N4 · Politeness
Humble verbs
humble language (kenjougo)
Special verbs that lower you and your side, so that the other person stands higher.
Humble language, 謙譲語, is the mirror image of honorific language. Instead of raising the other person, you lower yourself — and with you your family and, at work, your company. The commonest actions again have verbs of their own: 参る "go, come", おる "be", 申す "say, be called", いたす "do", いただく "eat, drink, receive", 伺う "visit, ask", 拝見する "see", お目にかかる "meet", 差し上げる "give".
They fall into two kinds. Some lower you towards the person your action concerns: you 伺う a teacher's office, 拝見する a client's letter, お目にかかる the president. Others simply make your own words formal towards the listener, whoever the action concerns: 参る, 申す, いたす, おる. That is why a station announcement can say that a train 参ります.
Humble verbs are almost always used with ます: 参ります, 申します, おります, いたします. And ている becomes ております: 父は銀行で働いております.
The mistake to avoid is using a humble verb for what the other person does. Shop staff who say いただいてください to a customer are telling the customer to humble themselves; the customer 召し上がる. The question to ask before every keigo verb is the same: who is acting? You and your side — humble. The person you respect — honorific.
The form
| each row: plain → honorific → humble | 普通→尊敬語→謙譲語 |
| go, come | 行く・来る→いらっしゃる→参る |
| be | いる→いらっしゃる→おる |
| say, be called | 言う→おっしゃる→申す |
| do | する→なさる→いたす |
| receive | もらう→お受け取りになる→いただく |
| visit | 訪ねる→お訪ねになる→伺う |
| ask | 聞く→お聞きになる→伺う |
| see, read | 見る→ご覧になる→拝見する |
| meet | 会う→お会いになる→お目にかかる |
| give (to somebody above you) — humble only | あげる→差し上げる |
| know | 知っている→ご存じだ→存じている |
The rules one by one
Use humble verbs for your own actions when they concern somebody you respect.
明日、先生の研究室に伺います。I will come to your office tomorrow, Professor.
参る, 申す, いたす and おる make your own words formal towards the listener.
私は東京から参りました。I have come from Tokyo.
In humble speech, ている becomes ております.
父は銀行で働いております。My father works at a bank.
Never use a humble verb for the actions of the person you respect.
どうぞ、温かいうちに召し上がってください。Please eat it while it is hot.
Your family and your company count as your side when you speak to outsiders.
母もよろしくと申しておりました。My mother also asked me to give you her regards.
A closer look
Lowering yourself to raise the other
Respect in Japanese is a matter of distance between two people, and there are two ways to make it bigger: lift the other person or lower yourself. Honorific and humble verbs are those two moves, which is why so many actions have a pair — いらっしゃる and 参る, おっしゃる and 申す.
English has traces of the same idea in "may I" and "I would like to", which make the speaker's wish smaller. Japanese builds it into the verb itself, and expects it whenever the situation is formal, whatever you happen to be saying.
How to spot it
- 参ります
- 申します
- おります
- いたします
- いただく
- 伺う
- 拝見する
- お目にかかる
Example sentences
初めまして。リー・ミンと申します。How do you do. My name is Li Min.
お手紙、拝見しました。I have read your letter.
来週の会議には私が参ります。I will attend next week's meeting.
先生からいただいた本を大切にしています。I take good care of the book my teacher gave me.
明日の午後、そちらに伺ってもよろしいでしょうか。Would it be all right if I came by tomorrow afternoon?
社長には以前、パーティーでお目にかかりました。I met the president once before, at a party.
7 more example sentences
その件は私がいたします。I will take care of that.
父は今、出かけております。My father is out at the moment.
一つ伺ってもよろしいですか。May I ask one thing?
その件はよく存じております。I am well aware of that matter.
それでは、お先に失礼いたします。Well then, I will be leaving now.
資料を拝見してもよろしいでしょうか。May I look at the documents?
先生にお礼の手紙を差し上げました。I sent my teacher a letter of thanks.
Worth knowing (2)
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A train that humbly arrives
Because 参る is about the listener rather than about whoever arrives, it is used for things that have no rank at all. Station announcements use it for trains, and hotel staff use it for the taxi that has come for you (お車が参りました): the politeness is aimed at the passengers and the guests.
まもなく、三番線に電車が参ります。The train will shortly arrive at platform three.
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いただきます before a meal
The word everybody says before eating is the humble verb いただく, "to receive". It thanks whoever made the meal possible — the cook, the person paying, and in older readings the food itself. It is said by the eater, about their own eating, which is exactly why it cannot be said to a guest.
おいしそう！いただきます。That looks delicious! Let's eat.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
いただく sounds polite, and that is the trap: it is polite because it lowers the eater. Said to a customer, it asks the customer to humble themselves. What the customer does takes the honorific 召し上がる; いただきます is what you say about your own meal.
Ask who is acting: you and your side are humble, the person you respect is honorific.
Your turn
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