Study sets
English

Japanese Honorifics Quiz | Using Mousu, Zonjiru, and Itadaku in Practice, Set 3

1 / 100.0s

Problem 1

A newly assigned representative introduces himself to a client and then apologizes on behalf of his company. Which pair best reflects the distinct functions of the honorific forms?

View explanation

「申す」 is humble language type II, or courteous language, used to describe an action by oneself or one's own side politely to the listener. It therefore fits the self-introduction 「佐藤と申します」. 「申し上げる」 is humble language type I, which elevates the person toward whom the words are directed, so it fits the apology 「おわび申し上げます」 to the client. The difference is one of honorific function, not merely degree of politeness.

Problem 2

An employee tells Mr. Yamada, a client, that the employee has known of him for some time. Which expression elevates Mr. Yamada appropriately?

View explanation

「存じ上げる」 is the humble type-I form of 「知る」 and elevates Mr. Yamada as the person known. In this use it normally appears in the progressive form, making 「以前から存じ上げております」 appropriate. 「ご存じです」 is the respectful form for knowledge held by the other party, so it does not fit a sentence in which the employee is the one who knows.

Problem 3

A representative asks a customer whether the customer already knows that the service contact will change next month. Which expression respectfully elevates the customer's state of knowing?

View explanation

「ご存じだ（です）」 is the respectful form of 「知っている」 and elevates the customer, who is the person with the knowledge. 「ご存じでしょうか」 therefore asks politely whether the customer knows. 「存じる」 and 「存じ上げる」 are humble forms used when describing knowledge held by oneself or one's own side, not by the customer.

Problem 4

An employee tells a customer that the employee has read and reviewed a proposal the customer sent in advance. Which expression is most appropriate?

View explanation

The employee is the person who read the proposal, and the proposal came from the customer. The humble type-I form of 「見る」, 「拝見する」, is therefore appropriate: 「拝見しました」. 「ご覧になる」 is respectful language for an act of seeing by the customer or another person being elevated and should not describe the employee's own action. 「拝見してくださいました」 incorrectly applies a humble form to the customer's action.

Problem 5

A representative tells a customer, “I am looking forward to being able to meet you at tomorrow's appointment.” Which expression elevates the customer through the representative's own act of meeting?

View explanation

「お目に掛かる」 is the humble type-I form of 「会う」 and elevates the customer whom the representative will meet. 「お会いになる」 is a respectful expression that elevates an act of meeting performed by the customer or another person, so it does not express the representative's own action as required here. 「拝見する」 means “to see” humbly, not “to meet” a person.

Problem 6

In a thank-you letter to customers, how does the Agency for Cultural Affairs explain the relationship between 「いつも当店を御利用いただき、ありがとうございます」 and 「いつも当店を御利用くださり、ありがとうございます」?

View explanation

「御利用いただく」 is humble language type I framed from the perspective of one's own side receiving the customer's use of the service. 「御利用くださる」 is respectful language that elevates the customer as the person using it. Although their grammatical viewpoints differ, both treat the customer's action as appreciated and elevate the same person. The Agency for Cultural Affairs therefore regards both as basically appropriate.

Problem 7

A training notice says 「当日は本人確認書類を御持参ください」. Which explanation accords with the Agency for Cultural Affairs' Guidelines for Honorific Language?

View explanation

「持参」 is established as a single word, and the element 「参」 within it does not function here as humble language type II that lowers the other party. The expression can therefore be used without issue when asking someone to bring identification. A writer who finds it awkward may choose 「お持ちください」, but 「御持参ください」 cannot be categorically labeled incorrect.

Problem 8

A section manager is told by the company president to inform a subordinate of a new procedure and replies, 「承知しました。そのように部下へ申し伝えます」. Which explanation of 「申し伝えます」 is most accurate?

View explanation

The 「申す」 in 「申し伝える」 functions as humble language type II, describing an action by one's own side courteously to the listener. Here the section manager is replying formally to the president; the expression does not elevate the subordinate who will receive the message. 「部下へ申し伝えます」 is therefore appropriate in this situation.

Problem 9

A receptionist tells an expected customer, 「受付でお待ちしております」. Which explanation best describes the use of 「お」 with an action performed by the receptionist's own side?

View explanation

Even an action by one's own side can take 「お」 or 「御」 when humble language type I is used to elevate the person toward whom the action is directed. In 「お待ちしております」, the receptionist describes waiting for the customer in a way that elevates the customer, so the expression is appropriate. By contrast, a form such as 「私のお考え」 would inappropriately elevate something belonging to oneself.

Problem 10

A subordinate wants to ask whether the section manager will personally carry a file to the meeting room. Which expression conveys that intended actor correctly?

View explanation

When the section manager will carry the file, the respectful form 「お持ちになる」 should be placed in the question 「お持ちになりますか」 to elevate the manager's action. 「お持ちしますか」 and 「お持ちいたしますか」 are humble expressions and are likely to be understood as offers by the subordinate to carry the file, creating a mismatch over who will perform the action.