I was reading the "Dictionary of Japanese Grammar" series, and I found the way
it uses the term formality vs. politeness contradictory and confusing, so I
wanted some clarifications.

Here are some examples:

From the "Basic" volume, page 43:

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/B0cWi.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/B0cWi.png)

From the "Advanced" volume, page 35:

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/J4eAC.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/J4eAC.png)

In the "Basic" volume, だ is said to be informal, while です is said to be
formal. On the other hand, the "Advanced" volume defines だ<->です as a
plain<->polite pair, but they both are categorized as informal. To add to the
confusion, there is this quote:

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tZUzv.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/tZUzv.png)

Which once again contradicts the chart from the first volume of the series.
This is especially confusing, because in every resource that I have read
(including the verb conjugation chart at the end of the "Basic" volume), the
-ます form is the formal form of a verb.

And it never mentions how all of this fits into the 丁寧語・尊敬語・謙譲語 framework
either.

So can anyone help me reconcile these contradictions? Also if possible, can
anyone point me to a detailed resource on Japanese formality & politeness and
how it fits into the 敬語 framework, preferably in English? I tried to look
around, but all of them tends to be really shallow and contains few examples.
I liked the in-depth style of DoJG explanations, but the contradictions above
plus the fact that they completely excluded 敬語 left me wanting for more.
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2021-03-27T21:33:19.903
85809
2021-03-30T02:44:36.680
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question
grammar politeness keigo formality
Confusion on the politeness vs. formality terminology
If these are really from two volumes of the same edition, I have to say this
is indeed confusing and misleading. 食べた is perfectly valid in formal articles.
As for the terminology, I see the following names most often:

  * だ: Plain form (can be formal or informal)
  * です: Polite form (usually formal, too)
  * (である: Literary/stiff form)

In Japanese, だ/である is called 常体 and です/ます is called 敬体.

Regarding the formality vs politeness, I think formality is easier because
English has this distinction, too ( _child_ vs _kid_ , _yes_ vs _yeah_ ).
However, Japanese has two styles even in formal settings.

In formal settings, politeness is a sign of humanity and friendliness, so you
need it when you communicate with your business partners and customers. On the
other hand, the plain form in formal settings is a sign of dignity,
academicity and matter-of-factness, and you use it to write a plain news
article, an academic manuscript, a rule book, a Wikipedia article, etc.
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2021-03-30T02:44:36.680
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answer