Lesson 19 of 40
Vocabulary Sprint w01 — whose action is it?
about 12 minutes
After this lesson you can
- Choose the honorific or the humble verb according to whose action it is.
- Produce the ます form of the five verbs that do not follow the rule.
Words this lesson teaches
- なさる
- does — honorific, for their action; replaces する
- 致す
- does — humble, for my action; replaces する
- いらっしゃる
- is, goes, comes — honorific; replaces いる, 行く and 来る at once
- おいでになる
- is, goes, comes — honorific, interchangeable with いらっしゃる
- ごらんになる
- looks at — honorific; replaces 見る
- 拝見
- looks at — humble; 拝見します for 見ます
- 召し上がる
- eats, drinks — honorific; never about your own meal
- いただく
- receives, eats, drinks — humble; the one you say before a meal
- おっしゃる
- says — honorific; replaces 言う
- 申し上げる
- says — humble; replaces 言う about your own speech
- くださる
- gives to me — honorific; the くださる of ください
- 差し上げる
- gives to them — humble; replaces あげる
- うかがう
- visits, asks — humble; replaces 行く, 来る and 聞く
- 承知
- understanding, consenting — 承知しました is the polite yes at work
- 遠慮
- holding back out of consideration — 遠慮なく means go ahead
- ご存じ
- knowing — honorific; replaces 知っている about them
- よろしい
- all right, acceptable — the polite いい
- 御主人
- your husband — never your own
- お嬢さん
- your daughter; a young woman — never your own daughter
What it explains
Whose action, not how polite
Japanese politeness has two axes and beginners meet only one. です and ます raise how you are speaking. 尊敬語 and 謙譲語 change who is raised: the honorific lifts the other person, the humble lowers you, and the gap between you is the same either way. So the question at the moment of choosing is never how polite should I be — it is who is doing this. Your own actions take the humble column even when you are being extremely polite, and especially then.
One word covering three verbs
いらっしゃる is いる, 行く and 来る together, and うかがう is 行く, 来る and 聞く. The context tells you which, and until it does you will not know — which is uncomfortable and is how the language works. 「先生は いらっしゃいますか」 asks whether the teacher is in, or whether they are coming, and the room usually settles it. When it does not, ask.
御主人 and お嬢さん belong to the other person
Kanji unit 20 made the point with 兄 and お兄さん: your own family takes the plain word, somebody else's takes the dressed one. These two are the same split further up. 御主人 is the husband of the person you are speaking to; your own is 主人 or 夫. お嬢さん is their daughter; yours is 娘. Using the honorific about your own family is the same category error as 「わたしが おっしゃいます」, in a place where it is easier to make.
The scene itself is in the app.
Lesson one of this track is free to read in full. From lesson two on, the story, the audio and the review are part of a free account.