N4 lesson 7 (let’s get polite) is crushing me

[bardackx]

I’m falling a lot, I mix when to add an お at the start, when to use て firm instead of ます form, if I read it I understand it, but I cannot consistently write the right answer in bunpro.

How do you guys deal with that?

[Noxsora]

Hahaha, I have no idea. My head is gonna explode

敬語 [polite language]head ache

My question is “how do you know which '敬語 to use in Bunpro?” Or “Is there a better way to learn 敬語 than bunpro?” But reply with any advice or complaints about 敬語 Below is all the 敬語 I can think of In Jalup I learned some japanese words for 敬語 敬語[keigo]、尊敬語(also keigo) 謙譲語(also also? keigo) And丁寧 regular です/ます。 I learned all these different ways to be polite from bunpro: putting an お before a 訓読み or a ご before an 熟語 makes it more polite like ごちそうさまでした、お湯、 adding なさい like ごめんなさい or ください to…

[lunchbox1]

If you’re able to read/recognize it, I genuinely can’t see many reasons to learn beyond that until you reach a higher level of Japanese (or at least that’s how I’m personally approaching it).

[FlippFuzz]

@bardackx

I mix when to add an お at the start, when to use て firm instead of ます form

I thought the rule was simple. (Don’t blame me if I’m wrong! I’m not that much more advanced than you )
If you start with お, then it’s the ます-stem form.

Looking at lesson 7, these are the only 3 that start with お and they are all ます-stem form.

• お～になる (JLPT N4) | Bunpro
• お～ください (JLPT N4) | Bunpro
• お〜する (JLPT N4) | Bunpro

[casual]

This is one of the areas where Bunpro could use an introductory article laying out the principles in very simple non-grammatical terms, before proceeding to individual grammar points. I think right now the concept is that Bunpro “doesn’t teach, but is a supplement to your textbook”, which is honestly a missed opportunity.

You just need to make a mental model that there are two concepts that feed in into all politeness expressions.

Are you talking:

• about your in-group
• not about your in-group

And are you talking:

• as equals
• to/about superiors
• to/about inferiors

Then you make a table and fit all those grammar points into one of the categories. And then when you see a prompt “please do (honorific)”, you know in which box to search for the answer.

@bardackx

when to use て form instead of ます form

You are probably thinking about てください (just polite) vs お～ください (JLPT N4) | Bunpro (honorific)? Yep they look pretty similar, but politeness level is different.

Good luck! Practice makes perfect.

(You could also just skip all points marked as honorific and humble and come back to them later when you need it for an exam).

[MurasakiChou]

I’d suggest switching to the reading/grading review for now, or do that while cramming those troubling grammar points = focusing on input until you get the feeling of a better understanding. Then you can switch back to fill in reviews if you want to train your output.