Formal Japanese for Beginners: Polite and Plain Speech

---

Editor’s note from Benny: I was approaching the one-month point in my Japanese mission when William Peregoy offered this guest post. His experience challenged the idea that a beginner must master every level of Japanese formality before speaking.

The original 2013 article pushed too far in the other direction, though. Plain speech is not automatically rude, but it is not appropriate with everyone either. This refreshed version keeps William’s practical point while giving you a safer way to choose between polite and plain Japanese.

Japanese formality takes practice, but it does not make Japanese the “hardest language in the world”. You can start speaking before you know advanced honorific language.

Editor's note: Before we get started, if you’re looking for an online Japanese course, here’s the course we recommend: Japanese Uncovered – Learn Japanese Through the Power of Story, a course with a fascinating new method by Olly Richards. You can try it for free for 7 days!

Polite Style, Plain Style and Keigo

Japanese has two broad speech styles that beginners meet early:

• Polite style (丁寧体, teineitai) commonly uses です (desu) and verb endings such as ます (masu).
• Plain style (普通体, futsūtai) uses plain forms and is common between family members and close friends.

The choice depends on your relationship with the other person and the situation. The Japan Foundation’s beginner materials recommend polite style with people you have just met, people you are not close to and people in a higher position. They also warn that plain style can leave a bad impression when polite speech is expected. Their lesson on polite and plain style gives paired examples.

The dictionary form is not another name for all casual Japanese. It is the affirmative non-past form used as a dictionary headword. Plain style includes other forms too:

• 食べる (taberu, “eat” or “will eat”) is plain; 食べます (tabemasu) is polite.
• 食べた (tabeta, “ate”) is plain; 食べました (tabemashita) is polite.
• 行かない (ikanai, “do not go” or “will not go”) is plain; 行きません (ikimasen) is polite.

Keigo (敬語), or honorific language, is broader than this style contrast. It includes respectful, humble, courteous and beautifying forms as well as the polite desu/masu style. Japan’s Agency for Cultural Affairs explains these five functional categories of keigo. A beginner does not have to master all five before having a first conversation.

A Practical Learning Order for Beginners

When I began studying Japanese in Japan, I concentrated on polite forms because I did not want to offend anyone. After about two months of self-study, Tae Kim’s grammar guide made me question the order in which I was learning verb forms.

Learning plain forms early helps you see how Japanese grammar fits together and understand casual conversation. That is a useful learning sequence. It does not mean you should use plain speech with every person you meet.

A safer beginner plan is:

1. Learn a small set of polite sentences for introductions, questions and everyday interactions.
2. Learn to recognise plain present, past and negative forms early, because you will hear them and need them inside many grammar patterns.
3. Use polite style as your default with strangers, teachers, customers, colleagues you do not know well and people in higher positions.
4. Move towards plain speech with friends when the relationship and their language make that shift clear.

If you are unsure, ask. もっとカジュアルに話してもいいですか。 (Motto kajuaru ni hanashite mo ii desu ka?) means “May I speak more casually?” You can also keep listening and mirror the level the other person uses with you.

A plain verb form is only one part of register. Pronouns, sentence endings, requests, tone and word choice can also make an utterance sound friendly, abrupt or respectful. Memorising taberu instead of tabemasu does not settle the whole politeness question.

Japanese Speakers Change Style with the Situation

When I met Japanese friends in Tokyo, they generally preferred casual conversation once we knew each other. Formal speech between close friends can create distance, so moving towards plain style may be a sign that the relationship is becoming more relaxed.

I also knew long-term residents who still found workplace politeness difficult. One roommate had JLPT N1 and worked in Japanese, yet sometimes slipped into casual forms at work. A business owner who had lived in Japan for almost 20 years still wanted to improve his polite Japanese. Those examples show that register remains a skill to refine. They do not show that foreigners never need it.

People may be patient with a beginner’s mistakes, but that patience is not a universal free pass. Plain speech with a close friend can sound natural; the same style with a new client, a senior colleague or someone you have just met can sound too familiar.

So do not wait for perfect keigo before you speak. Start with enough polite Japanese to handle unfamiliar situations, learn plain forms early enough to understand real conversations, and let the relationship guide when you switch. The goal is not to choose one style forever. It is to notice who you are speaking with and adjust.