お and ご are prefixes you put in front of a noun to make it sound polite or respectful. You meet them on day one: お名前は？ (Your name?), ご家族 (your family), お茶 (tea). At N5 you don’t need to master honorific language, but you do need two skills: choosing between お and ご, and knowing when not to use either.
お usually goes on native Japanese words, ご on words borrowed from Chinese — and neither goes on your own name or family.
What does お / ご mean?
The prefixes do not change the meaning of the noun. 名前 and お名前 both mean “name”. What changes is the tone. お / ご do one of two jobs:
- Respect for the other person: お名前, ご家族, お仕事 — “your name”, “your family”, “your work”. The prefix shows respect to the owner, so English often translates it as “your”.
- Making everyday words sound refined: お茶, お金, お水, ご飯. These are used about anyone’s things, including your own, because the prefix is simply part of polite everyday vocabulary.
Some words almost always carry the prefix: ご飯 (rice, meal), お茶 (tea), お金 (money), お手洗い (restroom), おにぎり. Dropping the お from お金 sounds rough in normal conversation.
How to form お / ご
The rule of thumb depends on where the word comes from.
- お + native words: お名前, お茶, お水, お金, お国, お手紙
- ご + Chinese-origin words: ご家族, ご両親, ご住所, ご結婚, ご連絡
A practical shortcut for beginners: if the word is two kanji read with their Chinese readings (家族 = か・ぞく), expect ご. If it is one kanji read the Japanese way (名前, 水, 茶), expect お.
There are common exceptions where お goes on a Chinese-origin word, and you just have to learn them: お電話, お時間, お弁当, お勉強, お料理.
Most katakana loanwords take no prefix. コーヒー, ビール, and パン stay as they are.
When is お / ご used?
- Asking about the other person: お名前は？ ご家族は何人ですか。 お国はどちらですか。
- Polite everyday vocabulary: ordering or offering food and drink. お茶をどうぞ。
- Fixed greetings: おはようございます, お元気ですか, おやすみなさい, ごちそうさまでした. Here the お / ご is frozen into the phrase.
- Shops and service: staff use many お / ご words when speaking to customers, like お会計 (the bill) and ご注文 (your order).
In casual speech between friends you drop the respect prefix on their things (名前なに？), but keep fixed words like ご飯 and お金.
お / ご example sentences
すみません、お名前は何ですか。
Excuse me, what's your name?
ご家族は何人ですか。
How many people are in your family?
お国はどちらですか。
Where are you from?
お茶をどうぞ。
Here's some tea.
朝ご飯を食べましたか。
Did you have breakfast?
財布にお金がありません。
I don't have any money in my wallet.
The last two sentences show that fixed words like ご飯 and お金 keep their prefix even when you talk about yourself. The respect words in the first three only point at the listener.
Nuance of お / ご
Respect never points at yourself. Japanese politeness raises the other person and keeps you neutral. So you ask お名前は？ but answer 私の名前は…. You ask about ご家族 but talk about your own 家族. Putting お / ご on your own things sounds like you are praising yourself.
Refined words are different. お茶, お金, and お水 are not about respect for an owner. They are just the polite everyday forms, used about anything. Many speakers, especially in service jobs, add お to more words to sound gentle; you will hear more お in a shop than among students.
Don’t add it everywhere. Using お / ご on words that don’t normally take them sounds odd or even comical. Only use the prefix on words where you have heard it used.
お / ご vs さん
Both お / ご and さん show respect, so learners sometimes treat them as interchangeable. They attach to different things.
They share one rule: neither is used for yourself. You would never say 私はアンナさんです, just as you would never say 私のお名前.
Common mistakes with お / ご
Learners copy お名前 from the question. The respect prefix is for the other person's name, not your own.
家族 is a Chinese-origin word (か・ぞく), so it takes ご. お元気 is the polite way to ask about someone's health.
Katakana loanwords normally take no prefix, however polite you want to be.
Is お / ご on the JLPT?
Yes. お / ご words are part of JLPT N5 vocabulary and grammar. The test rarely asks you to add a prefix yourself, but you must recognize prefixed words in reading and listening, and know which fixed words always carry one.
- Read お名前, ご家族, お国 as "your name / family / country"
- Recognize fixed words: ご飯, お茶, お金, お手洗い, お弁当
- Know that you don't add お / ご to your own name or family
- Understand greetings like お元気ですか and ごちそうさまでした
Practice questions for お / ご
Show answer
お名前は何ですか。 — What's your name?
Show answer
ご両親はお元気ですか。 — Are your parents well?
Show answer
家族は四人です。 — There are four of us in my family.
Show answer
お水が飲みたいです。 — I'd like to drink some water.
Learning path for お / ご
Related grammar to review next
- の — marks ownership; 私の名前 is the plain partner of the respectful お名前.
- をください — the request pattern where you use fixed prefixed words like お水 most often.
- はどうですか — offering something to a guest, where お / ご words sound natural.
- ませんか — polite invitations that often include お茶 or ご飯.
Learn お / ご with Hane
Hane teaches お / ご words as part of the vocabulary they belong to, so you learn ご家族 and お名前 as whole units. Start practicing with Hane.
FAQ about お / ご
What does お / ご (o go) mean in Japanese?
お / ご (o go) means “polite or honorific prefix”. It is JLPT N5 grammar. The prefixes do not change the meaning of the noun. 名前 and お名前 both mean "name". What changes is the tone.
How do you form お / ご (o go)?
The rule of thumb depends on where the word comes from.
What is the difference between お / ご and さん?
お / ご: prefix on things. さん: suffix on people.
What is an example sentence with お / ご (o go)?
すみません、お名前は何ですか。 — Excuse me, what's your name?