So this sentence just appeared in a review for me, but I translated it very different
since it shows いたします , I thought I was the one speaking there.
I would say “about that point, I will explain to the person in charge” I thought it was odd because ‘explain to’ would need a に right?
shoudln’t instead of いたします to be になります? It is someone else (not the speaker) who is doing the action.
In this case I imagine the person saying that sentence is part of a group or team and is talking to a visitor/client. In the grammar notes for いたす it mentions the following:
"いたす refers to the actions of the speaker (or people within the speakers inner circle, like their company)."
So my guess is the part in bold is being taken into effect here. The “The one in charge” is part of that company or inner circle, and that’s why いたす can be used.
This tripped me up early on as well, so I’m glad you asked, not only for yourself, but potentially for the benefit of future learners. @JordFord is right on. For most grammar where a certain word or phrase is used when speaking for oneself, that generally extends to what some materials call one’s “in-group.” What comprises one’s in-group depends on context. In this case, like Jord pointed out, it can be one’s company (school, team, family, etc. could be others). It’s common to use humble forms when speaking of one’s company (even the 社長, to whom you would use 敬語 otherwise) in formal settings. These kinds of things are context sensitive.
From what I understand, many companies actually provide training to new hires on humble and respectful speech, so I guess even natives need to be instructed or refreshed on these details. (I once read that humble and respectful speech aren’t even taught in school, but I don’t know if that’s true, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it isn’t.) Humble and respectful speech doesn’t tend to be used much outside of formal settings (like the workplace), from what I’m led to believe. Mostly, you’ll hear it in the form of set phrases used by people in the service industry.
But if you enjoy the fantasy genre of media (like I do), you’ll benefit from learning these finer points, as that’s one of the genres where you’ll typically see these forms used.
Edit: I neglected to mention that the rules regarding one’s in-group also apply to certain commonly used words like くれる, so you’ll definitely see that pattern in all kinds of different contexts. In fact, sometimes the mere use of くれる as a subsidiary verb will be the lynchpin to understanding the meaning of the sentence.
