皆さん、こんにちは！
So, it's been awhile since I posted (over a week). It's the slump of being a full-time teacher, doc student, and family man. With waves of responsibility, I'm pushing other necessaties aside to have a little active fun--with this new blog post. I've been working passively a great deal; I have a new obsession with Hell Girl: Two Mirrors... 「いっぺん、死んで見る。」I just love how she delivers that line!
But, I digress, "let's" have some fun with Japanese grammar structures. Specifically, "let's" look at how to say "let's" in Japanese. This is done with a simple verb ending: ましょう
Here are some examples:
Let's watch "Hell Girl". 「地獄少女」をみましょう。 "Jigoku Shoojo"-o mimashoo.
Let's drink sake. お酒を飲みましょう。 osake-o nomimashoo.
Let's take a shower together. 一緒にシャワー をあびましょう。 isshoni shawaa-o abimashoo.
Let's turn the lights off. 電気を消しましょう。 denki-o keshimashoo.
Let's sing! 歌いましょう。 utaimashoo
By adding the question particle か(ka), the meaning slightly shifts to asking "shall we...?" When this came up in class, I was very interested in comparing it to the ending ませんか(masenka). However, this is slightly different as well.
...ましょう Let's....
...ましょうか Shall we...?
...ませんか Would you like to...?
While pragmatically-speaking, these phrases are very similar, one can easily notice that "Shall we...?" is more inclusive than "Would you like to...?" For example:
Shall we drink coffee? コーヘーを飲みましょうか。 kohe-o nomimashoo
Would you like to drink coffee? コーへーを飲みませんか。 kohe-o nomimasenka
In the first, we are both enjoying the activity. On the other hand, in the second, I am inviting you to drink coffee (while I drink something else or nothing at all). While these are not necessarily different in use, the subtleties of the meanings are there. The first seems more like, "let's go out and drink coffee, okay?" while the second seems more like, "I can give you coffee if that is your wish."
Well, that was a wonderful way to kill time. Let's do it again soon!
さよなら！
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