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Languages Study | Languages of the East | Japanese III
Grammar II - 20.02 Grammar L4 - 009 Menu - Grammar
  Humble Expressions
 

When you do something out of respect for somebody,
you can sometimes describe your action using a verb in the humble pattern "お + verb stem + する."
Not all verbs are used this way, so you may want to use only the ones you have actually heard used.
You can speak of "humbly" meeting, lending to, or borrowing from, someone, for example
   
私はきのう先生にお会いしました。 I (humbly) met my professor yesterday.
watashi-wa, kinoo sensei-ni o-ai shimashita.  
私は先生に本をお貸しするつもりです。 I intend to (humbly) lend my professor a book.
watashi-wa, sensei-ni, hon-o o-kashi-suru tsumori desu.  
私は先生に辞書をお借りしました。 I borrowed a dictionary from my professor (and feel very obliged).
watashi-wa, sensei-ni, jisho-o o-kari shimashita.  
   
   
  する compound verbs do not follow this pattern.
Instead they simply have the prefix ご or お, such as
ご紹介する

ごしょうかいする、(to introduce)
ご案内する ごあんないする、(to guide, to usher)
ご説明する ごせつめいする、(to explain)
お電話する and おでんわする. (to phone, to call)
   
  もらう and あげる have special replacement verbs
もらう -> いただく to receive
morau - itadaku  
私は先生にこの本をいただきました。

I (humbly) received this boob from my professor.

watashi-wa sensei-ni kono hon-o itadakimashita.

  
私は先生に漢字を教えていただきました。 I (humbly) had my professor teach me kanji.
watashi-wa sensei-ni kanji-o oshiete itadakimashita.  
   
あげる -> さしあげる
差し上げる		 to give, to offer (* 1)
ageru - sashiageru  
私は先生にプレゼントをさしあげます。 I will (humbly) give my teacher a gift.
watashi-wa sensei-ni purezento-o sashiagemasu.  
   
  The subjects in the above examples are all "I," and "I humbly performs these actions in deference to the person that is underlined. (* 2)
The difference between this pattern and the extra-modest expressions that we studied earlier lies here:
the extra-modest expressions show respect to the listeners you are talking to,
while the humble pattern shows respect to someone that appears in the event you are describing.
This of course does not preclude the possibility of you humbly performing an action for the person you are talking to. (* 3)
  For example,
（私はあなたを）駅までお送りします。 I will (humbly) walk you to the station.

watashi-wa anata-o eki-made o-okuri shimasu.

  
   
  * 1

We do not endorse the use of sashiageru with the te-form of a verb in the sense of "humbly doing something for somebody/'
because many people object to this type of sentence.
They argue that the idea that you are doing a service for somebody is ultimately an insolent belief
and that trying to talk humbly about it is a rather unconvincing facade.
Such speakers prefer instead to use the "o + stem + suru" pattern.
私は先生に地図を見せてさしあげました。 Instead of:

watashi-wa sensei-ni chizu-o misete sashiagemasu.

  
私は先生に地図をお見せしました。 Use:
I (humbly) showed a map for my professor.

watashi-wa sensei-ni chizu-o mise-shimashita.

  
   
  * 2

You can also talk about one of "your people", such as a member of your family or another worker at the company you work for,
humbly performing an action in deference to somebody outside the group.
私の父はお客さんにお茶をおいれしました。 My father (humbly) served the guest tea.
watashi-no chichi-wa, o-kyaku-san-ni, o-cha-o o-ireshimashita.  
私の母は大統領に手紙をいただきました。 My mother (humbly) received a letter from the President
watashi-no haha-wa, daitooryoo-ni tegami-o itadakimashita.  
   
  *3

Sometimes, we can use a humble expression to describe a situation where we do something for the person we are talking to,
meaning "for you," "instead of you," and "saving you trouble."
テレビをおつけしましょう。 Let me (humbly) turn on the TV (for you).
terebi-o o-tsuke-shimashoo.