Holy crap. I was thinking of おなりになる and my head blew up a little because it seems redundant. Is there some sort of grammatical difference between なられる and おなりになる? Is the former also the passive form of なる?

Here's what my copy of Japanese: A Comprehensive Grammar says (and I think this has been backed up on JF by masaegu or another native speaker when asked previously).

It is 100% exactly formed the same way as the passive. Whether it's actually people using the passive to be honorific or it's an honorific form that just happens to take the same form as the passive I don't know. But that's just semantics.

Check this out: http://www.job-getter.com/3interview/380.htm

It talks about different kinds of keigo (ます form, honorific, and humble; and special words for phones, letters, and other things).

sagasidasu
 

さがし‐だ•す【捜し出す・探し出す】

What's the difference between the two different ways of writing it?

捜し出す = to find what/who has been missing, such as your missing dog, missing father, a crime suspect, etc. Finding the irreplaceable.

探し出す = to find what/who you have been looking for, such as your ideal home, your ideal boyfriend, someone with the right qualifications to work for you, etc. Finding the replaceable.

Is 同級生 ever used to simply indicate that two school-aged people are the same age or of equal status to each other, regardless of where they go to school? :confused:

The person being referred to with this lives in another town from the person he's supposedly a classmate of, so I don't see how they can actually be in the same school, let alone the same class.

By the same token, is 先輩 ever used for someone who is simply older than you and ahead of you in school, even if they're not in your school?

What about in the case of "I found your Koebu channel"

Two people DO NOT have to come form the same town or go to school together to be 同級生 or 先輩/後輩 to each other. If two people were born in the same year, they are called 同級生. If someone is older, you call him/her 先輩.

Learn these phrases:
人生の大先輩
会社の後輩

How about that, my intuition was finally right! :)

Hmm, a veteran of life (someone with years of life experience?) and the new guys at work? :o

人生の大先輩 = someone much older than you
会社の後輩 = someone who has not worked for the company as long as you have

Well, I was sort of close, just not as succinct. :D

Thanks! It may not seem like it, but I do learn something every time I come here.