I'm home

[ningen]

i found that both ただいま帰りました and ただいま mean "I'm home".

is it a difference in politeness?

 

[Glenn]

ただいま帰りました is more polite. I guess this would be something you'd use with your host family or something, unless the parents were really strict with the kids about politeness. Not too sure about that, though.

 

[Mike Cash]

They both functionally mean "I'm home" but you should be aware that they dont both literally mean that.

Politeness really has little to nothing to do with it. In a context where you would be announcing you're home, everybody you're announcing it to is family....the ultimate "in-group"....with the lowest expectations regarding politeness.

The only time I've ever heard the full version used is for the purpose of explaining to foreigners what the short version is short for. After all, how else are you going to explain that a word meaning "right now" is used to mean "I'm home"?

 

[WaterFox]

To your Mam, Daddy, brothers and sisters, your friends;
ただいま is the correct choice.

To your boss, your tutor, your teacher, your host/hostess;
ただいま帰りました is the correct choice.

If you stay in your host family, ただいま帰りました seems better, for the time being.
After you get quite familiar with the host family members, then ただいま becomes natural.

ただいま帰りました is more formal and polite expression.
ただいま is colloquial expression, which is used to your family member, and close friends.

 

[orochi]

To your boss, your tutor, your teacher, your host/hostess;
ただいま帰りました is the correct choice.

 

[Elizabeth]

I don't think ただいま帰りました matters as much to a tutor or host family as most don't expect that level of politeness. But unquestionably with a boss or formal type situation.

 

[Brandan]

The only time I ever heard ただいま帰りました outside of the aforementioned formal situations was when my host sister would say it to my host parents in a sort of "sarcastically polite" way. In my experience, your host family shouldn't, and probably doesn't, expect you to use such informal terms with them.

 

[WaterFox]

If you are a woman and marry a Japanese man, which do you say to your mother in law?

ただいま帰りました might be better.

 

[Elizabeth]

The only time I ever heard ただいま帰りました outside of the aforementioned formal situations was when my host sister would say it to my host parents in a sort of "sarcastically polite" way. In my experience, your host family shouldn't, and probably doesn't, expect you to use such informal terms with them.

I suppose both host family and exchange student are often too polite at the very beginning of the stay, although I can't imagine sarcasm coming into play unless out of ignorance. The longer form at least is not common for phrase books or intro texts. I've also asked the host families within personal experience and none of them have ever heard it from their students, nor is it an expectation.

 

[Brandan]

I suppose both host family and exchange student are often too polite at the very beginning of the stay, although I can't imagine sarcasm coming into play unless out of ignorance

Maybe I worded it a bit strangely. I'm talking about a Japanese daughter walking into the room and saying that to her own parents, sort of as a joke, or in sarcasm, which isn't that uncommon in my experience. Sort of like when a man returns home here in the states and says something like, "Honey, I'm hooome!", or "I have returned!" (of course accompanied by a grandiose pose of importance).

Obviously that's not to say those are the English translations of ただいま帰りました. I'm simply trying to relate the situational context.

The longer form at least is not common for phrase books or intro texts.

I agree