other N4 common politewritten
様 — honorific title suffix (Mr/Ms, very polite)
様 ・ さま
Meaning
- very polite honorific suffix — for customers, letters, and anyone you want to show strong respect to; the elevated form of さん
Key sentence
山田様、お待たせいたしました。
Mr. Yamada, thank you for waiting.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| A person's name, title, or certain nouns | Name / Noun + 様 | お客様 / 神様 |
When: Customer service, formal letters and envelopes, and respectful or ceremonial contexts. Too stiff for ordinary peer conversation, where さん is normal.
Examples
ご来店のお客様にお知らせします。
An announcement for our visiting customers.
封筒の宛名は「鈴木様」と書いてください。
Please address the envelope to 'Suzuki-sama.'
Easily confused with
さん さん is the everyday neutral-polite suffix. 様 is markedly more deferential — standard for customers and formal writing, but over-formal between friends or colleagues of equal rank. 〜方 様 honors an individual; to make a respected group plural you use 方 (お客様方 'esteemed customers') or pair them as 〜様方.
See 様 in real sentences
Jengo shows 様 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.