When you want to say "I know" or "I think" humbly, plain 知（し）る and 思（おも）う both give way to one root: 存（ぞん）じる. But there is a fork in the road that catches every intermediate learner. If what you know is a fact or a thing, you say 存じる. If what you know is a person you wish to honor, you upgrade to 存じ上（あ）げる. The extra 上げる is not decoration — it is a switch that says "this humbling is aimed at an honored human being," and once you see it you will recognize the same switch in 申し上げる and お目にかかる.
存じる: the humble "know / think" for facts and things
存じる is the humble (謙譲, kenjō) form of both 知る ("know") and 思う ("think"). Its polite everyday shape is 存じております (the 〜ておる humble progressive) for "know," and 〜と存じます for "I think / I believe."
その件でしたら、よく存じております。
sono ken deshitara, yoku zonjite orimasu
As for that matter, I'm well aware of it.
申し訳ありませんが、そのことは存じませんでした。
mōshiwake arimasen ga, sono koto wa zonjimasen deshita
I'm sorry, but I wasn't aware of that.
道でしたら存じておりますので、ご案内いたします。
michi deshitara zonjite orimasu node, go-annai itashimasu
I know the way, so I'll show you there.
The "think" half survives in a set of formal, softly-hedged expressions. 〜と存じます is a humble "I believe," and the frozen phrases 幸（さいわ）いに存じます ("I would be grateful") and ありがたく存じます ("I am thankful") are staples of (formal / written) correspondence.
ご出席いただけましたら幸いに存じます。
go-shusseki itadakemashitara saiwai ni zonjimasu
I would be most grateful if you could attend.
ご多忙のことと存じますが、よろしくお願いいたします。
go-tabō no koto to zonjimasu ga, yoroshiku o-negai itashimasu
I imagine you're very busy, but I would appreciate your help.
Because 存じる is about your own mental state, the honored person's knowing takes the mirror form ご存じ (sonkeigo). Same root 存じ, opposite direction — the split is developed fully on the ご存じ page.
存じ上げる: when what you know is a person
Now the fork. When the object of your knowing is a person you are honoring — a client, a superior, someone's respected acquaintance — plain 存じる is not enough. You upgrade to 存じ上げる. The 上げる ("raise up") marks that your humble knowing is directed at an honored human object.
お名前は以前から存じ上げております。
o-namae wa izen kara zonjiagete orimasu
I've known your name for a long time.
その方でしたら、私もよく存じ上げております。
sono kata deshitara, watashi mo yoku zonjiagete orimasu
If you mean that gentleman, I know him well too.
恐れ入りますが、そちらの方は存じ上げません。
osoreirimasu ga, sochira no kata wa zonjiagemasen
I'm sorry, but I don't know that person.
The contrast is sharp and testable:
| What you know | Form | Example object |
|---|---|---|
| a fact, a thing, the way, a rule | 存じております | その件, 道, 規則 |
| an honored person | 存じ上げております | 田中様, その方, お名前 |
規則は存じておりますが、担当者の方は存じ上げません。
kisoku wa zonjite orimasu ga, tantōsha no kata wa zonjiagemasen
I know the rules, but I don't know the person in charge.
That one sentence shows the whole system in miniature: the rule is a thing → 存じております; the person is a human to honor → 存じ上げません.
The insight: 上げる is a general "aimed at an honored person" switch
Here is what makes 存じ上げる worth a page of its own. The jump from 存じる to 存じ上げる is not a one-off irregularity — it is one instance of a pattern that runs right through 謙譲語I. Adding 上げる (or an 上げ- layer) upgrades a plain humble verb into one that is specifically directed at an honored human:
| Humble, general |
| Base verb |
|---|---|---|
| 存じる (know a fact) | 存じ上げる (know a person) | 知る |
| 申す (say, courteously) | 申し上げる (say TO an honored person) | 言う |
| — | お目にかかる (meet an honored person) | 会う |
Seen this way, 存じ上げる, 申し上げる, and お目にかかる are siblings: each lowers your action toward a specific honored human. Once the 上げる clicks as "there is an honored person on the receiving end of this," you will stop guessing when to use it. The 申す／申し上げる pair is developed on the 申す／申し上げる page, and the meeting verb on the お目にかかる page.
Conjugation quick reference
存じる and 存じ上げる both conjugate like ichidan verbs, and both live overwhelmingly in the 〜ております state for "know":
| 存じる (fact) | 存じ上げる (person) | |
|---|---|---|
| polite affirmative | 存じております | 存じ上げております |
| polite negative | 存じません | 存じ上げません |
| past negative | 存じませんでした | 存じ上げませんでした |
| "I think" sense | 〜と存じます | — |
Note that the "think" sense belongs only to plain 存じる — there is no ×存じ上げる for "think," because you think thoughts (things), not people.
Common mistakes
Using 存じ上げる for a mere fact or thing. 上げる is reserved for honored people; a fact, a rule, or a road is a thing, so it takes plain 存じる.
❌ その規則については存じ上げております。
Overshoots — 存じ上げる is for people; a rule is a thing, so use 存じております.
✅ その規則については存じております。
sono kisoku ni tsuite wa zonjite orimasu
I'm aware of that rule.
Dropping 上げる when the object is an honored person. Saying you "know" a client with bare 存じる under-humbles the human object.
❌ 田中様のことは存じております。
Under-humbles — 田中様 is a person you're honoring, so upgrade to 存じ上げております.
✅ 田中様のことは存じ上げております。
Tanaka-sama no koto wa zonjiagete orimasu
I know Mr. Tanaka.
Using 存じる about a superior's knowing. 存じる humbles your knowledge; a superior's "know" is the honorific ご存じだ.
❌ 部長はその件を存じております。
Wrong — 存じる humbles yourself; you can't humble the manager's knowing. Use ご存じです.
✅ 部長はその件をご存じです。
buchō wa sono ken o gozonji desu
The manager is aware of that matter.
Turning 存じる into a verb-like ×存じります. 存じる is ichidan; there is no godan り. The forms are 存じます / 存じております.
❌ その件は存じっております。
Wrong stem — the humble forms are 存じております / 存じます, no double consonant, no り.
✅ その件は存じております。
sono ken wa zonjite orimasu
I'm aware of that matter.
Key takeaways
- 存じる is the humble form of 知る ("know") and 思う ("think"), used for facts, things, and your own beliefs (〜と存じます).
- 存じ上げる adds 上げる to humble knowing an honored person: 田中様を存じ上げております.
- The everyday shape for "know" is the humble progressive 存じております / 存じ上げております; the negatives are 存じません / 存じ上げません.
- The 上げる upgrade is a general "aimed at an honored human" switch shared with 申し上げる and お目にかかる.
- A superior's knowing is never 存じる — it flips to the honorific ご存じだ, the mirror form built on the same root.
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Start learning Japanese→Related Topics
- ご存じ: Honorific KnowN3 — ご存じ（だ）is the honorific of 知っている — a noun-like predicate, not a conjugated verb — so 'do you know?' politely becomes ご存じですか, while your own knowing flips to the humble 存じる／存じ上げる built on the very same root.
- 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.
- 謙譲語 Overview: Lowering Yourself to Raise ThemN3 — How humble language lowers your own action to elevate, by contrast, the out-group person it touches — the two routes (special humble verbs and the productive お〜する), and the modern split between 謙譲語I and 丁重語 that decides whether a form needs an honored target at all.