Hi!
I just started learning and I was wondering, when talking to people my own age on the Internet (e.g. Hello Talk, TikTok) should I be formal or not?
In German we have formal form too, but normally when talking to people our age, even when we don’t know them (i’m talking like 18-21 year-olds) we’re never formal.
Thanks ^^
3 comments
not a native japanese person, but what i usually do is match their level of formality
ex: if they arent using -masu form i wouldn’t use it either, see if they’re using slang, etc., you can even get a good idea of what level of formality you should use based on the platform you’re on or the subject matter
use masu unless you’re speaking with someone much younger than yourself, or unless they start using casual form with you first, then you can match their level of formality
japanese isn’t german or english, the concept of formality and politeness isn’t the same, it’s baked into the language to a degree that it doubles as information that would otherwise be conveyed using pronouns in many cases
Depends on the context. If you were sending an email to a pen pal you would almost certainly start using polite language. if you are jumping into some ‘discourse’ on twitter just use casual language like everyone else.