お ご Conversation

5-minute Japanese Class by Hitomi Hirayama 会 話

kai wa

One of my Japanese friends invited me
home for dinner the other day, and I met
his 6-year-old son. The boy showed me
his drawings and said: "This is o-hana (a
Design : Masako Ban
"Pole-san, o-shigoto wa o-isogashii desu ka? o-jikan arimashitara mata o-shokuji Put "o" or "go" if necessary.
o shimasho- ne!" (Mr. Pole, are you busy with work? Let's go for dinner again if you have
time!) Well, Mr. Pole! Can you figure out how many "o"s I said? I said four! In daily A) Do you like sake?
conversations involving women or in business situations, the Japanese put "o" before nouns, 酒 が 好き です か。

flower)," "This is o-tomodachi (a friend),"
"This is o-sakana (a fish)" and "This is o-
uchi (a house)." I noticed that he put "o"
before every noun, but why was that? No
one taught me to add "o" before nouns at
Japanese school. All I know is to put "o"
before "mizu" (water), but do I have to
say "o" before every word?
adjectives and verbs. Sometimes, they say "go" instead of "o." Making such a distinction sake ga sukidesu ka
depends on which word you are using, and you may need to know which words take "o." Rules Yes, I do.
for the distinctions are complicated and there are quite a few exceptions. To make it even more はい 好き です ね。
complicated, the rules for distinguishing "go" from "o" vary according to the people, hai suki desu ne
occupations and their environment. I tried to think of a way to make it easier for you to B) Thank you for calling. I suppose you are busy
understand, but I couldn't figure out any easy rules. I hope that this will help you out, even with work, aren't you?
though these explanations may apply only to about 70 percent of vocabulary. Let me omit the 電話 ありがとうございました。
applications for verbs for this lesson. Generally, "o" and "go" are placed before nouns. denwa arigato--gozaimashita
仕事 忙しそう です ね。

御 shigoto isogashi-so- desu ne

" " These are some examples that take "go" and "o." Please refer to this list to see which word takes
The kanji (Imperial honorific) is
pronounced either "go" or "o," and it turns
nouns and adjectives into their polite forms.
o "go" or "o." As for the words that are not on this list, please make your own decisions by listening
to how Japanese people around you use them. "i" adjectives and "na" adjectives are mostly used
by older women.
C) How is everybody in your family?
家族 の 皆様 元気 です か。
kazoku no mina-sama genki desu ka
There are four reasons for placing "go / o"
お + noun ご + noun お + "i" adjective
before words: o go o They are all fine, thanks for asking.
1) For polite expressions はい おかげさまで 元気 です。
busy ..... お忙しい
2) Beautifying the words お名前 ご用件 - hai okagesamade genki desu
name ..... business ..... o-isogashi
3) Softening the expressions o-namae go-yo- ken (frequently used in daily life)
(mostly preferred by women) D) Which Japanese food do you dislike?
4) Speaking to children お手紙 ご住所 expensive ..... お高い 日本の食べ物 は 何 が 嫌い です か。
letter ..... address .....
("o" is commonly used) o-tegami go-ju-sho o-takai
(mostly used by elderly women) Nihon no tabemono wa nani ga kirai desu ka

holiday ..... お休み contact ..... ご連絡 E) May I take your order?
"o" is for the frequently used words related to everyday life. cheap ..... お安い
o-yasumi go-renraku 注文 は
o-yasui
お早い chu-mon wa
お noun, Words with short syllables medicine ..... お薬 reservation ..... ご予約 fast, quick .....
＋ o-kusuri go-yoyaku o-hayai
o adjective Words that relate to daily life F) You'd like to make a reservation, right?
young ..... お若い Please give us your name, address and phone
soy sauce ..... お醤油 departure..... ご出発 o-wakai number.
o-sho-yu go-shuppatsu
e.g, 魚   お魚 米 お米 hot ..... お暑い 予約 です ね。名前 と 住所 と
fish ..... sakana o-sakana rice ..... kome o-kome chopsticks..... お箸 family ..... ご家族 o-atsui yoyaku desu ne namae to ju-sho to
o-hashi go-kazoku お寒い
cold ..... 電話番号 お願いします。
"go" is used for words related to "action / activity" (Generally, お金 (weather) o-samui denwa-bango- onegaishimasu
money ..... anxiety ..... ご心配
"go" is placed before words with a Chinese pronunciation, but I o-kane go-shinpai お + "na" adjective G) Do you have time right now?
think that it is very difficult for students to distinguish which o
words these are. That is why I have tried to explain "go" in this お酒 ご注文 今 時間 あります か。
sake ..... order ..... お元気な
way. o-sake go-chu-mon cheerful ..... ima jikan arimasu ka
o-genkina
(frequently used in daily life)
abstract noun telephone ..... お電話 confirmation ..... ご確認
Answers
御 A) o-sake ga o-suki desu ka
＋ noun The words are related to o-denwa go-kakunin like ..... お好きな
go -
B) o-denwa arigato gozaimashita o-shigoto
"actions/activity" o-sukina - desu ne
o-isogashi-so
work..... お仕事 explanation..... ご説明
o-shigoto go-setsume- be good at ..... お上手な C) go-kazoku no mina-sama o-genki desu ka
o-jo-zuna D) o-kirai desu ka
eg. 紹介 御紹介
introduction ..... sho-kai go-sho-kai
E) go-chumon wa
cold ..... お風邪 neighborhood..... ご近所 dislike ..... お嫌いな F) go-yoyaku desu ne o-namae to go-jusho to
o-kaze go-kinjo o-kiraina o-denwa bango onegaishimasu
契約 御契約 quiet ..... お静かな G) ima o-jikan arimasu ka
cooking..... お料理 message..... ご伝言
contract ..... ke-- yaku go-ke-- yaku o-ryo-ri go-dengon o-shizukana
With cooperation from Yasuhiro Koga

Copyright 2002 The Yomiuri Shimbun