Japanese Honorific Prefixes: o- and go-

Those little o- and go- sounds in front of words are politeness markers, and some of them are not optional.

Language Reference · By Aiko Tanaka · Updated Jun 22, 2026

You will hear お and ご attached to the front of many nouns. They add politeness or respect, and a few have fused to their words so firmly that dropping them sounds wrong.

The rough division

お (o-) with native words

Tends to attach to words of Japanese origin. お茶 (ocha, tea), お金 (okane, money), お名前 (onamae, your name).

ご (go-) with Sino-Japanese words

Tends to attach to words built from Chinese-derived readings. ご家族 (gokazoku, your family), ご注文 (gochuumon, your order).

It is a tendency, not a hard wall, and there are exceptions, but it gets you the right prefix most of the time.

Optional versus fixed

For many words the prefix is a politeness choice you can switch on or off. For others it has fossilised into the word itself. ご飯 (gohan, cooked rice or a meal) is almost always said with ご. お茶 is nearly always お茶. Saying plain 飯 (meshi) for rice exists but is rough and masculine.


namae to onamae, your name (polite)

chuumon to gochuumon, your order (polite, as staff say it)
Overusing these prefixes on your own things sounds odd, even comical. You add お to the listener's name and belongings as respect, not usually to your own. Staff say ご注文 about your order; you would not.

Where it fits

These prefixes are one small piece of the politeness system. The fuller picture, including humble and honorific verbs, is in the keigo guide.

AT
Aiko Tanaka
Japanese-English translator & editor, Meguro English

Aiko has worked as a freelance Japanese-English translator since 2011, focusing on conversational and business texts. She grew up bilingual in Tokyo's Meguro district and reviews every Japanese-language guide on this site. How we write and review.

Test one of these examples in the translator and see how it comes out.

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