Japanese Grammar In Its Natural Habitat
Wild Nihongo!
お~になる

お~になる

お~になる Japanese Grammar Lesson

Grammar Type: Phrase

Essential Meaning: Describes someone’s actions respectfully

Construction: 

  • お + Verb ます-Form + になる
    • E.g. お話はなしになる [X speaks]
    • E.g. お教おしえになる [X teaches]

Notes:

  • The お~になる construction is used to describes someone’s action or state with respect when the speaker respects the subject or when social norms require that the speaker use honorific language. The politeness is conveyed by the honorific お prefix and the indirect verb なる [To become]. In Japanese, indirectness indicates honorific-ness.
    • E.g. 田中たなか先生せんせいはもうお帰かえりになった。[Tanaka-sensei already went home.] The usage of the お~になる construction clearly indicates the speaker’s respect for Tanaka-sensei.
  • Certain verbs have their own special honorific forms. For example, the honorific form of いる (Animate Being), 行いく, and 来くる is いらっしゃる and the special formal form of する is なさる. So when speaking honorifically, する verbs follow the structure お / ご~なさる rather than お~になる. Because most する verbs are Chinese in origin, they are typically formed as ご~なする rather than お~なさる. However, some notable exceptions include お電話でんわなさる [To call], お勉強べんきょうなさる [To study], お料理りょうりなさる [To cook], お洗濯せんたくなさる [To do the laundry], お掃除そうじなさる [To clean], and お散歩さんぽなさる [To stroll / To go for a walk].
    • E.g. 小山こやま先生せんせいは四月しがつにご結婚けっこんなさいます。[Koyama-sensei will get married in April.]
    • E.g. 森本もりもとさんにお電話でんわなさいましたか。 [Did you call Morimoto-san?]
  • Politeness can also be conveyed through the passive voice, however this construction is less honorific than お~になる.
    • E.g. 田中たなか先生せんせいはもう帰かえられましたか。[Has Tanaka-sensei already left?]
    • E.g. この本ほんをもう読よまれましたか。[Have you already read this book?]

Example Sentences:

田中たなか先生せんせいはもうお帰かえりになった。[Tanaka-sensei already went home.]

この本ほんをもう読よまれましたか。[Have you already read this book?]

グッドマン先生せんせいは私わたしの名前なまえをお忘わすれになった。[Goodman-sensei forgot my name.]

WILD Examples:

Listen to this line at 0:35: さぁ、どうぞ、お座すりになって [Well, go ahead, please have a seat] In this example, the お in お座すわり blends in with the O sounds in どうぞ. You can hear another example at 1:44 with this line: もういいや、お帰かえりになって [It’s all right now, please go home]

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