Have you seen words like お水（おみず） or ご家族（ごかぞく） and wondered:

✅ “Why is it お sometimes… and ご other times?”
✅ “Is there a rule?”
✅ “Can I use お + anything?”

Good news: there are patterns — and once you learn them, Japanese becomes much more natural and polite!

1) What are お〜 and ご〜?

お〜 and ご〜 are honorific prefixes.
They are added to nouns (and sometimes verbs) to make the word sound:

• more polite
• more respectful
• more refined / “Japanese”
• softer and more friendly in conversation

They are commonly used in:

• customer service
• formal speech
• polite conversations
• talking about someone else’s things
• certain “fixed” common phrases

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2) The Basic Rule (The Main Pattern)

✅ お〜 is often used with Japanese-origin words.

These are words that originally come from Japanese (often written in hiragana or simple kanji).

Examples:

• お金（おかね） – money
• お茶（おちゃ） – tea
• お水（おみず） – water
• お名前（おなまえ） – name
• お店（おみせ） – shop
• お皿（おさら） – plate

➡️ These words feel very “Japanese,” so お〜 fits naturally.

✅ ご〜 is often used with Chinese-origin words

These are words that originally come from Chinese and are often:

• two-kanji words
• more formal-sounding

Examples:

• ご家族（ごかぞく） – family
• ご住所（ごじゅうしょ） – address
• ご連絡（ごれんらく） – contact
• ご予約（ごよやく） – reservation
• ご意見（ごいけん） – opinion
• ご利用（ごりよう） – usage

➡️ These sound more “formal,” so ご〜 is common.

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3) Easy Shortcut: One-Kanji vs Two-Kanji

This is not a perfect rule, but it helps!

✅ お〜 tends to go with simpler / native words

Often 1 kanji or hiragana words:

• お酒（おさけ）- sake
• お米（おこめ）- rice
• お湯（おゆ）- warm water

✅ ご〜 tends to go with more formal / “Sino-Japanese” words

Often 2+ kanji words:

• ご案内（ごあんない）- guide
• ご説明（ごせつめい）- explanation
• ご質問（ごしつもん）- question

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4) Common Words You MUST Memorize (Exceptions)

Japanese has many “fixed polite words” that don’t perfectly follow the pattern.
So it’s best to memorize them as a set.

✅ ご〜 words that are super common

• ご飯（ごはん） – rice / meal
• ご馳走（ごちそう） – feast / treat
• ご覧ください（ごらんください） – please look

Even though 飯 looks “Japanese,” ご飯 is a set phrase and extremely common.

✅ お〜 words that are super common (even with 2 kanji)

• お料理（おりょうり） – cooking / cuisine
• お勉強（おべんきょう） – study (a bit polite/soft)
• お掃除（おそうじ） – cleaning

These are also common polite “everyday” words.

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5) お〜 and ご〜 with Verbs (Extra Polite!)

Sometimes お〜 and ご〜 are used with verbs to create polite expressions.

✅ Polite pattern (very common)

お + verb stem + する
お + verb stem + ください

Examples:

• お待まちします
• I will wait
  
• お待まちください
• Please wait
  
• お使つかいになります
• (someone) uses

✅ Another pattern

ご + Chinese origin word + する / ください

Examples:

• ご確認かくにんください
• Please check
  
• ご利用りようください
• Please use
  
• ご連絡れんらくします
• I will contact you

This is extremely common in:
✅ emails
✅ announcements
✅ customer service Japanese

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6) When Should YOU Use お〜 and ご〜?

If you’re a Japanese learner, you don’t need to force honorific prefixes everywhere.
But you should use them in certain situations!

✅ Good times to use お / ご

• speaking politely to strangers
• in shops / restaurants
• business emails
• phone calls
• when asking favors politely

Example:

• お名前なまえは何なんですか？
• What’s your name?
  
• ご予約よやくはありますか？
• Do you have a reservation?
  
• ご住所じゅうしょをお願ねがいします。
• Tell my your address.

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7) When NOT to Use お〜 and ご〜

❌ Don’t add it to your own actions too much (especially in formal situations)

If you’re talking about your own things, it can sound unnatural or overly humble.

For example, this sounds a little strange:

• お電話でんわします
• (sometimes okay, but often unnatural in casual settings)

Better:

• ✅ 電話でんわします
• ✅ 後あとでお電話でんわします
• (this can be natural in business)

❌ Don’t attach it randomly to every noun

Not every word becomes polite with お〜 / ご〜.

For example:

• ❌ おスマホ
• ❌ ごペン
• ❌ おコンビニ

These sound unnatural.

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8) Quick Practice Quiz ✅

Choose the correct prefix: お or ご

1. ___名前なまえ
2. ___家族かぞく
3. ___予約よやく
4. ___茶ちゃ
5. ___連絡れんらく
6. ___金かね

Answers

1. お名前
2. ご家族
3. ご予約
4. お茶
5. ご連絡
6. お金

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9) Natural Example Dialogues

🛍️ At a shop

A: ご予約よやくはありますか？
B: はい、あります。田中たなかです。
A: ありがとうございます。お名前なまえを確認かくにんしますね。

A: Do you have a reservation?
B: Yes I do, under my name Tanaka.
A: Thank you. Let me check your name.

📩 In a polite email

ご連絡れんらくありがとうございます。
ご確認かくにんのほど、よろしくお願ねがいいたします。

Thank you for contacting me.
Please check it.

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Summary: お vs ご in One Simple Chart

✅ お〜 → often Japanese-origin words (everyday, soft, polite)
✅ ご〜 → often Chinese-origin words (formal, business-like)
✅ There are exceptions → memorize common ones!

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