Politeness?

Hey everyone!

I just want to ask a quick (maybe? lol) question:

I've realized that in Japanese there's informal, formal, honorific/humble forms of speaking. So, the question is when does one use each one?

I know that the informal is used with close friends and family members. And that you use the formal with strangers, teachers, etc. So, when does one use the honorific/humble forms? Like, with your boss, or some other types of people...? I just don't want to offend anyone if for some reason in the future I should use one specific type rather than another.

Thanks!

-Tommy

Probably in like meetings, company president, dealing with customers and such. I don't think you'll really be expected to use Honorific forms any time soon so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

At your age (15, I think?), I wouldn't worry about honorifics and humble forms, which is something that working adults use in business and consumer/customer situations, although it is always nice to "know" what they are.

The "standard" form (usually ending in -desu and -masu) is usually polite enough for everybody.

Ahh, okay. And yeah, I just wanted to know in case of future reference, and cause the chapter I'm on in my book is teaching it now lol. But thanks both of you!