Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 7: 16/18

お〜するI humbly do, I am obliged to do, Humble speech

Structure

お + Verb［stem］+ する
ご(1) + する［Verb］ + する

(1) お, limited to ［する］Verbs like: 電話(でんわ)する、勉強(べんきょう)する、散歩(さんぽ)する

Details

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    Polite

About お〜する

お〜する comes from a form of polite speech in Japanese called humble speech. This type of speech is used to refer to the speaker and their actions. This is opposed to honorific language, which refers exclusively to the listener and their actions. お〜する is almost exactly the same as お～になる, as in it simply means する.

お〜する is regularly used with words of Japanese origin, while ご～する will be used with words of Chinese origin. The する in this compound will attach directly to the ます stem of almost any verb.

Caution

While the する in this structure will attach directly to the ます stem of verbs, this does not mean that verbs that are already する verbs will become しする. In the case of する verbs, simply change the prefix to ご.

In rare cases, お may be used instead of ご, when attached to words of Chinese origin. There is no specific rule for this, and they must be memorized on a case by case basis.

Thankfully, the words of Chinese origin that use お instead of ご are extremely common verbs. This means that you will be exposed to almost all of them very quickly. All others may be assumed to use ご.

Fun Fact

In the same way that お～になる is a more common variation of なさる (both honorific language), お〜する is a more common variation of いたす (both humble speech).

Examples

--:--

    ドアをお閉(し)めします。

    I (will) humbly close the door.

    お任(まか)せします。

    I will humbly leave it up to you.

    先生(せんせい)の分(ぶん)もお取(と)りします。

    I will humbly take the teacher's share.

    あなたの分(ぶん)もお作(つく)りします。

    I will also humbly make your share.

    これを彼(かれ)にお渡(わた)ししてください。

    Please humbly hand over this to him.

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      お〜する – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (15 in total)

      • MakroneBiest997

        MakroneBiest997

        I have pretty much the same question as Brian, just regarding these example sentences:

        ご注文する時はこちらのベルを押してください。

        And

        ご登録する方はこちらをクリックしてください。

        It seems to me that humble speech is misplaced here, since it is refering to someone elses actions.

        But as usual I’m probably just missing something kinda obvious.

        I would gladly appreciate some clarification regarding these examples, if possible.

      • ThiagoIanuch

        ThiagoIanuch

        I also have this same question

      • nekoyama

        nekoyama

        I also don’t like the keigo in those sentences.

        お渡ししてください is translated as “please humbly hand…” so I guess it’s intentional, but I think if you are in a position to talk to someone like that then ください is out of place. To make the keigo match, it could be お渡ししなさい or お渡しください.

        ご注文する時は I would just write ご注文の時は instead. の can get you out of a lot of keigo problems like that.

        ご登録する方は is the same but constructions like ご登録をご希望の方は are common.

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