Kenjougo Trouble

Bunpro
#1

Having struggled my way through conjugating sonkeigo, I’m now tackling kenjougo. I understand when to use it, but differentiating between when to use お。。。いたします vs お。。。します is confusing me.

For example, why are both these correct:
お荷物を持ちいたしましょうか？
お荷物をを持ちしましょうか？

But in this example only します is correct:
これをお渡ししてください。

And in this example only いたす is correct:
品物は明日お送りいたします。

Any help would be appreciated! My current understanding is that お。。。する is less humble, but I don’t get why sometimes both answers are accepted whilst other times it’s one or the other.

6 Likes
#2

I may be wrong (hopefully not) but: します and いたします have the same meaning but different levels of formality. いたします is the humble version. This part I think you got it.

However, いたします cannot be used for other people. You cannot humble down the listeners. You can only humble down yourself. Therefore, your example これをお渡ししてください。is a request for someone else to perform and it is unnatural to say it with the humble form.

As for the last example, I don’t think only いたす can be used. It depends on who is talking, and with whom is talking to. The example seems to be a shop clerk, which would explain the use of いたす since you (the listener) would be the client, who is always put on a higher level. Therefore the use of いたす. But if you were talking with friends, you would probably write it like 品物は明日送ります。

2 Likes
#3

Thanks for the detailed response! I’ll keep that in mind when going forward with reviews because aside from the context which you have explained, I can’t think of any other reasons why BunPro would allow both options for some answers and only one for others.

Much appreciated!