Use polite endings when meeting a new colleague, speaking to a customer or in another situation that calls for distance.

The idea

After a noun or a な adjective, use です: 学生です, 静かです. An い adjective can also be followed by です: おいしいです. Verb stems take ます, ません or ました: 読みます, 読みません, 読みました. The present ます can refer to a habit or future event.

Patterns to compare
JapaneseMeaning
学生がくせいですa student: polite noun sentence
読よみますread: polite present / future
読よみませんdo not read: polite negative
読よみましたread: polite past

Examples

  • 私わたしは会社員かいしゃいんです。I am an office worker.
  • これは静しずかな部屋へやです。This is a quiet room.
  • このお茶ちゃはおいしいです。This tea is delicious.
  • 私わたしは毎朝まいあさ、パンを食たべます。I eat bread every morning.
  • 今日きょうはここで働はたらきません。I am not working here today.
  • 昨日きのう、友達ともだちと話はなしました。I talked with a friend yesterday.

Read-aloud uses a synthetic Japanese voice available on your device. Voice quality and availability vary; it does not assess your pronunciation.

Watch out

Do not put です after a ます verb or attach ます directly to a noun. Polite style is not the whole of honorific language.

Try it yourself

  1. Complete the polite sentence with a noun. 私わたしは学生がくせい＿。（です／ます）

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    です

    学生 is a noun, so the polite ending is です.

  2. Complete the polite affirmative verb. 毎日まいにち、本ほんを読よみ＿。（ます／です）

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    ます

    読み is a verb stem; add ます for the polite affirmative.

  3. Complete the polite negative verb. 今日きょうは行いき＿。（ません／ではありません）

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    ません

    行き is a verb stem, so ません makes the polite negative.

Use it today

Introduce yourself politely, say what you usually do, and say one thing you did yesterday.