The verb 言（い）う ("to say") has a single honorific — おっしゃる, for a superior's speech — but it has two humble forms, and the difference between them is one of the most illuminating distinctions in all of keigo. 申（もう）す lowers the tone of your own speaking politely toward whoever is listening; 申（もう）し上（あ）げる aims that lowered speech at a specific honored person you are addressing. Get this pair right and you have understood, on one verb, the split that runs through the entire humble system.
The reframe: Japanese gives its name with the verb "say"
Before the two-way split, meet 申す where you will use it first — introducing yourself. English says "my name is Tanaka," with the copula. Japanese says, literally, "I say [I am] Tanaka," humbling the verb of speaking:
はじめまして、田中と申します。
hajimemashite, tanaka to mōshimasu
Nice to meet you — my name is Tanaka.
私は山田と申します。どうぞよろしくお願いいたします。
watashi wa yamada to mōshimasu. dōzo yoroshiku o-negai itashimasu
My name is Yamada. It's a pleasure to meet you.
This is the humble twin of the honorific 〜とおっしゃいます you use to ask someone else's name (お名前は何とおっしゃいますか). You give your own name humbled with 申す; you ask for theirs elevated with おっしゃる. Same construction, opposite altitude, chosen entirely by whose name it is.
申す — 丁重語: lowering your own speech toward the listener
申す is a 丁重語（ていちょうご, teichōgo） humble: it politely lowers the tone of your own act of speaking, addressed to the listener in general, with no particular honored person as its target. You use it to report your own or your in-group's speech in formal or public settings.
何と申しましょうか、うまく言葉にできません。
nan to mōshimashō ka, umaku kotoba ni dekimasen
How shall I put it — I can't quite find the words.
弊社の田中が、明日そちらに伺うと申しております。
heisha no tanaka ga, ashita sochira ni ukagau to mōshite orimasu
Our Mr. Tanaka says he'll visit you tomorrow.
Note the second example: you humble your own colleague's speaking with 申す when relaying it to an outside client, because from the client's standpoint your colleague is うち (in-group). The 〜と申しております ("is saying") shape is the standard business way to pass along a message from your side.
This is exactly the role 参（まい）る plays for 行く／来る: a formal, self-lowering verb that refines your own action without singling out anyone to honor. 申す and 参る are the two flagship 丁重語 verbs, and they behave as a set — see 参る for the going/coming half of the same story.
申し上げる — 謙譲語I: speaking to an honored person
申し上げる is a 謙譲語I（けんじょうご, kenjōgo） humble. The 上げる ("raise up, offer up") tail is doing real work: it means the speech is offered up to a specific person you are honoring — the addressee. You do not merely speak politely; you direct your words at someone who stands above you.
この度は誠にありがとうございます。心よりお礼を申し上げます。
kono tabi wa makoto ni arigatō gozaimasu. kokoro yori o-rei o mōshiagemasu
Thank you so very much on this occasion. I offer you my heartfelt thanks.
ご迷惑をおかけしたことを、深くお詫び申し上げます。
go-meiwaku o o-kake shita koto o, fukaku o-wabi mōshiagemasu
I sincerely apologize for the trouble I have caused you.
Because 申し上げる carries a built-in honored addressee, it lives in the most formal registers: business correspondence, speeches, ceremonies, apologies, and requests. It very often appears as the humble auxiliary in お／ご 〜 申し上げる, the register above お／ご 〜 する:
今後ともよろしくお願い申し上げます。
kongo tomo yoroshiku o-negai mōshiagemasu
I ask for your continued kind support.
ご列席の皆様に、心よりお祝い申し上げます。
go-resseki no minasama ni, kokoro yori o-iwai mōshiagemasu
To all of you in attendance, I offer my heartfelt congratulations.
Those set phrases — お礼申し上げます, お詫び申し上げます, お願い申し上げます, お祝い申し上げます, お悔（く）やみ申し上げます — are the backbone of formal Japanese. Collected together they live on the keigo set phrases page.
The whole point, side by side
| Verb | Axis | What it does | Needs an honored addressee? |
|---|---|---|---|
| おっしゃる | 尊敬語 (up) | raises the speaker (a superior speaks) | — (the speaker is honored) |
| 申す | 丁重語 (down) | refines your own speech toward the listener | No — name-giving, reporting |
| 申し上げる | 謙譲語I (down) | offers your speech up to a specific honored person | Yes — you address someone above you |
So upgrading 申す → 申し上げる is not just "more polite." It signals that your words are aimed at someone in particular whom you honor. 田中と申します introduces you to the room; お礼を申し上げます thanks you, directly and deferentially. This is the identical mechanism behind 参る (neutral formal "I go") versus 伺（うかが）う ("I visit you") — the same 丁重語／謙譲語I contrast, just on a different verb.
Conjugation
Both are regular. 申す is a 五段 (godan) verb; 申し上げる is 一段 (ichidan, from 上げる).
| Form | 申す | 申し上げる |
|---|---|---|
| polite (ます) | 申します (mōshimasu) | 申し上げます (mōshiagemasu) |
| polite past | 申しました (mōshimashita) | 申し上げました (mōshiagemashita) |
| te-form | 申して (mōshite) | 申し上げて (mōshiagete) |
| progressive (humble) | 申しております (mōshite orimasu) | 申し上げております (mōshiagete orimasu) |
Note that the progressive uses the humble おる, not いる — 申しております, never ×申しています in polished formal speech, because you keep the whole clause on the humble plane.
Common mistakes
1. Using 申す about someone else's speech. This is the number-one transfer error. English "said" is neutral, so learners reach for 申す to report what a superior said. But 申す lowers the speaker — pointed at your teacher or boss, it humbles the very person you should be elevating.
❌ 先生が「頑張って」と申しました。
Wrong — 申す humbles the speaker, but the teacher must be elevated. Use おっしゃいました.
✅ 先生が「頑張って」とおっしゃいました。
sensei ga 'ganbatte' to osshaimashita
The teacher said, 'Do your best.'
2. Over-reaching for 申し上げる with no honored addressee. Giving your own name is not "offering words up to" anyone in particular — it is plain formal self-lowering, so 申す is correct. ×山田と申し上げます sounds oddly grandiose.
❌ 私は山田と申し上げます。
Wrong register — a self-introduction has no honored addressee to 'offer' the name to; use 申す.
✅ 私は山田と申します。
watashi wa yamada to mōshimasu
My name is Yamada.
3. Elevating your own speaking with おっしゃる. The mirror of mistake 1: learners honor their own words. Your speech is always humbled, never elevated.
❌ 私が先ほどそう申されました。
Wrong — 申される mixes the humble root with the honorific 〜れる about yourself; your speech takes plain humble 申し上げました.
✅ 私が先ほどそう申し上げました。
watashi ga sakihodo sō mōshiagemashita
I said so a moment ago.
4. Forgetting the うち／そと flip when relaying your side's words. To an outside client, your own boss becomes in-group, so their speaking is humbled with 申す — not elevated with おっしゃる.
❌ 弊社の社長がそうおっしゃっております。
Wrong to a client — your own president is うち; humble their speaking with 申しております.
✅ 弊社の社長がそう申しております。
heisha no shachō ga sō mōshite orimasu
Our president says so.
Key takeaways
- 言う has one honorific (おっしゃる) but two humbles: 申す and 申し上げる.
- 申す = 丁重語: lowers your own speech toward the listener, with no specific honored target — self-introduction (田中と申します) and formal reporting (申しております).
- 申し上げる = 謙譲語I: offers your speech up to a particular honored addressee — thanks, apologies, requests (お礼を申し上げます, お願い申し上げます).
- The 申す／申し上げる split is the same 丁重語／謙譲語I contrast as 参る／伺う — upgrading signals an honored addressee, not just extra politeness.
- Never use either humble about a superior's speech (that is おっしゃる), and never elevate your own words.
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Start learning Japanese→Related Topics
- おっしゃる: Honorific SayN3 — The honorific of 言う — how to conjugate its irregular おっしゃいます, why Japanese asks names and opinions through the verb 'say,' and how おっしゃる vs 申す is the cleanest drill for the sonkeigo/kenjougo split.
- Special Kenjougo VerbsN3 — The suppletive humble verbs — 参る・伺う, 申す・申し上げる, いたす, 拝見する, いただく, おる, 存じる and the rest — that override お〜する for Japanese's highest-frequency verbs, sorted by the 謙譲語I / 丁重語 split that tells you whether each one needs an honored target.
- Fixed Business Set PhrasesN2 — The closed inventory of business keigo formulae — お世話になっております, よろしくお願いいたします, お疲れ様です, 恐れ入りますが — deployed by situation-slot, not by literal meaning.