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Japanese grammar has a rich subset of grammatical forms named 敬語 ("keigo",
formal language or respect's language).

The rules allowing to transform a normal verb into a keigo verb are complex
and I'm stuck with a difference I found
[here](http://www.epochrypha.com/japanese/materials/verbs/honorific.html) on a
well-documented site.

For each verb it seems that there are TWO ways to create infinitive keigo
forms :

  * o either お + [い-stem] & に なる
  * o either お + [い-stem] & なさる

By example : 変える (kaeru) becomes either お変えになる either お変えなさる.

I don't understand if the difference between these two forms is merely formal
(like in French : _je m'assois_ , _je m'assieds_ ) or if these two verbal
forms are used in different linguistic contexts.
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2014-01-22T21:07:02.687
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question
grammar verbs keigo
semantic difference between two keigo verbal forms : に なる(ni naru) and なさる(nasaru)?
There are several "categories" within keigo, depending on the type of meaning
that you want to convey: `尊敬語`, `謙譲語`, `丁寧語` and `美化語`.

The 2 forms you ask about here, `お(ご)〜になる` and `お(ご)〜なさる` both are `尊敬語`
forms, so they serve the same purpose and have the same function in politeness
(i.e. as `尊敬語` they serve to "elevate" the grammatical subject of the
sentence). So, basically, no difference.

That being said, `お〜なさる`, especially used with a `連用形` (い-stem), may sound
slightly more old-fashioned and is more likely to be used by older people,
while `お(ご)〜になる` may be more common nowadays (besides some almost idiomatic
usage cases such `お帰りなさい`), though both are correct and used.

From the [大辞林](http://kotobank.jp/word/%E7%82%BA%E3%81%95%E3%82%8B):

> 動詞の連用形に付くときは，命令の言い方以外はやや古風なひびきをもつ。「どこへ行き－・る」〕
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answer