発話表現 — Verbal Expressions

Q: How does the request 'lend me a pen' change based on the relationship with the listener?

Use 貸して for friends, 貸してもらえますか for colleagues, and お借りしてもよろしいですか for superiors.

Q: What is the standard phrase for entering a superior's office and checking if they are busy?

失礼します。今、よろしいでしょうか。 (Excuse me. Is now a good time?)

Q: Which grammar pattern is used when asking a superior for permission to do something, like taking a day off?

Use the causative humble request pattern: 〜（さ）せていただけませんか .

Q: How do you apologize for being late in a professional N3 context?

Say 遅れて申し訳ありません and provide a reason ending in 〜てしまって… .

N3 · Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) · 4 min read

N3 発話表現: Saying It Right — and Politely Enough

The picture-and-arrow question returns at N3 (4 items), but the bar rises: situations now include the workplace, customer service, and apologies with stakes, and the wrong options are no longer just wrong-direction verbs — they're utterances with the wrong politeness level or the wrong social move. N3 発話表現 tests whether you can match WHO you're talking to with HOW you say it. This chapter supplies the upgraded situation catalog, organized by relationship.

1. The New Dimension: Register

Every situation now carries a relationship: friend / colleague / boss / customer / stranger. The same intent changes clothes:

Intent: "lend me a pen"	To whom
ペン、貸して。	close friend
ペンを貸してもらえますか。	colleague
ペンをお借りしてもよろしいですか。	boss/customer — humble お借りする + よろしい

Distractors exploit mismatches both ways: casual 貸して to a section chief (too low) — or hyper-keigo to a small child (too high, comically wrong). Read the picture for the relationship BEFORE the options play: suits and desks = keigo zone; sofa and games = casual zone.

2. The Workplace Catalog

Situation	Say
Entering the boss's office	失礼します。今、よろしいでしょうか。
Asking the boss to check a document	こちらの書類をご確認いただけますか。／確認していただけますか。
Handing in work	資料、できました。ご確認をお願いします。
Asking for a day off	すみません、明日休ませていただけませんか。
Offering help to a busy colleague	何か手伝いましょうか。／お手伝いします。
Asking someone to redo/fix something (gently)	すみませんが、ここを直していただけますか。
Apologizing for a work mistake	申し訳ありません。すぐに直します。
Leaving before others	お先に失礼します。
Answering the office phone	はい、〇〇会社でございます。
The person asked for is absent	あいにく田中は外出しております。

Notice the machinery from the grammar course working: 〜ていただけますか (humble request), 〜（さ）せていただけませんか (asking permission humbly), おります (humble いる). 発話表現 is where keigo grammar becomes muscle.

3. Customer & Service Situations (Both Sides of the Counter)

Situation	Say
You (staff) welcome a customer	いらっしゃいませ。何かお探しですか。
You (customer) want a different size	すみません、これの大きいサイズはありますか。
You (staff) apologize — item sold out	申し訳ございません。ただいま切らしております。
You (customer) return a defective item	すみません、これ、昨日買ったんですが、壊れていたんです。
You (staff) ask the customer to wait	少々お待ちください。
You (customer) at a restaurant — order not arrived	すみません、注文した料理がまだ来ないんですが…。

The 〜んですが… trailing pattern is N3's politeness superstar: 壊れていたんですが…／まだ来ないんですが… states the problem and lets the OTHER side offer the solution — the culturally perfect complaint. Options that demand directly (取り替えてください!) lose to the trailing 〜んですが version.

Situation	Say
Apologizing for being late (friend)	ごめん、待った？
Apologizing for being late (work)	遅れて申し訳ありません。電車が止まってしまって…。
Declining an invitation politely	行きたいんですが、その日はちょっと都合が悪くて…。
Asking a neighbor to be quieter	夜遅くにすみません、もう少し静かにしていただけませんか。
Borrowing something you must return	これ、お借りしてもいいですか。明日お返しします。
Offering your seat	どうぞ、こちらの席に。
Visiting someone (entering)/leaving	おじゃまします。／そろそろ失礼します。
Consoling a failed exam	残念だったね。次はきっとだいじょうぶだよ。
Congratulating	おめでとうございます！

5. The Distractor Molds, N3 Edition

Register mismatch: right words, wrong level — 貸して to the 部長, or ご覧になりますか to your kid brother.
Keigo direction error: honorific for your own action: ×資料を拝見してください (拝見 is humble = MY looking; to invite THEIR look: ご覧ください). The "whose action?" check from the grammar course kills these.
Role reversal (still alive): the staff line offered to the customer's arrow, いってらっしゃい offered to the person leaving.
Function swap: a report (遅れました) where an apology is needed (遅れて申し訳ありません), a demand where a trailing 〜んですが belongs.

6. Worked Example

（Picture: an office; the arrow points at a young employee at the 部長's desk, holding a document.）
Narrator: 部長に書類をチェックしてもらいたいです。何と言いますか。
① 部長、この書類、ご確認いただけますか。
② 部長、この書類、拝見してください。
③ 部長、この書類、チェックしたら？

Walkthrough: boss + request = humble request form → ①. ② misfires keigo direction (拝見 = my humble looking — you've just asked the boss to "humbly look," insulting him with your own humility!). ③ is friend-level advice-casual (〜たら？) — register mismatch. One situation, all three molds on display.

7. Training Routine

Drill by relationship: same intent, three registers (friend / colleague / boss) — say all three aloud. The contrast IS the lesson.
Shadow the keigo request set until melodic: 〜てもらえますか → 〜ていただけますか → 〜ていただけませんでしょうか (each step softer).
Watch for the arrow + clothing/setting in the picture: they announce the register before a word plays.

Summary & Key Takeaways

N3 発話表現 adds register to the situation game: match the relationship (friend/colleague/boss/customer) to the politeness level.
Workplace core: 失礼します entries, ご確認いただけますか requests, 〜させていただけませんか permissions, 申し訳ありません apologies, お先に失礼します exits.
The trailing 〜んですが… is the polite complaint/request opener — prefer it over demands.
Distractor molds: register mismatch, keigo direction error (拝見 vs ご覧!), role reversal, function swap.
Read the picture's social setting first; the correct answer's politeness level is decided before the audio starts.

Quick check

Can you answer these now?

Open each question to check the key ideas from this chapter.

What is the most important factor to identify in an N3 Verbal Expression question before choosing an answer?

You must identify the social relationship between the speakers to determine the correct register (politeness level).

How does the request 'lend me a pen' change based on the relationship with the listener?

Use 貸して for friends, 貸してもらえますか for colleagues, and お借りしてもよろしいですか for superiors.

What is the standard phrase for entering a superior's office and checking if they are busy?

失礼します。今、よろしいでしょうか。 (Excuse me. Is now a good time?)

Which grammar pattern is used when asking a superior for permission to do something, like taking a day off?

Use the causative humble request pattern: 〜（さ）せていただけませんか.

Why is the trailing pattern 〜んですが… frequently used in polite complaints or requests?

It states the situation softly and indirectly, allowing the other person to offer a solution without a direct confrontation.

How do you apologize for being late in a professional N3 context?

Say 遅れて申し訳ありません and provide a reason ending in 〜てしまって….

What is a 'Keigo direction error' in the context of JLPT distractors?

It is using an honorific verb for your own action or a humble verb for someone else's action.

What is a 'Role Reversal' distractor?

An answer choice that provides a correct phrase but assigns it to the wrong person in the social situation.

How can you tell the required politeness level of an answer before the audio even starts?

By analyzing the visual setting and the clothing of the characters in the provided picture.

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