Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 7: 10/18

お～になるTo do (Honorific)

Remember not to use honorific language when speaking about yourself and your actions!

Structure

お + Verb［stem］+ になる
ご(1) + ［する］Verb + になる
いく・くる・いる ￫ おいでになる

(1) お, limited to ［する］Verbs like: 電話(でんわ)する、勉強(べんきょう)する、散歩(さんぽ)する

Details

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About お～になる

お～になる (or ご～になる) is an honorific language expression which is used to pay respect to the actions of the person that is being spoken to/another person (never the speaker). In this expression, になる is used in exactly the same way that する would be, except that it will be attached to the ます stem of the verb that it is referring to.

The primary difference between お and ご, is that お will be used with words/readings of Japanese origin (kun-yomi), and ご will be used with words/readings of Chinese origin (on-yomi). In fact, お and ご are both represented by the same kanji. For this kanji, 御(お) is one of the kun-yomi, and 御(ご) is one of the on-yomi.

Fun Fact

Some verbs, like いでる, are used almost exclusively with honorific language. おいでになる (the お～になる form of いでる) is an example of this, and can mean 'to come', 'to go', or 'to be'. This is due to the perspective of the speaker when using honorific language, and something that we will discuss in more detail later.

Related

Examples

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    先生(せんせい)はお帰(かえ)りになりました。

    The teacher has gone home.

    ハリーポッターをお読(よ)みになりましたか。

    Did you read Harry Potter?

    父上(ちちうえ)はもうお帰(かえ)りになったんですね。

    Father has already gone home, hasn't he.

    歯医者(はいしゃ)がお見(み)えになるのは３(さん)時(じ)です。

    The dentist will arrive at 3 o'clock.

    お父(とう)さんは何時(なんじ)頃(ごろ)お帰(かえ)りになります？

    Around what time will father return home?

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