参る・
田中と申します, 明日伺います, お待たせいたしました. A few everyday verbs have a humble verb of their own, for when you or your side is the one who goes, says or does. You hear them from staff and on station platforms, and you need them to introduce yourself.
The verbs
行く・来る → 参る 訪ねる・聞く → 伺う 言う → 申す する → いたす いる → おる
Nearly always with ます: 参ります, 伺います, 申します, いたします, おります.
Who is doing it?
Respectful forms raise what the other person does. Humble forms lower what you, or your side, do. You never raise yourself, and to an outsider you never raise your own family or company.
These verbs are humble: you do it, or your family or company does. Each has a respectful partner.
| Everyday | They do it | You do it |
|---|---|---|
| 行く・来る | いらっしゃる | 参る, 伺う |
| いる | いらっしゃる | おる |
| 言う | おっしゃる | 申す |
| する | な | いたす |
| 食べる・飲む | 召し上がる | いただく |
| 見る | ご覧に | 拝見する |
| 会う | お会いに | お目に |
会う has only お目にかかる of its own.
Introducing yourself
How do you do. My name is Smith.
I'm from the United States.
I'm very pleased to meet you.
いたします is します: お願いします, one step humbler.
What you'll hear
Certainly. One moment, please.
A humble 分かりました, answering a request. At work, also 承知しました.
Sorry to have kept you waiting.
The person in charge will be right over.
I'll be waiting for you in front of the station.
ております is the humble ています.
May I ask your name?
伺う is visit, ask and hear. お伺いします is common too.
Your family and your company
To an outsider they are your side, so what they do takes a humble verb too.
My father's name is Ichiro Tanaka.
Is Mr. Tanaka, the department manager, in?
I'm sorry. Tanaka is not in at the moment.
On the phone at work. The caller raises your boss. You don't: plain 田中, and おりません.
伺う or 参る?
伺う is for going to, or asking, the person you are being polite to. 参る, 申す, いたす and おる only make your side sound modest, wherever you go and whatever you do. That is why a station can say 電車が参ります.
I visited my professor's home yesterday.
To the teacher's own home.
I'm going to Kyoto for work next week.
Just a trip. Nobody is being visited.
Sounds odd: 週末は
I'm going to my younger brother's place this weekend.
It lifts your own brother. 参ります, or to a friend 行きます.
Where it goes wrong
These verbs are for your side. Said of the other person, they lower them.
Not said: 先生は
(What time are you coming, Professor?)
いらっしゃいますか.
Not said: 受付で
(Please ask at reception.)
The asking is theirs: 受付でお聞きください.
Close neighbours
The respectful partners, for what the other person does.
What will you have?
The humble もらう and あげる.
I received a book from my teacher.
あります and です made more polite. Nobody is raised or lowered.
Reception is on the second floor.
Check yourself
1You introduce yourself at an interview. Which one fits?
私は
Choose an answer to see why.
2You tell a customer that your mother will come tomorrow. Which one fits?
明日は
Choose an answer to see why.
More detail
行ってまいります
てまいります is the humble てきます. 行ってまいります is 行ってきます, said to a boss or a customer.
More sentences
I will visit my professor's office next week.
I'll go and see the department manager later.
May I ask one question?
I've come from Osaka.
I'm Sato from the sales department.
We'll check on our end.
We'll take care of all the preparations for the meeting.