VocabularyJLPT N5 · core

おっしゃる

hepburn ossharu

to say (honorific)

Part of speech · godan-verb

Pattern visualization

no decomposition available

Examples

先生がおっしゃった。
The teacher said (respectful).
お名前は何とおっしゃいますか。
May I have your name?

Collocations

おっしゃる (ossharu, respectful say)言う (iu, say, neutral)申す (mousu, say, humble)尊敬語 (sonkeigo, respectful)お名前 (o-namae, your name)

Mnemonic

Ossharu (おっしゃる) is the respectful (sonkeigo) form of iu ("to say"). Triple: iu (neutral) - mousu (humble) - ossharu (respectful). Polite form osshaimasu. Business set phrase "o-namae wa nan to osshaimasu ka" (may I have your name) opens hotel and store interactions. "~to ossharu" elevates citation — "sensei ga osshatta toori" (as the teacher said). Korean malsseum-hasida and Chinese nin shuo diverge. JLPT N5 keigo plus business cluster.

Quick check

Meaning of "o-namae wa nan to osshaimasu ka"?