There are several different levels of politeness in the Japanese language, keigo (敬語) being the highest. Keigo can be classified into three categories: sonkeigo (尊敬語;the person being talked about is of higher status), kenjougo (謙譲語; to humble oneself) and teineigo (丁寧語; listener is of higher status).

Example of usage

Standard verb	keigo	keigo hiragana	translation	category
する	致す	いたす	to do	kenjougo
知る	存じる	ぞんじる	to know
食べる	頂く	いただく	to eat	kenjougo
食べる	召し上がる	めしあがる	to eat	sonkeigo

External links

• Keigo Examples