School often teaches three: sonkeigo / kenjōgo / teineigo. The 2007 guideline splits to five for real use — so verbs with different jobs stop sharing one label.
The five
1 Sonkeigo — elevate the person doing the action. 2 Kenjō I — humble your action toward an elevated target. 3 Kenjō II / teichō — careful wording about your side toward the listener. 4 Teineigo — です・ます politeness floor. 5 Bikago — beautify the word (お茶), not elevate a person.
Payoff: 伺う vs 参る
Both get taught as “humble go.” Different jobs, different failure modes. 伺う (kenjō I) aims at an elevated destination; 参る (kenjō II) is formality toward the listener / scene. We walk through that contrast — with live examples — in the teineigo / 伺う vs 参る note, and the full five-type guide on /guide.