Japanese from zero · N2 Lesson 6
The information session
〜に際して ・ 〜に先立ち ・ 〜にて ・ 〜より ・ お〜願う
In this lesson, you will learn to follow the formal Japanese of a company event: 〜に際して and 〜にあたって for 'on the occasion of', 〜に先立ち for 'before', にて as the formal で, より as the formal 'from', and お〜願う for the request an announcement makes. In June, Lisa and Minju go to the information session at Ai's trading company in Tokyo, where you meet 森部長, the manager of the trade department.
By the end you will be able to say
説明会に先立ち、部長より ご挨拶 申し上げます。Before the information session, the manager will say a few words.
インターンに 申し込むにあたって、説明会に 参加しました。Before applying for the internship, I went to the information session.
質問の ある 方は、受付にて お待ち願います。Anyone with a question, please wait at the reception desk.
説明会は 午後 一時より 始まります。The information session starts at 1 p.m.
これにて 本日の 説明会を 終わります。With this, we close today's information session.
The grammar in this lesson
- 〜に際して / 〜にあたって — on the occasion of; when (formal) — A noun or a dictionary-form verb + に際して or にあたって says 'when (this important thing happens)', in formal speech and writing.
- 〜に先立ち — before; ahead of (formal) — A noun or a dictionary-form verb + に先立ち (or に先立って) says what is done first, before a formal event.
- 〜にて — at; by; with (the formal で) — にて is the formal で of announcements and notices: a place (受付にて), a means (電話にて) or the point where something ends (これにて).
- 〜より — from (formal) — In formal Japanese, より marks where something starts: a time (一時より), a place, or the person something comes from (森より).
- お〜願う — please (do), in a formal request — お + a verb's ます stem + 願います is a formal request, the kind an announcement makes: お待ち願います (please wait).