Japanese from zero · N1 Lesson 7
On the phone
〜とあれば ・ business keigo: inside and outside ・ 〜手前 ・ 〜うちに入らない
In this lesson, you will learn to say you will do something because the reason is a strong one with 〜とあれば, to speak about your own company and your own boss to someone outside it, to say that having said something in front of others you are now bound by it with 〜手前, and to say something is too small to count with 〜うちに 入らない. Training is over, Lisa has joined Mori's trade department, and her first week is the office phone.
By the end you will be able to say
森は ただいま 席を 外して おります。Mori is away from his desk at the moment.
お客さまの ご要望とあれば、明日までに 見積書を お送りいたします。If that is what you need, we will send you a quote by tomorrow.
「かしこまりました」と 言った 手前、もう 一度 聞けませんでした。Having said 'Certainly,' I couldn't ask again.
電話 一本くらい、仕事の うちに 入りません。One phone call doesn't count as work.
恐れ入りますが、もう 一度 おねがいできますか。I'm sorry, could you say that once more?
The grammar in this lesson
- 〜とあれば — if it is (for) this, then (I will) — A noun or a plain form + とあれば says that, for a reason this strong, the speaker is ready to do even something hard.
- Business keigo: inside and outside — 申す・参る・おる・弊社 — To someone outside the company, your own colleagues, even your boss, are 'inside': no さん, no title, and humble verbs.
- 〜手前 — having said or done it, (I am bound by it) — A verb's plain past + 手前 says that because you already said or did something in front of others, you are now bound by it.
- 〜の うちに 入らない — doesn't count as — A noun + の うちに 入らない (or a plain form + うちに 入らない) says something is too small or too easy to count as that thing.