Formal Expressions
What do you mean by formal expressions?
So far we have learned casual, polite, and honorific/humble types of languages. So what do I mean by formal expressions? I think we are all
aware of the type of language I am talking about. We hear it in speeches, read it in reports, and see it on documentaries. While discussing good writing
style is beyond the scope of this guide, we will go over some of the grammar that you will commonly find in this type of language. Which is not to say
that it won't appear in regular everyday speech. (Because it does.)
Using 「ã§ã‚る〠to state that something is so in an authoritative tone
We have already learned how to speak with your friends in casual speech, your superiors in polite speech, and your customers in honorific / humble speech.
We've learned 「ã ã€ã€ã€Œã§ã™ã€ã€and 「ã§ã”ã–ã„ã¾ã™ã€ to express a state of being for these different levels of politeness.
There is one more type of state of being that is primarily used to state facts in a neutral, official sounding manner - 「ã§ã‚ã‚‹ã€. Just like the others,
you tack 「ã§ã‚る〠on to the adjective or noun that represents the state.
Examples
(1) å¾è¼©ã¯çŒ«ã§ã‚ã‚‹ - I am a cat. (This is the title of a famous novel by å¤ç›®æ¼±çŸ³)
Since I'm too lazy to look up facts, let's trot on over to the Japanese version of Wikipedia
and look at some random articles by clicking on 「ãŠã¾ã‹ã›è¡¨ç¤ºã€.
(2) 混åˆç‰©(ã“ã‚“ã”ã†ã¶ã¤, mixture)ã¨ã¯ã€2種類以上ã®ç´”ç‰©è³ªãŒæ··ã˜ã‚Šã‚ã£ã¦ã„る物質ã§ã‚る。(Wikipedia - æ··åˆç‰©, July 2004)
ï¼ An amalgam is a mixture of two or more pure substances.
To give you an idea of how changing the 「ã§ã‚る〠changes the tone, I've included some fake content around that sentence.
-
æ··åˆç‰©ã¯ä½•?
æ··åˆç‰©ã¯ã€2種類以上ã®ç´”ç‰©è³ªãŒæ··ã˜ã‚Šã‚ã£ã¦ã„る物質ã 。
-
æ··åˆç‰©ã¯ä½•ã§ã™ã‹ï¼Ÿ
æ··åˆç‰©ã¯ã€2種類以上ã®ç´”ç‰©è³ªãŒæ··ã˜ã‚Šã‚ã£ã¦ã„る物質ã§ã™ã€‚
-
æ··åˆç‰©ã¯ä½•ã§ã—ょã†ã‹ã€‚
æ··åˆç‰©ã¯ã€2種類以上ã®ç´”ç‰©è³ªãŒæ··ã˜ã‚Šã‚ã£ã¦ã„る物質ã§ã”ã–ã„ã¾ã™ã€‚
-
æ··åˆç‰©ã¨ã¯ï¼Ÿ
æ··åˆç‰©ã¯ã€2種類以上ã®ç´”ç‰©è³ªãŒæ··ã˜ã‚Šã‚ã£ã¦ã„る物質ã§ã‚ã‚‹ 。
Newspaper articles are different in that the main objective is to convey current events as succinctly and quickly as possible.
For this reason, 「ã§ã‚る〠is not normally used in newspaper articles favoring 「ã 〠or nothing at all. Though, in general, since newspaper
articles detail events that took place or quotations, almost all sentences end in plain dictionary-form verbs anyway.
(1) 国土交通çœã¯ï¼’年後ã«åˆ©ç”¨çŽ‡ã‚’ï¼—ï¼ï¼…ã¾ã§å¼•ã上ã’る考ãˆã§ã€è²·ã„æ›¿ãˆæ™‚ã«åˆ©ç”¨ã™ã‚‹æ°—ã«ãªã‚‹ã‹ã©ã†ã‹ãŒã‚«ã‚®ã«ãªã‚Šãã†ã 。
ï¼ˆæœæ—¥æ–°èž, 2004/8/16)
ï¼With the idea of raising percentage of usage to 70% in two years, it seems likely that the key will become whether the
Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport will employ [it] when it buys replacements.
Negative of 「ã§ã‚ã‚‹ã€
Because the negative of 「ã‚る〠is 「ãªã„ã€, you might expect the opposite of 「ã§ã‚る〠to be 「ã§ãªã„ã€.
However, for some reason I'm not aware of, you need to insert the topic particle before 「ãªã„〠to get 「ã§ã¯ãªã„ã€.
Example
(1) ã“れã¯ä¸å…¬å¹³ã§ã¯ãªã„ã§ã—ょã†ã‹ã€‚- Wouldn't you consider this to be unfair?
(2) 言語ã¯ç°¡å˜ã«ãƒžã‚¹ã‚¿ãƒ¼ã§ãã‚‹ã“ã¨ã§ã¯ãªã„。- Language is not something that can be mastered easily.
Using 「ã§ã‚る〠to sound official
- Attach 「ã§ã‚る〠to the verb or adjective that the state of being applies to.
- 例) å¦ç”Ÿ → å¦ç”Ÿã§ã‚ã‚‹
- For the negative, attach 「ã§ã¯ãªã„〠to the verb or adjective that the state of being applies to.
- 例) å¦ç”Ÿ → å¦ç”Ÿã§ã¯ãªã„
- For the past tense state of being, apply the regular past tenses of 「ã‚ã‚‹ã€
Complete conjugation chart for 「ã§ã‚ã‚‹ã€
| Positive | Negative |
| å¦ç”Ÿã§ã‚ã‚‹ | is student | å¦ç”Ÿã§ã¯ãªã„ | is not student |
| å¦ç”Ÿã§ã‚ã£ãŸ | was student | å¦ç”Ÿã§ã¯ãªã‹ã£ãŸ | was not student |
Sequential subordinate clauses in formal language
In the Compound Sentence lesson, we learned how to use the te-form of verbs to
express multiples sequential actions in one sentence. This practice, however, is used only in regular everyday speech. Formal speeches, narration, and
written publications employ plain verb stems instead of the te-form to describe sequential actions. Particularly, newspaper
articles, in the interest of brevity, always prefer verb stems to the te-form.
Examples
(1) 花ç«ï¼ˆã¯ãªã³ï¼‰ã¯ã€ç«è–¬ã¨é‡‘属ã®ç²‰æœ«ã‚’æ··ãœãŸã‚‚ã®ã«ç«ã‚’付ã‘ã€ç‡ƒç„¼æ™‚ã®ç«èŠ±ã‚’æ¥½ã—ã‚€ãŸã‚ã®ã‚‚ã®ã€‚
(Wikipedia - 花ç«, August 2004)
ï¼Fireworks are for the enjoyment of sparks created from combustion created by lighting up a mixture of gunpowder and metal powder.
ï¼ˆï¼’ï¼‰ã€€ä¼æ¥å†…ã®é¡§å®¢ãƒ‡ãƒ¼ã‚¿ã‚’利用ã—ã€å½¼ã®è¡Œæ–¹ã‚’調ã¹ã‚‹ã“ã¨ãŒå‡ºæ¥ãŸã€‚- Was able to investigate his whereabouts using the company's internal
customer data.
For the ~ã¦ã„ã‚‹ forms, the stem becomes 「~ã¦ã„〠but because that doesn't fit very well into the middle of a sentence,
it is common to use the humble form of 「ã„る〠which you will remember is 「ãŠã‚‹ã€. This is simply so you can employ 「ãŠã‚Šã€
to connect subordinate clauses instead of just 「ã„ã€. It has nothing to do with the humble aspect of 「ãŠã‚‹ã€
(3) ã“ã®æ—…館ã¯ã€æ§˜ã€…ãªæ–°ã—ã„è¨å‚™ãŒå‚™ãˆã¦ãŠã‚Šã€ã¨ã¦ã‚‚å¿«é©ã ã£ãŸã€‚- This Japanese inn having been equipped with various new facilities, was
very comfortable.