◆ Honorifics and style I have already explained that verbs in Japanese are followed by various elements such as negative, tense, potential, and causative, but what about personal elements? Verbs are followed by personal elements in many languages, but Japanese is not one of these languages. There is no personal inflection or personal affix. All you need is to mention the subject, or even omit the subject when it is obvious. Some people may doubt how one could avoid misunderstanding without using a subject in a language that does not have a personal affix. But actually, it is possible to communicate without misunderstanding. Of course, you can mention the subject when you want to be sure. However, the issue of how one can communicate without misunderstanding while omitting the subject, is related to the issue of honorifics, which I will explain about in this text. Do I have to learn honorifics? "I heard that in Japanese, there are honorifics one must use to those with higher social status. How feudalistic! I don't want to learn such things." I sometimes meet international student who says this. However, this is a big misunderstanding. Honorifics are often used even by one with higher social status to one with lower status. When I was a student, one professor of the University of Tokyo, he was truly a great scholar, used to speak very politely to his students. Modern honorifics are very different from those of the former status society. Please eliminate your prejudice against honorifics. Some students say, "But honorifics are difficult. Do I really have to use them?" In a way, no, non-native speakers are not required to use honorifics (subject honorification and humble expression). Among native Japanese speakers, not using honorifics in certain situations could offend others, but Japanese society is generous towards non-native speakers who can not using honorifics. "Great, so I don't have to learn honorifics, then." Sorry for the bad news, but you still need to learn honorifics. Why? This is because you need to understand when the others speak to you in honorifics. Many Japanese are generous towards non-native speakers who do not use honorifics, but they do not consider speaking without using honorifics when speaking to non-native speakers. In other words, many Japanese will talk to you in honorific speech. To be able to communicate with Japanese, you need to understand honorifics when you hear them. 21
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