(Semi-cultural lesson) 美化語 ①: An Introduction to "Beautified Japanese"

Introduction

Welcome to the first installment of the "beautification" series! Don't worry, it's not about you, you're already beautiful just the way you are! Certain Japanese words however... well, let's just say they need a bit of grammatical TLC.

Welcome, to...

美化語びかご ①: Introduction to grammatical "beautification"

This article straddles the line between cultural lesson and grammar lesson, so don't be surprised if you peek below and see quite a few example sentences waiting for you!

What is 美化語びかご?

Technically part of 丁寧語ていねいご ("polite language"), 美化語びかご is used to make one's speech sound more "beautiful", "elegant", and sometimes, to soften one's tone as well. Because 美化語びかご is extremely integrated into the language, some words sound completely wrong without being 美化語びかご'd, on the other hand, some words can't be 美化語びかご'd at all! Then there are words that you probably want to 美化語びかご, unless you want to sound super rough and ill-mannered.