What's new

Polite conjugations

edosan

エド
24 Aug 2012
13
0
16
Hi, if I was to use informal forms of adjectives with です added for politeness, does this still sound polite to the Japanese ear? I don't want to sound like a textbook but I also don't want to sound crude.

For example:

昨日、仕事は面白かったです。 <- this is considered polite, right

昨日、仕事は面白くありませんでした。<- so why spend time practising this form
昨日、仕事は面白くなかったです。<- when this form is easier and probably sounds more natural anyway.

I know this seems a simple question but I'm just trying to find better use of my time so that I can get to speaking quicker and not sound like a tourist.
 
〜なかったです・ないです is perfectly fine, especially in speech. The 〜ません version is, I think, a little more formal and possibly more likely to be seen in written text.
 
You spend time practicing forms you may not use personally so you can develop a passive ability to recognize and understand them when OTHER PEOPLE use them.

You get to choose what forms you use when you speak, but you don't get to choose what forms others use when they speak to you.

(I think が is probably a better choice than は in your examples).
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom