honorific N4 common politewritten sonkeigo (respectful)
お〜になる — honorific form of a verb
お〜になる
Builds on 連用形（ます形）
Meaning
- the productive honorific (尊敬語) pattern — wrap an ordinary verb in お〜になる to elevate the subject's action
Key sentence
先生はもうお帰りになりました。
The teacher has already gone home.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| お + verb's masu-stem + になる (ご + する-noun + になる for kango) | お + [masu-stem] + になる | 読む → お読みになる |
Examples
部長はこの本をお読みになりましたか。
Did the department head read this book?
お客様がお待ちになっています。
The customer is waiting.
先生が結果をご覧になりました。
The teacher looked at the results.
When you can't use it
- Doesn't apply when a verb has its own suppletive honorific — 来る/行く/いる → いらっしゃる, する → なさる, 見る → ご覧になる. ×お来になる is wrong. Single-mora stems (見る→お見になる) are also blocked, so those rely on the lexical forms.
- Honorific, so only for the subject's action — never for your own. ×私がお読みになる.
Easily confused with
See お〜になる in real sentences
Jengo shows お〜になる the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar. Editorial confidence: medium.