伺う

A keigo cheat code - How to Japanese - October 2024

This is How to Japanese, a monthly newsletter with something about Japan/Japanese and a dash of いろいろ.

日本・日本語： 伺う

A few months ago, I made the argument that 確認 (kakunin, confirm/view) is the most useful kanji compound. This month I’d like to make a case for the most useful non-する (suru, to do) verb. Because let’s face it, する takes the cake. It does everything everywhere all at once. But it’s also a cheater. する’s ability to attach to nearly every kanji compound means that it’s the ultimate generalist. する is the Robert Horry of Japanese verbs; just plug him into an “offense” (read: sentence) and he’ll do what you need.

There are other more specialist verbs that still have a wide range of usages, and I think the most impressive of these is 伺う (ukagau).

Rather than try to cram all the definitions into the parentheses up there, let’s take a look a them individually. This dictionary lists five independent definitions, which already hints at how broadly it can be used. I’ll annotate each definition instead of translating them:

１ 「聞く」の謙譲語。拝聴する。お聞きする。「おうわさはかねがね—・っております」

The first definition shows that 伺う can be a 謙譲語 (kenjōgo, humble keigo) form of 聞く (kiku, to hear) and then provides two other equivalent forms of keigo: 拝聴する (haichō suru, to listen) and お聞きする (o-kiki suru, to listen). We also get a nice example sentence: おうわさはかねがね伺っております (O-uwasa wa kanegane ukagatte orimasu, I’ve/We’ve heard the rumors for a while).

I think the most broadly useful phrase with this definition is 話を伺いました (hanashi o ukagaimashita, I’ve heard that).

You’ll need to modify 話 with something for the specific circumstances:

You can keep it general:

その話を伺いました。 (Sono hanashi o ukagaimashita, I’ve heard that)

Or specify from whom you heard the news with either から (kara) or に (ni):

専門家から話を伺いました。 (Senmonka kara hanashi o ukagaimashita, We heard from an expert/experts.)

田中さんに話を伺いました。 (Tanaka-san ni hanashi o ukagaimashita, I heard from Tanaka-san.)

These are all very ordinary Japanese phrases that can be useful to signal to your conversation partner that you are aware of something or to specify the source of your knowledge. In English, you might translate this as “I/We spoke with experts/Tanaka-san” for a more natural rendering, but we’re mostly concerned with how the Japanese is working here and in this case the Japanese describes from whom the speaker heard information.

２ 「尋ねる」「問う」の謙譲語。「この件について御意見をお—・いします」

The second definition is another 謙譲語 keigo form, this time of 尋ねる (tazuneru, to ask) or 問う (tou, to ask). And we have a nice example sentence: この件について御意見をお伺いします (Kono ken ni tsuite go-iken o o-ukagai-shimasu, I’d like to ask for your opinion on this issue). The Japanese here is more literally “I will ask for you opinion,” but this is a sentence that an interviewer would use during an interview, either at the beginning or in the middle to transition to a new topic, which in English corresponds most closely to “I’d like to ask.”

This is a great usage to be familiar with if you’re ever interviewing anyone. You can easily state what it is you’d like to ask them: Xについて伺いたいです (X ni tsuite ukagaitai desu, I’d like to ask you about X).

This phrase is equally useful when making phone calls to level up your 聞きたい (kikitai, I’d like to ask). If you’re calling a restaurant or hotel, just start with 伺いたいですが (Ukagaitai desu ga, I’d like to ask a question) or 伺いたいことがありますが (Ukagaitai koto ga arimasu ga, I have something I’d like to ask about) to signal that you have an inquiry and get your conversation partner into question-answering mode.

３ 「訪れる」「訪問する」の謙譲語。「明朝、こちらから—・います」

Definition number three, and we have a third 謙譲語 keigo verb: Are you starting to see a pattern? In this case, うかがう is a polite version of 訪れる (otozureru, to visit) and 訪問する (hōmon suru, to visit). And there’s another excellent example sentence: 明朝、こちらから伺います (Myōchō, kochira kara ukagaimasu, I’ll be visiting you tomorrow morning).

This is yet another super useful way to incorporate うかがう into your business communications. If you’ve set up an appointment with someone, it’s very natural to confirm this information prior to visiting them at their offices, and you can do so with うかがう. For example, once you’ve set a date in time, in your follow up email, you can confirm with a simple sentence like this: 15日15:30に伺います (Jūgonichi 15:30 ni ukagaimasu, I’ll visit at 15:30 on the 15th). I might even go as far as advising non-native speakers to confirm any important appointments using this phrase the day prior to the meeting as a reminder that you’ll be visiting.

４ 神仏の託宣を願う。「御神託を—・う」

This is a definition that I’m unfamiliar with but that seems related to Buddhism: To request a divine message of Buddha. Although this is likely not an everyday usage you’ll encounter on the streets of Tokyo, we can tie this in with the previous definitions: Someone in a lower position (human) is addressing someone in a higher position (Buddha). うかがう enables miracles like this. 

５ 《「御機嫌をうかがう」の意から》寄席などで、客に話をする。また、一般に、大ぜいの人に説明をする。「一席—・う」

And here is the fifth and final definition which notes that うかがう can mean “to explain to a group of people” in a general sense, but that in particular it means “care for guests in attendance” and that it’s related to the phrase 御機嫌をうかがう (go-kigen o ukagau).

Weblio provides two more specific definitions for ご機嫌をうかがう that I think are instructive:

人が別の人がどう思うかを気にすること (Hito ga betsu no hito ga dō omou ka o ki ni suru koto, Someone paying attention to how another person feels).

人がどのような状態か、どのような意向かなどについて調べること (Hito ga dono yō na jōtai ka, dono yō na ikō ka nado ni tsuite shiraberu koto, Someone looking into how someone is/what they want)

In short, it’s taking care of someone, looking after someone. It sounds like a fancier (or maybe a 謙譲語 version?) of 様子を見る (yōsu o miru, see how things are going).

So what do we ultimately have in うかがう?  We have a multi-faceted verb with an inherent sense of deference that means to listen/hear, to ask, and to visit. I’ve underlined and bolded that line because this verb is not your ordinary verb. Ordinary verbs in です・ます (desu/masu) form are polite yet neutral. You’re speaking on the same level as the other person. うかがう, on the other hand, is a step above in terms of politeness. It automatically subordinates the speaker with regard to the person they are addressing. Which is what we want. The goal of keigo is to speak about yourself deferentially and others honorifically even though you’re describing the exact same actions that regular verbs describe. The secret is knowing the right verbs or the right verb forms to use. The verb forms can be complicated and difficult to master, but うかがう is broadly applicable and requires no complex conjugations. If keigo is hard, then うかがう is a keigo cheat code because うかがう is easy.

いろいろ

• I gave a full rundown about うかがう and my thoughts on keigo on the podcast this month. Give it a listen, and check out the blog post for a few more details about the range of different kanji used for うかがう. There seem to be three core kanji with a host of other obscure ones used less frequently. Here’s the article about とんでもありません (tondemo arimasen, “Not at all”) I mention in the pod.

• Murakami did not win the Nobel Prize, again. I did, however, start up my close blogging of his memoir Distant Drums (遠い太鼓). Check out the latest post here and an index of the project here.

• One of the most pleasant things to do in Japan is explore its urban expanses. There’s a lot on offer very close to home.  This month I visited the Shiba Ryotaro Memorial Museum. I’m not super familiar with him as a writer, but Ando Tadao built the museum adjacent to Shiba’s home, and it has the best bookshelves in the country. No photos allowed inside, unfortunately, so you’ll have to take my word for it and visit yourself. (Or Google) When you do, grab lunch on the 商店街 on the way there.

• I don’t mean to alarm you, but 福袋 season has begun. Dean and Deluca has their offering online now.