2.2 Sonkeigo (Respectful Language) — Forms and Use

2.2 Sonkeigo (Respectful Language) — Forms and Use

Quick Answer: Sonkeigo (尊敬語) elevates the subject of the verb. Use it for the customer's, boss's, or senior's actions — never for yourself or your in-group. The BJT tests regular patterns (お〜になる, れる/られる), a fixed set of suppletive verbs (いらっしゃる, なさる, おっしゃる, 召し上がる, ご覧になる, くださる, ご存知だ), and the trap of 二重敬語 (double honorifics).

When to Use Sonkeigo

Use sonkeigo when the subject of the verb is a person you are honoring — typically the customer, your boss, your senior, or anyone in the out-group/superior position. The rule is absolute: never use sonkeigo for your own actions or for the actions of someone in your in-group when speaking to an outsider.

Concrete cases on the BJT:

• The customer comes, goes, is present, looks, says, eats, knows, gives → sonkeigo
• Your boss, in a context where you are not speaking to an outsider, performs an action → sonkeigo
• Your own action, even if it is identical to the customer's action → NOT sonkeigo (kenjougo or teineigo)

Regular Formation Patterns

Most verbs form sonkeigo with one of two regular patterns:

The お〜になる pattern is the safer default in business writing because the れる/られる passive-style sonkeigo can be ambiguous with the passive voice. Note also that 来られる is rarely used in business speech; the suppletive いらっしゃる or お越しになる is preferred.

Special Suppletive Forms

The BJT tests a fixed set of irregular (suppletive) sonkeigo verbs. You must recognize them instantly in listening, because the plain verb never appears in the answer choices when a sonkeigo form is being tested.

Honorific Prefixes お and ご

Honorific prefixes attach to the other party's nouns to show respect independent of any verb. The rough rule is お + kun-yomi (native Japanese) nouns and ご + on-yomi (Sino-Japanese) nouns, but there are exceptions and you should learn the business set as fixed collocations.

A prefix on the speaker's own noun is not sonkeigo — it is 美化語 (beautifying, Section 2.4) when it is just softening (お茶, お肉), and it is humble/kenjougo-style when the noun belongs to the speaker and is being offered to the listener (お詫び, お返事 — these often pair with humble verbs like 申し上げる).

Common Business Sonkeigo Collocations

The BJT frequently embeds these set collocations in dialogue. Memorize them as units:

• ご確認ください — please confirm (respectful request)
• お越しください — please come (visit)
• ご利用ください — please use
• ご覧ください — please look (note: ご覧 is the noun form of ご覧になる)
• お待ちください / お待ちになってください — please wait
• お気をつけになって — please take care

Traps: 二重敬語 and する-verbs

The two traps the BJT repeatedly tests in expression-reading items:

1. お〜になる cannot attach directly to する-verbs. ×おするになる is ungrammatical. The correct sonkeigo for する is なさる, or for Sino-Japanese compound verbs, ご〜になる (ご利用になる, not ×お利用するになる). When you see an answer choice that inserts お〜になる onto a する verb, eliminate it.
2. 二重敬語 (double honorific) errors. A suppletive verb is already fully honorific; stacking a second pattern is wrong. The classic examples:
   • ×お召し上がりになる (wrong — 召し上がる is already sonkeigo) → ○召し上がる
   • ×ご覧になられる (wrong — ご覧になる already includes になる) → ○ご覧になる
   • ×おいでになられる (wrong — いらっしゃる/おいでになる already suppletive) → ○いらっしゃる / おいでになる

The BJT will often present one answer that is a 二重敬語 error alongside the correct single-honorific form. The error usually sounds more polite, which is the trap.

Mini Dialogue

Customer (to clerk): 「この資料、ご覧になってもよろしいですか。」 Clerk: 「はい、どうぞご覧ください。ご不明な点がございましたら、お気軽におっしゃってください。」

Parse the verbs: ご覧になる (sonkeigo — the customer looks), ご覧ください (sonkeigo imperative — the clerk invites the customer to look), おっしゃる (sonkeigo for 言う — the customer says). The clerk never uses sonkeigo for her own action; she uses teineigo (ございます) and humble forms for her own offering.