigo
Since I'm taking Business Japanese classes this semester, I will keep the "educative" contents of the blog alive with one more post about Japanese polite language, a.k.a. keigo.
I won't go through explaining it all. There are many sites on the internet that do it better than I probably could. I will link Wikipedia just for the sake of having a direct link from this blog.
I said in my previous post about keigo that even Japanese make mistakes with it. So, I will discuss a little about some common mistakes people make when using Japanese honorifics. Some call those mistakes famikon go (ファミコン語) because they are heard most often in family restaurants (ファミリーレストラン) and convenience stores (コンビニ) that hire many temporary staff, but can't give them all proper training in keigo. (Japanese companies usually train their staff in business manners during their first year.)
Example 1: It will become what!?
Wrong: これはサラダになります。 (Kore wa sarada ni narimasu.)
Right: これはサラダでございます。 (Kore wa sarada de gozaimasu.)
One of the mistakes I can identify when I hear, which makes it the one I hear the most. It can be heard most often when waiters bring meals or drinks.
The same sentence in a less formal way would be これはサラダです (kore wa sarada desu), which literaly means "This is (the) salad." The polite way for です is でございます (or でいらっしゃいます when the subject is another person), justifying the correct form.
The wrong form translates as "This will become (or becomes) salad." Yes, this mistake has many openings for jokes. But why this mistake happens? My best guess is that they resort to the "generic form" of sonkeigo (尊敬語), trying to be respectful towards the client.
That generic form consists basically of adding になる at the end of a verb in the continuative form (連用形) preceded by the proper affix (接辞) - the 御 (o/go) mentioned in the previous post. For example, send (送る) by that form becomes お送りになる; wait (待つ) becomes お待ちになる. Even some verbs with special forms also have になる at the end, like ご覧になる and お越しになる.
And we finally see a pattern on how something that IS a salad manages to BECOME a salad...
Example 2: A 5000 bill is giving what!?
Wrong: 5000円からお預かりします。 (5000 en kara o-azukarishimasu.)
Right: 5000円をお預かりします。 (5000 en wo o-azukarishimasu.)
This one I also hear sometimes. It is most common to hear it when paying a bill.
As you may have noticed, it is not so much a mistake in honorifics. It is a general grammar mistake; more especifically, a mistake in the use of particles (助詞).
The meaning is, in a free translation, "(You) have entrusted (me) with 5000 yen" (this verb is not a simple one to translate. I will oversimplify and use "receive" henceforth). The particle を usually indicates the direct object of the sentence and that in accord with the correct form.
On the other hand, the particle から indicates point of origin. And under this interpretation, instead of "receiving 5000 yen", that person would be "receiving from 5000 yen" (I wonder what that person is receiving).
About the reasons for this mistake, I am a bit clueless. Since that sentence is often said when there is some change involved (a bill of 4500 yen paid with a 5000 yen note, for example), I guess it is a form of saying that the bill will be paid deducting FROM that 5000 note.
Example 3: It was ok already, right?
Wrong: ご注文は以上でよろしかったですか。 (go-chuumon wa ijyou de yoroshikatta desu ka?)
Right: ご注文は以上でよろしいですか。 (go-chuumon wa ijyou de yoroshii desu ka?)
This time I have to start with the translation. The correct version means "Will that be all?" or "Is there anything else you'd like to order?" As the translation itself indicates, this sentence is said after a customer orders something as a mean to verify if there's nothing else he/she would like to order.
The different point between the two sentences is the use of the word "よろしい", which means in this case "ok" or "all right". The first sentence is in past form (よろしかった), while the second is in plain form (よろしい).
So, instead of asking, it seems like the person saying the sentence decided that the customer doesn't want anything else and is just confirming when using the past form. Something like "Oh, you didn't want anything else anyway, right?".
Why there's a verb tense mistake among the problems with keigo? For this one I am on shaky ground, but the past form may look more polite. It's probably related to how the Japanese culture favors indirectiveness in speech, especially when making or refusing requests. So the past form looks more roundabout, therefore - for many people - more appropriate.
However, in this case, it actually makes a question look almost like an imposition...
I won't go through explaining it all. There are many sites on the internet that do it better than I probably could. I will link Wikipedia just for the sake of having a direct link from this blog.
I said in my previous post about keigo that even Japanese make mistakes with it. So, I will discuss a little about some common mistakes people make when using Japanese honorifics. Some call those mistakes famikon go (ファミコン語) because they are heard most often in family restaurants (ファミリーレストラン) and convenience stores (コンビニ) that hire many temporary staff, but can't give them all proper training in keigo. (Japanese companies usually train their staff in business manners during their first year.)
Example 1: It will become what!?
Wrong: これはサラダになります。 (Kore wa sarada ni narimasu.)
Right: これはサラダでございます。 (Kore wa sarada de gozaimasu.)
One of the mistakes I can identify when I hear, which makes it the one I hear the most. It can be heard most often when waiters bring meals or drinks.
The same sentence in a less formal way would be これはサラダです (kore wa sarada desu), which literaly means "This is (the) salad." The polite way for です is でございます (or でいらっしゃいます when the subject is another person), justifying the correct form.
The wrong form translates as "This will become (or becomes) salad." Yes, this mistake has many openings for jokes. But why this mistake happens? My best guess is that they resort to the "generic form" of sonkeigo (尊敬語), trying to be respectful towards the client.
That generic form consists basically of adding になる at the end of a verb in the continuative form (連用形) preceded by the proper affix (接辞) - the 御 (o/go) mentioned in the previous post. For example, send (送る) by that form becomes お送りになる; wait (待つ) becomes お待ちになる. Even some verbs with special forms also have になる at the end, like ご覧になる and お越しになる.
And we finally see a pattern on how something that IS a salad manages to BECOME a salad...
Example 2: A 5000 bill is giving what!?
Wrong: 5000円からお預かりします。 (5000 en kara o-azukarishimasu.)
Right: 5000円をお預かりします。 (5000 en wo o-azukarishimasu.)
This one I also hear sometimes. It is most common to hear it when paying a bill.
As you may have noticed, it is not so much a mistake in honorifics. It is a general grammar mistake; more especifically, a mistake in the use of particles (助詞).
The meaning is, in a free translation, "(You) have entrusted (me) with 5000 yen" (this verb is not a simple one to translate. I will oversimplify and use "receive" henceforth). The particle を usually indicates the direct object of the sentence and that in accord with the correct form.
On the other hand, the particle から indicates point of origin. And under this interpretation, instead of "receiving 5000 yen", that person would be "receiving from 5000 yen" (I wonder what that person is receiving).
About the reasons for this mistake, I am a bit clueless. Since that sentence is often said when there is some change involved (a bill of 4500 yen paid with a 5000 yen note, for example), I guess it is a form of saying that the bill will be paid deducting FROM that 5000 note.
Example 3: It was ok already, right?
Wrong: ご注文は以上でよろしかったですか。 (go-chuumon wa ijyou de yoroshikatta desu ka?)
Right: ご注文は以上でよろしいですか。 (go-chuumon wa ijyou de yoroshii desu ka?)
This time I have to start with the translation. The correct version means "Will that be all?" or "Is there anything else you'd like to order?" As the translation itself indicates, this sentence is said after a customer orders something as a mean to verify if there's nothing else he/she would like to order.
The different point between the two sentences is the use of the word "よろしい", which means in this case "ok" or "all right". The first sentence is in past form (よろしかった), while the second is in plain form (よろしい).
So, instead of asking, it seems like the person saying the sentence decided that the customer doesn't want anything else and is just confirming when using the past form. Something like "Oh, you didn't want anything else anyway, right?".
Why there's a verb tense mistake among the problems with keigo? For this one I am on shaky ground, but the past form may look more polite. It's probably related to how the Japanese culture favors indirectiveness in speech, especially when making or refusing requests. So the past form looks more roundabout, therefore - for many people - more appropriate.
However, in this case, it actually makes a question look almost like an imposition...
2 comments:
Hmmmm, the two later examples sounds more like pure grammar mistakes than Keigo mistakes (like you note yourself).
Some other interesting (and fairly common) grammar mistakes I remember reviewing from my japanese classes long ago:
- shi shi shi: When you built a series of "...desu shi" sequences, but do not conclude them. (series of shis are supposed to be informations that lead to some conclusion).
- No hou: When you use "no hou" without offering and alternative (I usually hear this in cashiers: "Otsuri no hou desu")
Hey Claus! Thanks for your comment!
I agree with you about the latter two being more related to grammar than keigo. Still, while the second is really a pure grammar mistake, the third may have some connection with trying to be polite (and actually messing it up).
I am aware of your examples. They are very nice examples - and heard very often - but I actually forgot about them while writing this.
I have a third post about keigo being prepared. The "shi, shi" isn't "keigo-ish" enough, but the "hou" may be an interesting addition.
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