The noun adjective そう (a こそあど word) paired with a verb in 連用形 or a verbal adjective's stem, is used to create the construction of "appearing to be (at the point of) ..." or "seems to be ... (to the speaker)". And example of this using a verb is:

しごと仕事ができ出来そうですね。

"It looks like (you)'ll be able to perform this job."

And examples of using verbal adjectives are:

あたた温かそうです。

"It seems warm."

はや速そうなくるま車。

"A fast looking car."

For いい and ない, this construction is slightly different. Rather than よそう (remember that いい is just the alternative 連体形 for よい) and なそう, these two adjectives become よさそう and なさそう respectively.

Note that this "そう as likeness" only works with verbs in 連用形, and verbal adjective stems. そう can also be used in combination with verbal 連体形, but then it means something quite different: rather than indicating impression, this combination indicates second hand information:

しごと仕事ができ出来るそうです。

"I heard you'd be able to perform this job."

あたた温かいそうです。

"They say it's warm."

はや速いそうなくるま車。

"They say that's a fast car."

This kind of second hand information is also called "hearsay", although this term should not be taken too literally; it equally applies to second hand information from reading a book or watching a documentary on television, not just having been told something. As long as it's strictly speaking unverified information, it counts as hearsay.

For nouns, a fully qualified statement involving the plain copula is used:

先生だそうです。

"I heard he's a teacher."

To explain this word, we must briefly look at classical Japanese, in which the noun 様, pronounced さま, was used to indicate a "seemingness", which we still see in expressions such as ごくろう苦労さま様 or ごちそう馳走さま様. These mean, respectively, "having the appearance of being a hardship" and "having the appearance of being a feast". This meaning is preserved in modern Japanese through the use of 様 still, but read as よう.

This noun adjective combines with 連体形 to create a conceptual likeness, relating two manners or behaviours to each other:

き聞かないようにしてくだ下さい。

connotes: "Please go about your business in a manner that makes it appear as if you didn't hear that."

meaning: "Please act like you didn't hear that."

A special use of this likeness adverb is with the こそあど series この, その, あの and どの, with which it sets up an explicit "manner" indicator:

このように - in this manner

そのように - in that manner

あのように - in that manner like so

どのように - in which manner

Very similar in meaning to the こう, そう, ああ and どう series, the decision of whether to use こう or このよう (or そ-, あ- and ど- equivalents) is mostly decided by what one's intention is. When you need to be instructive, or want to highlight a specific act and the performing of it, こう is used. If one instead wants to illustrate or describe, このように (etc.) is used. As such, both of the following sentences are possible:

おはし箸はこうつか使います。

"This is how (you) use chopsticks."

おはし箸はこのようにつか使います。

"This is how (you) use chopsticks."

However, the first sentence is instructive (telling us what to do), whereas the second sentence is illustrative of a process, not so much telling us what to do, but telling us how things are. To highlight the difference, imagine that some instructor says お箸はこう使います, and then picks up a pair of chopsticks to demonstrate how to hold them, and how to pick things up. For the second sentence, the instructor has already demonstrated how to hold them, and is in the middle of showing how to pick things up with them when he says お箸はこのように使います. In the first setting, the sentence acts as a set-up for the actual process, whereas in the second setting, the sentence summarises what's already going on.

This also means that このように (etc.) can be used in certain situations where こう (etc.) do not make sense, such as in purely illustrative settings.

様 + に + する/なる

The noun adjective 風, like 様, likens something to a particular manner. It closely translates to 'way', or 'style', and this meaning is evident in words like とうせいふう当世風 meaning "modern" ('the now-a-day style') or りょうふう良風, "good customs" ('good style'). A special set of words with this likeness adverb is its combination with the こそあど series こんな (etc.):

こんな風に - in this way/style

そんな風に - in that way/style

あんな風に - in that way/style like that

どんな風に - in which way/style

This combination is used when one wants to focus specifically on a way something is (or has been) done. It is, effectively, a rhetorical adverb, qualifying a verb action with itself. That may sound a bit cryptic, so an example:

そんな風にい言われても、でき出来ないものは出来ないだろう。

literally: "Even by talking (to me) in that fashion, things that cannot be done, cannot be done."

meaning: "Ask (me) any way (you) want, (I) cannot do what (I) cannot do."

In this sentence, the そんな風に言われても highlights the way something was said, without saying what this way is, instead relying on the listener to know "in which way" the verb action occurred.

Similar to likening something to something else, impressions are one's own projections of likeness onto something. For instance, if we have the impression something is tall, then we can also describe it as "being like something that is tall". As such, impression words are also quite important to know.

When we have an impression of something based on secondary information, or indirect observation, we can use the verbal adjective らしい to indicate this, by using it in combination with verbal 連体形, or following a noun phrase:

このほん本はやまだ山田くん君のらしい(です)。

It seems that this book is Yamada's.

In addition to this, らしい can be used to indicate that something generates a certain impression:

そのい言いかた方は、きむら木村さんらしいですね。

literally: "That way of speaking (plus what was said), is just like (what) Kimura (would use)."

meaning: "That's so like Kimura."

There are two possible situations here. If we are dealing with someone other than Kimura saying something, then the commenter's use of らしい indicates that they are reminded of how Kimura would talk or behave in that situation. Of course, if Kimura herself was the one talking, then the use of らしい indicates that this fits Kimura's expected behavioural pattern.

When commenting on an impression based on direct observation, the noun adjective みたい is used after 連体形 clauses, as well as noun phrases:

つか疲れてるみたいですね。

"(He) looks likes (he)'s tired, doesn't (he)."

Because みたい is a noun adjective, it can also be used to form (complex) attributive phrases:

かた硬い先生です。

"(He is a) strict teacher."

硬いみたいな先生です。

"(He is a) teacher who looks like (he)'s strict."

みたい is very similar to らしい and よう様.

This is a noun adjective that is used primarily as a noun suffix, to create "-ly", "-al", or "-ive" nouns for comparisons, such as:

These comparative nouns are used like normal noun adjectives for comparisons:

基本的につまらないでしょう。

"It would basically be uninteresting."

This noun suffix is comparable to the English suffix "-ish":

きみこ君子さんって、おとこ男っぽいですよね。

"Kimiko's kind of a tomboy, isn't she?"

This sentence literally reads "Kimiko's mannish, don't you think?"

This suffix also works to indicate traits in something:

このりょうり料理がフランスっぽいとおも思わない？

"Don't you think this food tastes kind of French?"

This sentence literally reads "Don't you think this food is French(ish)?"

The adjective 同じ is actually an odd word, a remnant of the classical Japanese 同じき, not quite fitting in the modern verbal adjective class, nor quite fitting in the noun adjective class. Using the construction [X]と同じです is the strongest possible comparison that can be made, as it doesn't so much liken two (or more) things to each other, but explicitly claims they are identical in some way.

このへや部屋はとなり隣のと同じです。

"This room is the same as the neighbouring one."

While this is a noun adjective, rather than using 同じ + に when we want to use it adverbially, we use the verbal adjective adverbial form: 同じく:

A: だいがく大学のにねんせい二年生のいしだ石田です。

B: 同じく、うえまつ植松です。

A: "I am Ishida, 2nd year university student."

B: "I am Uematsu, also a 2nd year university student."

Of course, B literally says "I am Uematsu, the same", but unlike in for instance English, it is not impolite in Japanese to omit this contextually already present information, since Japanese is a language in which context is presumed to remain known throughout a conversation.

Basically all you have to remember is that for all intents and purposes, 同じ is the noun and 同じく the adverb. If you can remember that, you should be fine.

Closely related to likeness, the noun adjective がち is used to compare something in the "prone to" way. While a noun adjective, there are some instances where がち can be used with の, rather than with the 連体形 for だ, な, as well:

いもうと妹がびょうき病気がちのひと人です。

"My (younger) sister is someone who's prone to illness."

However, there are no clear rules on when one can use の, so typically it's best to stick with using がち as a normal noun adjective, using な.

For verbs and verbal adjectives, this suffix is added to the 連用形:

このとけい時計はすす進みがちです。

"This clock tends to run fast."

A final way to indicate likeness is by using the verb 似る meaning "to resemble" or "to be similar". Typically used in - ている form, this verb is used in combination with the particles と or に, where the choice of particle determines the nuance of likeness. Using と makes the statement describe near-exact likeness:

そのかんが考えはわたし私のと似ています。

"Those ideas are like the ones I had."

きん金はいろ色がしんちゅう真鍮と似ている。

"The colour of gold is (sort of) the same as brass."

Using に, on the other hand, makes the statement describe general likeness, or a likeness in a particular (but unspecific) way:

ははおや母親によ良く似ている。

"(She) really takes after (her) mother."

そのやま山はアヒルに似てる、なぁ。

"That mountain (kind of) resembles a duck, doesn't it?"

The first, and probably most used, is the construction かもし知れない. This construction technically consists of the particles か and も, followed by the negative short potential of 知る, to know, or be informed; 知れない. This construction translates to "it could be that ...", implying that the speaker doesn't actually know, but is not ruling out that something could be the case.

A: い行かないとい言っただろう。

B: まあ、そう言ったかもしれません。

A: "Didn't he say he wasn't coming?"

B: "He might have said something like that."

As can be seen from the previous example, かもしれない can also be used as かもしれません — they're just different politeness levels. Further alternatives are the highly colloquial かも知れん, and just the particles, かも:

A: いしだ石田さん、めがねをお落としたか。

B: す捨てたかも、な。

A: "Did Ishida lose his glasses?"

B: "Maybe he (actually) threw them away."

When a speaker suspects something to be the case, but they're not 100% certain, they will use 多分 to indicate this. Looking at just the kanji, the word literally reads "great part", and that's pretty much what it means, too.

まだき決めてないんだが、なつやす夏休みは多分、おおさか大阪になる。

"We've not quite decided yet, but we'll probably head off to Osaka for the summer."

You can, of course, also be more literal when talking about the possibility of something, by using the actual noun for "possibility", かのうせい可能性 (often also used to refer to an available "option"). Usually this is paired with the verb ある, to indicate that the speaker believes there is the possibility of something, in a way that is more literal than using かも知れない.

じばく自爆する可能性があるから、き気をつけて。

"Now, this thing might self-detonate, so be careful."

Of course, 可能性 can also be used with negative statements, usually involving ない:

しっぱい失敗する可能性でもありません。

"There's not even the possibility of failing."

When a speaker is hopeful that something is the case, きっと can be used. Associated with a positive kind of wishful thinking, it is typically translated as "surely":

きっとく来るんだよ。

"I am sure (they)'ll show up!"

In this sentence, the speaker can either be confident, or can be hoping strongly for the outcome they are talking about, even if there's the possibility that this will not be the case.

When a speaker is positively certain of something, then 必ず can be used, which translates to "necessarily" or, more in keeping with the ず negative it really is, "without fail":

必ずく来るんだ。

"(They)'re certain to show up."

In this sentence, the speaker is highly confident in the outcome, even if their certainty is based purely on subjective information.

Finally, there will be times when you are not so much certain, but actually uncertain about whether or not something is the case, or will happen. For this, we can use a construction we already saw in the particle section on か, namely [X]かどうかわ分かりません:

ことし今年はお落とすかどうかわ分かりません。

"I don't know whether or not I'll make this year's grade."

The way this is formed is very simple. The clause about which uncertainty is to be expressed is followed by かどうか, which is basically the double question mentioned in the particle section for か, creating (essentially literally) "[clause] or what?" The final verb then comments on the fact that it's not clear which of the two choices are actually to be picked.

今年は落とす。

"(I) will fail this year."

今年は落とすかどうか。

"Will (you) fail this year or...?"

今年は落とすかどうか分かりません。

"(I) don't know whether (I) will fail this year or not."

Whether you're at home, at school, at work or at play in your own time, there is always the concept of the in-group, or うち, and the out-group, or そと. These words also literally mean "in" and "out", respectively, and are highly relevant to deciding what levels of politeness and humble or honorific speech are required in your speech.

Familiar speech can only be used with people in your familiar in-group. This group may include family, or good friends. Speech patterns such as highly contracted speech, plain form and same-level giving or receiving may be used, and you may refer to people in this group by a nickname or by their name either without any title suffix or with an affectionate suffix such as ちゃん or くん. However, for older in-group members, simply by virtue of them being older and thus deserving more respect, it is customary to show face by using someone's title (such as for parents or older siblings) or their family name suffixed with さん (for friends that have earned a measure of respect). This means that a younger sibling might call her brother おにい兄さん, using his title, but he might in turn refer to her by her given name, or given name suffixed with ちゃん, instead.

The formal in-group constitutes people who you are associated with through your daily activities, work, hobbies or through some other means of direct association. With these people, and in the setting of that association, politeness is the key. If you work with several people, two of which are good friends of yours, then you may use informal speech when talking only to them, but when the discussion involves other co-workers, the setting changes to formal in-group, and formal polite speech is required. Just as you cannot mix "proper speech" with "banter style" speech in most western countries, you should not mix speech patterns when using Japanese. Speech patterns in the formal in-group involve ていねいご丁寧語, polite speech, characterised by the use of です/ます form, making sure ありがとう is always followed by ございます, and by using the appropriate name and title suffixes. People are referred to, directly and indirectly, by their family name suffixed with さん, and people in special positions are referred either by their title, or by using their family name suffixed with their title.

The informal out-group consists of people that you have no special relationship with. People that ask you a question in the street, the bus conductor, the fast food employee - all of these belong to the informal out-group, and when talking to them you are expected to use 丁寧語, and address them if you must by using their family name suffixed with さん, or a title if it is apparent that their role deserves one.

The formal out-group is a complex group, because in this setting the social differences come into play. Anyone not in your in-group in a particular setting, who is of identifiable higher social status than you, is part of the formal out-group, and deserves to be spoken to respectfully. This does not just mean using 丁寧語, but also そんけいご尊敬語 and けんそんご謙遜語, the honorific and humble speech patterns. For instance, while you may work at a company, the company's vice president will typically not be part of your work in-group, and certainly doesn't fall in the informal out-group. He should be spoken to using polite honorific forms, and when speaking about your own actions, you should humble yourself by using humble speech patterns.

Finally, there is one last group that needs mentioning: the "not relevant in terms of social setting (yet)" group, associated for instance with small children, or newcomers to a school, job or club. People in this group may be referred to using affectionate terms such as ちゃん or くん, but interpreting these as an indication that they are part of the speaker's familiar in-group would be a huge mistake to make. Instead, these terms indicate the they have no social value yet.

While these group definitions sound relatively straightforward, transitions from out-group to in-group, or from formal to familiar in-group, are much harder to characterise, and can lead to considerable problems if one party believes a transition from out- to in-group or from formal to familiar has occurred, when the other party does not.

Imagine you have just accepted a job at a Japanese company. You are assigned a mentor, and at first the division is clear. You know nothing, are nothing, and your mentor is responsible for shaping you into a proper employee. To your mentor, you will rank as 'not on the social ladder yet', and to you, your mentor will sit in the formal out-group. This means that you may be addressed using ちゃん or くん, and you will address him or her with their title, せんぱい先輩, while you are being mentored.

Now we move the clock forward by half a year. You have been accepted into the workforce formal in-group, and have even made some good friends from within that group, going drinking on the weekends with them. You are still working with your mentor, but no longer under a mentor/trainee relation, but as a co-worker relation, and you decide that it is time you start to use their name suffixed with さん, rather than keep calling them 先輩, and in doing so you have made a critical and relationship-breaking mistake.

Moving people from a group to a more intimate group always requires explicit permission from the person you're moving — if your mentor never indicated that he or she believed you were now well integrated into the workforce, then you could sing high or low, work there for six months or six years, but until they give notice that they consider you worth giving more face, they will stay a 先輩, and unilaterally deciding that you no longer consider them one means that you are not showing them the right amount of face.

The same goes for making friends in school. You address people as if they're part of the informal out-group until they indicate that you may refer to them in a way consistent with the formal or familiar in-group. When the relation is between someone of higher social status and someone of lower social status, the permission has to come from the person of higher social status, but in situations where the social status is on equal footing, such as with classmates or co-workers, it typically involves a period of feeling around for the boundaries of your personal relationship, and at some point at least indicating that you do not mind if they refer to you in a way that corresponds to a closer group.

If things go wrong, it would be wonderful if someone would just say that it did, but typically this will not happen. Instead, rather than explaining that they are uncomfortable with you addressing them using the speech patterns belonging to a more intimate group than they expect to be in, their own speech pattern will become more distal. What was natural Japanese one day may suddenly be changed to formal and distant Japanese after your mistake, and that's usually the only clue you'll get that something went wrong. Rather than demand face, you will be confronted with the fact that you acted inappropriately by a change in speech pattern, and you would do well to notice it - making someone lose face, or not giving enough face, can only be compensated by observing the right levels of formality again until the incident has been forgotten, or at least left in the past.

This also means that you are responsible for demanding face yourself. Not demanding face because you're just that nice a person doesn't fly. You are responsible for behaving properly according to Japanese custom, and that means you must take responsibility when it comes to maintaining the social balance. If someone gets too familiar with you, a change from formal polite to distal polite language is the clearest signal you can give that certain boundaries have been crossed.

Some people may tell you that Japanese has no word for "you", based on the fact that the standard way to address someone in Japanese is to use their name, paired with a suffix to indicate their title, rank, or social relation to you. However, this would be drawing the wrong conclusion: one avoids using direct personal pronouns as much as possible in Japanese, but there are in fact a great number of direct personal pronouns that can be used when the need arises. The important thing to note is that because of the way in which people are normally addressed, using personal pronouns carries "extra weight" — all of them mean more than just "I" or "you". Specific pronouns connote differences in social levels, as well as different politeness levels.

As mentioned all the way at the beginning of this book, Japanese is a sparse language, and personal pronouns fall in the category of words that are omitted once established in a conversation. While in English, for instance, one would constantly use the personal pronoun "you" to indicate a listener or reader, in Japanese this is considered poor language skills and would be experienced as highly annoying to have to listen to. This goes for all personal pronouns; after they have been used, and while the conversation is focused on the person(s) they indicate, they are left out of the conversation. Explicitly keeping them in is not just considered bad form, it can even be considered an insult, as it amounts to indicating that you believe your conversational partner is unable to understand what you mean if you leave them out.

That said, sometimes you simply need personal pronouns, and for those occasions it serves to know which can be used in which setting.

First person pronoun - "I"

Second person pronoun - "you"

Third person pronoun - "he/she"

There are various name suffixes that indicate different kinds of social relations, and using them out of place can have an effect anywhere from sounding like you're joking around a bit, to simply insulting someone. For this reason, it's a good idea to go over the list of common name suffixes, and see what they do. Also important is to note that people in Japan refer to each other by their family name, suffixed with the appropriate name suffix, and not by first name until there is a clearly defined friendship.

–さん

–様

–殿

–氏

–先生

–ちゃん

–君

呼び捨て

Nicknames

In Japanese, "giving" and "doing ... for (someone)" are, at least grammatically, the same thing. However, while in English "giving" involves just the one verb, in Japanese things are not that simple: depending on the social status of the individual parties and who is doing the giving, different verbs are used. This comes down to two possible "directions" of giving/doing for, the first of which is giving 'away':

1. first person ("I" or "we") to second person ("you"), i.e. "I give to you",
2. second person to third person ("him", "her", "them" or "it"), i.e. "you give to her", and
3. first person to third person, i.e. "I give to them".

Giving or doing for, in this "direction", can be done using three different verbs, with the choice depending on the social difference between the giver and the receiver:

1. if the giving is being done to someone or something whose status is irrelevant (very good friends, young children, pets, etc.), (連用形+て+) やる is used.
2. if the giving is being done to someone of equal or higher status, (連用形+て+) あ上げる is used. In writing, both kanji and kana forms may be used.
3. if the giving is being done to someone of greatly higher status, (連用形+て+) さ差しあ上げる is used. In writing, both kanji and kana forms may be used.

Now, this requires a bit more explaining because when it comes to giving, virtually any situation involves giving to "equal or higher status". Unless you intend to highly offend someone, basically anyone capable of normal interaction will, for the purpose of being given to, be of equal status at the very least. If we have never met before, and I have something to give you, then I will describe this giving from me, to you, using either 連用形+て+上げる (for the giving of an action, i.e., doing for you) or just あ上げる (for the giving of an object):

ぜんぜんし知らないひと人に何々(なになに)を上げました。

"I gave something-or-other to a person I don't know in the slightest."

ぜんぜん知らない人に何々をして上げました。

"I did something-or-other for a person I don't know in the slightest."

The reason that we are of equal status (at the least) is essentially one of politeness. Unless I despise you, any event in which I give you something means there is at least a modicum of respect, and as such I will indicate this by using the verb 上げる, which literally translates to "lift (something)". By using this verb, and for the duration of the giving, I lower my own social status, and elevate yours. If you accept my gift, things go back to normal. However, in typical Japanese style, most gifts (even the gift of doing something for someone) between non-familiar people, meaning not good friends or family members, will at first be mock-refused. This is one of those interesting cultural patterns where behaving like a foreigner can cause serious problems: it is customary to kindly refuse any gifts or offers for help, so that the giver can insist. Only then will a gift or offer for help be accepted. Not because the receiver had to be persuaded, but because that's simply the only proper way to go about the issue of giving, in Japan. If you are offered tea, kindly refuse, then accept once offered again. Flat out accepting could easily be considered rude, and flat out rejecting quite possibly even more so.

So with that covered, a few examples of giving:

きみこ君子さんにおはな花をか買ってあげました。

"(I) bought flowers for Kimiko."

かあ母さんにゴミおす捨ててあげました。

"I threw the garbage away for my mother."

ともだち友達にたんじょうび誕生日ですごくおもしろ面白いほん本をあげました。

"(I) gave my friend a really interesting book for (his) birthday."

You may have noticed that all the parts of these sentences that translate to "for ..." have been marked with the particle に. As mentioned in the section on verb particles in the chapter on basic grammar, this kind of prepositional phrase is simply treated as a verb detail in Japanese, and as such is marked with に. You may have also noticed that in the last sentence, 上げる was used on its own: when used alone, it strictly means "give". When used in 連用形+て+上げる for, it typically means "doing ... for (someone)".

In cases of severe difference in status, such as a maid serving dinner for a household, or a clerk handing a CEO a report, 上げる is not enough. The more formal 差し上げる must be used. However, as you are unlikely to find yourself in a situation warranting this verb, 上げる (for actual gifts) and 連用形+て+上げる (for actions) should be all you need.

Before we move on, the previous example sentences may have created a wrong impression concerning who can do the giving when using this verb. As mentioned, this concerns giving from first to second, second to third, and first to third person, so in fact all the following translations are correct (in the absence of some disambiguating context):

友達に誕生日ですごく面白い本をあげました。

"I gave my friend a really interesting book for his birthday."

"We gave our friends really interesting books for their birthdays."

"You gave my friend a really interesting book for his birthday."

"You gave your friend a really interesting book for his birthday."

"I gave your friends really interesting books for their birthdays."

etc.

The variations are quite numerous, but usually sentences such as these will be used in a setting where it is relatively easy to determine which of the multitude of interpretations is the most likely intended one, due to contextual information.

So that leaves the verb やる. We can be fairly brief about it: you do not use やる, except in the rare event where the giving is done to something inherently without social status:

こども子供たちにおかし菓子をやった。

"(I) gave the children some candy."

But even this is not without danger: if the children in this example sentence were, for instance, your boss's children, then saying you got them candy using this phrase to your boss would in fact be quite rude, as you have just implied his children are without social value. So, be careful, and if at all possible avoid using やる entirely.

やる technically means "do", similar to する, but while it is possible to use this verb as alternative to する in a highly informal intimate setting (with close friends, for instance), it's all too easy to accidentally use it with someone who was not aware you considered them part of the group for which status was irrelevant. So again, use with care, and if possible, simply do not use it.

With so much explanation, one would almost forget that this only covered the first of the two directions for giving. However, there's also the opposite direction:

1. third person to second person, i.e. "he gives to you",
2. second person to first person, i.e. "you give to me",
3. third person to first person or, i.e. "she gives to me", and
4. third person to (other) third person, i.e. "they give to them".

Giving, or doing for, in this "direction" can be done using two very different verbs, the choice of which — again — depends on the social difference between the giver, and the receiver:

1. if the giving is being done by someone of equal or higher status, (連用形+て+) くだ下さる is used. In writing, both kanji and kana forms may be used.
2. if the giving is being done by someone you are on a familiar basis with, (連用形+て+) く呉れる is used. In writing, this typically uses the kana form.

This should be relatively obvious in terms of how to use it. If a teacher, a boss, or simply someone you don't know gives you something, or does something for you, 連用形+て+くだ下さる is used:

ははおや母親がプレゼントをくださいました。

"(I) received a gift from (my) mother"

せんせい先生がいいものをみ見せてくださいました。

"(My) teacher showed (me) something quite good."

Rather than using に, these are normal verb actor phrases, so 母さん and 先生 are simply marked with が, or は if we need to disambiguate. If we wanted to use に (which is possible), then we would have to first make the sentence passive, so that the tense matches the particle:

先生にいいものを見せられてくださいました。

"(I) was shown something quite good by (my) teacher."

Now, again, the sentences might create the wrong impression that it all centres around third to first person. To once more show the multitude of possible interpretations in the absence of disambiguating context, a list of possible translations for the last phrase:

先生がいいものを見せてくださいました。

"My teacher showed me something quite good."

"Your teachers showed them something quite good."

"His teacher showed you something quite good."

"Our teacher showed us something quite good."

etc.

In a familiar setting, rather than 下さる, which literally translates as "issuing (something)", such as issuing orders to (lower ranked) troops, we can use the verb く呉れる. When talking to, or about, friends or even family members, this verb does exactly the same as 下さる:

はるか春香ちゃんがすてき素敵なかばん鞄をくれた。

"(I) got (this) wonderful (new) bag from Haruka."

ともだち友達がずっとほ欲しかったDVDをか買ってくれた。

"(I) was bought the DVD (that I) wanted for a long time by (my) friend."

Regardless of whether we use 下さる or くるれ, we can explicitly add in the receiver, if that information is required. In this case, we are forced to use に to mark the recipient of the action, but do not confuse this for what に does in the presence of a passive verb form:

春香さんがきみこ君子さんに素敵な鞄を下さった。

"Haruka gave Kimiko a wonderful (new) bag."

In this sentence, because it's in the active voice, 春香 is the verb actor, and 君子 the receiver. If we use a passive construction instead, we get:

春香さんが君子さんに素敵な鞄を下さられた。

"Haruka was given a wonderful (new) bag by Kimiko."

Here, because it is a passive voice, the buying was done by 君子, and 春香 is actually the subject of "having been bought for", now being the receiver! Not only the verbs count, so do the particles!

Receiving, luckily, only concerns one "direction" and uses the two verbs もら貰う and いただ頂く or いただ戴く (the choice of which kanji to use is mostly arbitrary, as in this use いただく and もらう are typically written in kana, rather than using kanji forms):

a) third person to second person, i.e. "you get from her",

b) second person to first person, i.e. "I get from you",

c) third person to first person, i.e. "I get from them", and

d) third person to (other) third person, i.e. "they get from him"

Just like the verbs for giving, もらう and いただく apply to different status levels respectively. While both apply to receiving from someone of higher or equal social status, the difference in social level determines which verb is used:

1) if the receiving is from someone of equal or higher status, (連用形+て+) もらう is used. The kanji form is rarely used for this verb.

2) if the receiving is from someone of significantly higher status, (連用形+て+) いただく is used. The kanji forms are rarely used for this verb.

You may recognise いただく from its polite present tense: いただきます, which is used as a set phrase, spoken before starting a meal. Literally, this phrase means "I (humbly) receive (this food)" or "I will (humbly) help myself to (this food)". Both meanings are essentially simultaneously true, which highlights an interesting aspect of "receiving" in Japanese: just as "giving" and "doing for (someone)" are considered essentially the same thing, so too "receiving", "having done for" and "helping oneself to (something)" are considered the same thing.

When the verbs もらう and いただく are used on their own, then the "receiving" as well as the "helping oneself" interpretation are possible, and when used combined with a 連用形+て combination, the interpretation is typically "having (something) done for (someone)":

おばさんにか貸したほん本をかえ返してもら貰った。

"(I) got back from (my) aunt the book (I) lent (to her)."

とう父さんにあたら新しいじてんしゃ自転車をか買っていただきました。

"(I) got bought a new bicycle by my father."

When the activity in question involves direct contact, に may also be substituted by から, which rather literally means "from":

おばさんから貸した本を返して貰った。

"(I) got back from (my) aunt the book (I) lent (to her)."

The interesting fact about these statements is that they can also be interpreted as quite selfish: both 貰う and いただく have an element of prompted action to them. Rather than things being given, or acts being performed out of the kindness of people's hearts, we are in some way responsible for them being done for our benefit, which is why we can interpret these verbs as expressing taking a liberty, too:

おばさんに貸した本を返して貰った。

"(I) got (my) aunt to return the book that (I) lent her."

父さんに新しい自転車を買ってただきました。

"(I) got my father to buy (me) a new bicycle."

This may sound odd, but think of it this way: if the actions were genuinely unprompted, they would have been gifts. And for gifts we use very different verb constructions:

おばさんが貸した本を返して下さった。

"(My) Aunt gave me back the book (I) had lent (her)."

父さんが新しい自転車を買って下さった。

"My father bought (me) a new bicycle."

Another good example of using もらう or いただく for taking a liberty is the following short conversation:

A: だれ誰のリンゴですか。

B: けいこ恵子さんのよ。

A: そうですか。

(A takes an apple)

A: なら、いっこ一個もらうわ。

Which translates to:

A: "Whose apples are these?"

B: "Oh, they're Keiko's."

A: "I see..."

A: "Well then, I'll just help myself to one."

It should be fairly obvious what's happening in this exchange: much like how the verbs あげる, くださる and くれる can mean "give", もらう and いただく can be used to mean "take".

To summarise these rather complex patterns, what follows are three images representing the three different acts: giving (something), being given (something), and receiving (something). Note that the numbers 1, 2 and 3 in the images represent "first person", "second person" and "third person" respectively:

Giving

Being given

Receiving

One way to state something indirectly is by making explicit the fact that you only heard or read something somewhere, rather than it being something that you believe or know. As mentioned in the section on comparison and likeness, this is done using the noun adjective そう, in combination with a clause in 連体形, to form a hear-say construction. Compare the following two statements:

あのにんき人気なグループがかいさん解散する。

"That popular group will disband."

あの人気なグループが解散するそうだ。

"I hear that popular group will disband."

While the first sentence implies that the speaker is certain of the stated fact, the second sentence states the information more carefully, stating that it seems the case that something is a fact, based on having heard or read it somewhere. This indirect form of stating something can only be done for second hand information, and should never be used to soften a statement that isn't actually hearsay.

Asking a negative question is, in many languages, a way to politely ask someone to do something. For instance, "won't you join us for dinner?" is an English phrase that has the implied meaning "please join us for dinner", rather than the literal "you will not be joining us for dinner, will you?".

In Japanese the same applies:

またあそ遊びにき来ませんか。

"Won't (you) come over (for a social visit) again some time?"

(In this sentence 遊ぶ is not used to mean "play" but "to spend time leisurely", hence the implied clause "for a social visit")

A more polite way to ask negative questions is to use the て form with a negative form of 下さい:

おちゃ茶をの飲んでくだ下さいませんか。

"Won't (you) have some tea?"

These negative questions can also be formed with plain negative form, but they become more informal that way:

ケーキをた食べない？

"Won't you have some (literally: eat) cake?"

Giving answers to negative questions can trip up beginning students quite easily, as the following example illustrates:

A: いっしょ一緒にい行かない？

B: はい。

A: "Won't you go (with me)?"

B: "Yes (I won't go with you)."

The problem lies with the fact that an affirmative answer to a negative question affirms the negative. Usually it is easier to answer with what you will be doing, rather than using yes or no:

A: 一緒に行かない？

B: 行きます。

A: "Won't you go (with me)?"

B: "I will."

An even better solution is to express your answer in the form of a motivation plus answer, when a negative question is asked, thus making it virtually impossible for your answer to be misinterpreted:

A: 一緒に行かない？

B: まあ, ひま暇だし、行きますよ。

A: "Won't you go (with me)?"

B: "Well, (I'm) free (anyway), (so) sure, I'll go (with you)."

If we want to make a recommendation, there are various direct and indirect ways of doing so. One of the most common approaches uses a verb in plain past tense, paired with 方がいい, which creates a construction that essentially says "It might be better if you [...]".

A: お遅くれてたから かのじょ彼女にきら嫌われてる。どうしよう。

B: まあ、あやま謝った方がいいだろう？

A: "(My) girlfriend is angry with (me) because (I) was late. What should (I) do?"

B: "Well, wouldn't it be sensible (literally: good) to apologise (to her)?"

This kind of recommendation is fairly direct, and thus some care must be taken in making sure that your relationship to whomever you make a recommendation to allows for this level of directness.

A less direct way of recommending something is by offering your own opinion. Using a hypothetical conditional paired with your own opinion on how good or bad this situation would be is a less direct way to suggest a course of action to someone. For instance:

A: しまった。まちが間違いばかりか書いてた。

B: なお直せばいいでしょう。

A: "Oh no, I've been writing mistakes all over the place."

B: "Well, it won't be that big of a deal if you just fix them?"

While this is of course still reasonably direct in the sense that you're imposing your own opinion on someone, it is less direct than the previous past tense + 方がいい.

A truly indirect way of making a suggestion is by offering it as an option, without actually saying whether you think it's the right course of action or not, effectively leaving the process of deciding whether it's a good idea or not entirely up to the listener:

A: どれほどべんきょう勉強してもこれがわ分かりませんよ。

B: そうですか。じゃあ、せんせい先生にき聞いたらどうですか。

A: "No matter how much I study I don't seem to understand this."

B: "Hmm. Well, what about asking the teacher?"

This is the most polite way of making a suggestion, because it only stays at making the suggestion, without adding a personal recommendation to it, meaning you do not decide what the other person should do.

As you may remember from the section on the pseudo-future from chapter 3, the pseudo-future can be used for three things, namely the dubitative, cohortative and presumptive, and it turns out that these last two are ideal for use in indirect speech, as they guess at the world and leave the conclusions or decisions based on these guesses up to the listener, instead of imposing your own opinions on them:

きょう今日はおすし寿司をた食べにい行こうか。

"Shall (we) go (out) for sushi today?"

This question leaves the decision up to the listener, which is typically a polite thing to do, unless of course you're dealing with someone who is bad at making decisions, in which case using indirect speech is arguably not a good idea in the first place.

このコンピュータがこしょう故障してるのは、ふる古いからでしょう。

"The reason this computer is broken is (probably) because it's old (right?)."

In this sentence, the speaker assumes that the computer in question is old, and leaves the matter of whether this assumption is correct up to the listener to decide, thus not providing potential disinformation to the listener. Of course, this is an over-analysis, and these forms aren't actually so much used to prevent disinformation as just used because indirect speech is polite, and that's what you use. However, the analysis does hold up to scrutiny for a good reason: not presuming to know better means you're never forcing anyone into anything, which makes you quite civilised.

In addition to these reasonably obvious suggestions, recommendations and opinions, we can also let our intentions shine through by using roundabout phrasing, thus softening our own convictions, opinions and intentions. The most common way this is done is by using double negative patterns, as described in the following sections.

Regular double negative

Complex double negative