お/ご〜になる

Honorific Verb Form

Level 3Sounds Like o/go~ninaru

The お/ご〜になる pattern is a standard way to show respect (Sonkeigo) when talking about someone else's actions. It is more formal than the honorific passive and is essential for business and professional settings.

How It Works

This pattern is a cornerstone of honorific language (Keigo). It functions as a respectful version of a standard verb, focusing on the action of the respected person.

1. Formation Rules:

  • Native Japanese Verbs (Wago): Use the prefix お + the ます-stem + になる.
    Example: 読む（よむ）→ お読みになる
  • Sino-Japanese Verbs (Kango): Use the prefix ご + the Noun stem (the part before する) + になる.
    Example: 利用する（りようする）→ ご利用になる
  • Kango Exceptions: Certain Sino-Japanese verbs related to daily life or personal matters take お instead of ご. Common examples include お散歩になる（おさんぽになる） and お掃除になる（おそうじになる）.

2. Priority of Special Verbs:
If a verb has a dedicated, unique honorific form (suppletive form), that form is almost always preferred over this template. For example, while 'お食べになる' is grammatically correct, using 召し上がる is the standard and more natural way to show respect. Similarly, use おっしゃる instead of 'お言いになる'.

3. Important Restrictions:

  • One-Syllable Stems: Verbs with a single-syllable stem (like 見る, 寝る, 着る) generally cannot use this pattern. Use special verbs like ご覧になる instead. Exception: The verb 出る（でる） is commonly used in this pattern as お出になる（おでになる）.
  • No Double Honorifics (Nijū Keigo): Avoid combining this pattern with the honorific passive. For example, 'お読みになられる' is considered redundant and incorrect; stick to 'お読みになる'.

4. Action vs. State:
While お/ご〜になる focuses on the action or change of state (e.g., 'the act of returning'), the form お/ご〜です is used to describe a current state or the result of an action in a respectful way (e.g., 'is currently out').

5. Usage Context:
This is the 'gold standard' for business etiquette. While the honorific passive is common in daily conversation, お/ご〜になる is preferred when you want to show a higher degree of clear, unambiguous respect to a superior or customer.

Examples (5)

  1. 先生はもうお帰りになりました。

    The teacher has already gone home.

    Word by Word: Teacher (topic) already (honorable) return (became).

    Uses the ます-stem of 帰る（かえる） with the 'お〜になる' formula to show respect to the teacher.

  2. 社長、何時頃にご到着になりますか？

    President, around what time will you arrive?

    Word by Word: President, what-time around (target) (honorable) arrival (become) (question)?

    Uses 'ご' with the noun-stem of the Sino-Japanese verb 到着する（とうちゃくする）.

  3. 社長は公園をお散歩になりました。

    The president took a walk in the park.

    Word by Word: President (topic) park (object) (honorable) walk (became).

    This is an exception where the Sino-Japanese verb 散歩する（さんぽする） takes 'お' instead of 'ご' because it is considered a familiar, daily-life action.

  4. こちらの資料はもうご覧になりましたか？

    Have you already seen these documents?

    Word by Word: This (direction) documents (topic) already (honorable) look (became) (question)?

    Note that 見る（みる） has a dedicated special honorific form ご覧になる, which is preferred over the standard template.

  5. お客様、あちらの椅子でお待ちになってください。

    Customer, please wait in the chair over there.

    Word by Word: Customer, that-way's chair (at) (honorable) wait (become) please.

    This combines the honorific form with a request. Note that 'お〜になってください' is a very polite way to ask a customer to do something.

Common Mistakes

  • Using the honorific form for your own actions.

    私が資料をお書きになります。
    私が資料をお書きします。

    You should never use 'お〜になる' for yourself because it elevates the subject. For your own actions, use the humble form (Kenjougo).

  • Double honorifics (Nijū Keigo).

    先生がお読みになられました。
    先生がお読みになりました。

    Stacking 'お〜になる' and the '〜れる' honorific on the same verb is considered redundant and grammatically incorrect in formal Japanese, though it is sometimes heard in casual speech.

  • Applying the pattern to one-syllable verbs.

    社長が資料をお見になります。
    社長が資料をご覧になります。

    Verbs like 見る（みる） have special honorific forms. Using the standard formula on these short verbs sounds unnatural.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

お/ご〜になるLevel 3Honorific Verb Form

Learn This First

To use the respectful honorific form お/ご〜になる, you must first understand the social context of Japanese honorifics (Keigo). Grammatically, you need to be able to identify the verb stem (from the 'masu' form) and understand how the verb 'naru' functions as a building block for this specific honorific construction.

Words in This Pattern

成る