Is Keigo really that hard?


I’ve heard people say that Keigo is complicated, but I’ve also heard someone
say that all you have to do is add -desu or -masu at the end of the sentence.
Is this true? What makes Keigo so difficult? Is it really as hard as people
say?




It's difficult to use perfect keigo even to many native Japanese adults.
Bookstores sell keigo handbooks with hundreds of pages for native Japanese
speakers. Still, if you need to speak Japanese in business settings, you need
to take the time to master at least some keigo. While the basic rules are not
that complicated, the rules are completely new to you. You'll need to learn a
few dozen new verbs and expressions, too. For example, 来る is a simple verb
meaning "to come", but you need to use different verbs while you're talking to
your business partner. The correct verb depends on whether you are the subject
or the partner is the subject.

On the other hand, if you just want to speak in a way that is not too rude as
a tourist, just being able to use "desu" and "masu" might be sufficient.

