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What does ご家族は? mean?

maxchu

先輩
19 Oct 2006
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Hi,
Does ご家族は? means ご家族は 何人ですか?

I am forcing myself study Japanese everyday, and try to come up with one question a day...

:)

Thanks to those who have tried to help me. 👍

--max
 
Hi,
Does ご家族は? means ご家族は 何人ですか?
I am forcing myself study Japanese everyday, and try to come up with one question a day...
:)
Thanks to those who have tried to help me. :cool:
--max

It is very common in Japanese to use honorific when mentioning others or whatever that belongs to others while using humbling form for oneself.
御 which is pronounced go/o is one of the honorifics.
So when asking "how many people are there in your family?", you usually use 家族は何人ですか。

Here are some examples.
[my (humble)...] [your (precious) ...]
home: 拙宅(せったく) - 御宅(おたく)
family: 家族(かぞく) - 御家族(ごかぞく)
parents: 両親(りょうしん) - 御両親(ごりょうしん)
father: 父(ちち) - お父様(おとうさま)
mother: 母(はは) - お母様(おかあさま)
elder brother: 兄(あに) -お兄様(お兄様)
elder sister: 姉(あね) - お姉様(おねえさま)
son: 息子(むすこ) - 御子息(ごしそく)
job, work: 仕事 - お仕事

家族、両親、仕事 are not humble form but neutral - they don't have humble form.
As to family members, there are more than one honorific form.
For example,
父 - お父様(とうさま)、お父上(ちちうえ)、御尊父(ごそんぷ)
Some are often used, others are not, maybe only in a formal writing.
 
Adding to undrentide's post, if you're asked 窶堋イ窶ーテ??伉ー窶堙?, it means differently depending on context. You'll have to interpret it based on the circumstances in which it is asked.

It can mean:
(1) Do you have family?
(2) Where is your family now?
(3) How many people are there in your famly? etc.
This is caused by omission of other parts of the full sentence, which happens very often in Japanese.

HTH! 🙂
 
It is very common in Japanese to use honorific when mentioning others or whatever that belongs to others while using humbling form for oneself.
御 which is pronounced go/o is one of the honorifics.
So when asking "how many people are there in your family?", you usually use 家族は何人ですか。
Here are some examples.
[my (humble)...] [your (precious) ...]
home: 拙宅(せったく) - 御宅(おたく)
family: 家族(かぞく) - 御家族(ごかぞく)
parents: 両親(りょうしん) - 御両親(ごりょうしん)
father: 父(ちち) - お父様(おとうさま)
mother: 母(はは) - お母様(おかあさま)
elder brother: 兄(あに) -お兄様(お兄様)
elder sister: 姉(あね) - お姉様(おねえさま)
son: 息子(むすこ) - 御子息(ごしそく)
job, work: 仕事 - お仕事
家族、両親、仕事 are not humble form but neutral - they don't have humble form.
As to family members, there are more than one honorific form.
For example,
父 - お父様(とうさま)、お父上(ちちうえ)、御尊父(ごそんぷ)
Some are often used, others are not, maybe only in a formal writing.

Thanks for the detailed response. :)
I can think of another example: 主人 <-> ご主人
BTW, any rule of either ご or お should be used? Or I just have to memorize all of them?
 
Adding to undrentide's post, if you're asked ご家族は?, it means differently depending on context. You'll have to interpret it based on the circumstances in which it is asked.
It can mean:
(1) Do you have family?
(2) Where is your family now?
(3) How many people are there in your famly? etc.
This is caused by omission of other parts of the full sentence, which happens very often in Japanese.
HTH! 👋

So If I don't omit any part of the sentence,
for (1), the question should be ご家族は いますか?(this one sounds weird tho.)
And for (2), the question should be ご家族は どこに いますか?
And for (3), the question should be ご家族は 何人ですか?

Please correct me if I am wrong. 😅

Thanks~~~:)

--max
 
Yes, you're right! :)

The first one may sound weird, but it can be used that way, such as if you're being interrogated by a police officer... 😊
 
Thanks for the detailed response. :)
I can think of another example: 主人 <-> ご主人
BTW, any rule of either ご or お should be used? Or I just have to memorize all of them?

There is a general rule that 漢語 (かんご -- kanji words, or Sino-Japanese words) take ご and native Japanese words take お. There are some exceptions though (お仕事, for one). Some words have been used in Japanese so long that they feel like Japanese words to native speakers, so those words will take お instead of ご. There are some that can take either, as well.

I think sticking to the rule will work for you, though, because the exceptions are commonly used words, so you should be able to pick up on them just from exposure.

By the way, words are generally considered 漢語 when they're read with 音読み (Sino-Japanese reading). If there are two kanji together but they're read with 訓読み (Japanese reading), they're considered native Japanese words. Some examples of the latter would be 割引(わりびき) and 受付 (うけつけ).
 
So If I don't omit any part of the sentence,
for (1), the question should be ご家族は いますか?(this one sounds weird tho.)
It is fine, but this is also good : あなたには、家族がいますか?
There are various ways to say all of these, you can use です or います endings for 2 and 3 as well.
 
Thanks for the great lesson, Epigene, Glenn, and Elizabeth. You make my learning Japanese an interesting thing. :)
 
Thanks for the great lesson, Epigene, Glenn, and Elizabeth. You make my learning Japanese an interesting thing. :)
どういたしまして。日本語を上達すればするほど、面白い旅行もできるんですね。

As your Japanese improves, more interesting trips also become possible. :cool:
がんばってね!
 
父 - お父様(とうさま)、お父上(ちちうえ)、御 尊父(ごそんぷ)
Some are often used, others are not, maybe only in a formal writing.
The final two, I'd never heard of. Thanks for the pointer.
 
The second one I've only heard in 時代劇, like Akira Kurosawa's Ran (samurai flicks). Well, actually, it was 父上, not お父上, and you'll also hear 兄上 and 姉上 (and I'm assuming 母上, although I don't recall ever having actually heard it).

ご尊父 is new on me as well, and it seems like it's extremely formal, like something you would write in some formal letter to a president or something. That's just my initial impression, though.

Oh, by the way, isn't it more common to refer to others' siblings as お姉さん and お兄さん, respectively (parents, too: お父さん and お母さん)? The 様 versions seem a bit too polite for normal conversation.

First time I'd heard 拙宅, too, actually. Now I know two words that use that kanji! (the other being 拙者, but I don't have much use for that word, unless I want to make people laugh)
 
T
The final two, I'd never heard of. Thanks for the pointer.

どういたしまして。
ちなみに「母」の場合は「御尊父」(ごそんぷ)に対して「御母堂」(ごぼどう)になります。
Those words are rarely used these days, as they are super-formal & polite.
I only see them in the office notice to announce some employee's family's death.
😅
 
どういたしまして。日本語を上達すればするほど、面白い旅行もできるんですね。
As your Japanese improves, more interesting trips also become possible. 👍
がんばってね!

Thanks, Elizabeth. I will try to learn more so I can understand the grammar of the sentence you wrote. 😅


日本語を上達すればするほど、面白 い旅行もできるんですね。 😅
 
I'll help you out: 〜ば〜するほど means "the more you do..." It works with adjectives, too, actually. You can optionally leave out the 〜ば, as well.
 
I'll help you out: 〜ば〜するほど means "the more you do..." It works with adjectives, too, actually. You can optionally leave out the 〜ば, as well.
Thanks, Glenn. I need more help here...😅
日本語を上達すればするほど、面白 い旅行もできるんですね。
-----------^^---------------------^^^^^------
^
I only understand the underscored part. It's too advanced to me. :(
 
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I don't understand what you mean. You don't understand the underscored part? Or you don't understand the parts over the ^s?
 
With the new divisions of keigo, the ご~ and お~ variations of words are now known as 美化語 (bikago), a new category under the blanket of 尊敬語 (sonkeigo, honorifics).
 
Not uniformly. It depends on how they're used. Neither 窶堋イナステ・ツ人 nor 窶堋ィナ陳ウ窶ケC in 窶堋イナステ・ツ人窶堙坂?堋ィナ陳ウ窶ケC窶堙??堋キ窶堋ゥ would be considered 窶敕シ窶ーツサナ津ェ, but 窶堋ィナステオナスi in 窶吮?ケ窶堋イ窶敕鯛?堙債、窶堋ィナステオナスi窶堙坂?堋「窶堋ゥ窶堋ェ窶堙??堋キ窶堋ゥ would be.

None of the ones in the list that undrentide gave would be considered 窶敕シ窶ーツサナ津ェ, as they all follow the usage of the former example.
 
ith the new divisions of keigo, the ご~ and お~ variations of words are now known as 美化語 (bikago), a new category under the blanket of 尊敬語 (sonkeigo, honorifics).
I haven't heard of these new breakdowns or categorizations. Can someone explain further ?
私の理解。。。敬語は丁寧語、謙譲語、尊敬語の3つから構成される。 😅

I don't understand what you mean. You don't understand the underscored part? Or you don't understand the parts over the ^s?
I think the parts over the ^s。Which is precisely the reason I included an English translation...:p
 
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hmm, the wiki articles (in either language) aren't too enlightening on this, but a google search brought this up.
もう一つ、よく使われる丁寧語は名詞に付ける「お-」または「ご-」です。
例えば、「お茶」「お金」というと、言葉が柔らかくなります。これを「美化
語」と呼ぶこともあります。

基本的に「お-」は「和語」に、「ご-」は「漢語」に付けられます。

お茶 お金 お酒 お風呂 お天気 お花
ご家族 ご婦人 ご老人 ご近所 ご一緒

もちろん例外があり、「お勉強・お電話・お食事・お会計」など、音読みの
言葉に「お」がつくことも多いです。

「お-」の付けられる言葉の範囲は、境界がはっきりしません。場合によっ
て、人によって違うでしょう。とは言っても、付けすぎは困ります。お水、お
酒、おビール、おブランデー、おウイスキー、おジン、、、
Yes, it's just a geocities site. If you have any links to shed some more light on this, please share.

Elizabeth, there was a thread somewhere about it recently, as this is a fairly new development. Sonkeigo and kenjougo have both been subdivided, making the official number 5. The usage, of course, has not really changed, so it's just an exercise in academia it seems.
 
I think it's a more accurate description of the way the language is used.

尊敬語 is raising the status of the person you're talking about above yours. This includes using the honorific お/ご with nouns and adjectives, if they belong to the person you're talking about. For instance, supposing one of your teachers' eyes had gotten injured or something, you would say 先生、お目はいかがですか, where お makes 目 尊敬語, because it's the teachers eye, and you're showing respect to the teacher by putting their eye above you (I would say it's an extension of the in-group/out-group principle).

謙譲語 is lowering your status in relation to the person you're referencing. Since お/ご is honorific (i.e., 尊敬語), you don't use it for yourself or things in your in-group.

美化語 is using what would normally be honorific words in ways that don't follow the above usages. For instance, in お三階まで行ってください (I've actually seen this one, or something very like it) お三階 doesn't refer to anyone's floor (or 3rd floor), it's just used to make the sentence seem more polite. It's not true 敬語, because it should be 尊敬語, but who exactly is the in-group? It's the same with おビールを飲みますか. They don't have the beer, you're asking if they want to drink one.

This is what I was taught originally, before the official separation of 敬語 into the new categories. I was taught that the third one was called 美化敬語, which apparently was shortened in the official version, and I believe that label had been around for some time. I'm not really sure how 謙譲語 was split up, though.
 
Hi Glenn,
I only understand the underscored part.

Thanks in advance.

Cool....I am now a land-owner!
 
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