Great lesson again!

I have a couple of follow-up questions.
How would you say, “I have an appointment.” or “I have an appointment with [person’s name]”, when for example you’re going to see a doctor or some other person. Can you use the same expression? It sounds kind of informal and contracted.
I looked around on Jim Breen JDIC but couldn’t find good examples. And what are the differences between machi-awase, moushi-awase, uchi-awase and yoyaku?

Sorry, lot of questions…

イタリアでも、イギリスでも五分ぐらい刻限後で良いです。

私の質問は邦訳【ほうやく】についてでした。

私の日本語はどうですしたか？正しいでしたか？
コッメントじゃないですから、大丈夫でしょう。

毎度、あ世話になっております。

よろしくお願いします。

mikuji

If you were going to like a job meeting or auditions for a job or a play or something, I say it’s good to arrive a little before the appointment time because it shows you are down for it rather than being late. And for other parties or dates, I think it’s really up to you. If you arrive on time or before, when you have a date, then, they might think you are せっかち(sekkachi means impatient) but people have different perspectives, so I can’t really tell you.

So I would say it depends on the situation, but generally for formal things, you can get there a little before the time, and for casual things it’s up to your character I guess. Is this any different from other cultures? I’m curious.

ネイト

you threw the gauntlet and, despite not being at any JPLT level, I had a go.

私は読んだ日本の交際法【こうさいほう】について本によると、刻限前の三分にや五分にはお見えになりの方がいいです.

which literally means ‘according to a book I read about Japanese etiquette, it is better to arrive something like 3 or 5 minutes before the appointed time’

よし様, 教えていただけませんか？
正しいでしょうか？
どうすればでしょうか？

よろしくお願いします

mikuji

I see Belton-san has already given you a good answer but here is some more with kanjis you may encounter when reading grammar stuff.

いこうけい volitional form ; from 意向【いこう】 (n) intention, idea, inclination, (P)
仮定形 【かていけい】(n) (gram) hypothetical form
かのうけい potential; from 可能【かのう】(adj-na,n) possible, practicable, feasible, (P)
受身形 【うけみけい】(gram) passive voice
そんけいこ do you mean 尊敬語 【そんけいご】(n) honorific language？
しえきけい　causative form as in 　使役動詞 【しえきどうし】causative verb

NOTE: 形 =かたち [けい in compounds]= form

I hope this helps

mikuji

Yoshi-san, thank you for the phrases! What blew me away was the reasoning behind the why san was not attached to the name when asking for the party. The logic behind the reasoning makes perfect sense!

I actually tried to put that sentence in Japanese, but not for a million dollar could I invoke the proper grammar to put it all together.

Does someone has any suggestion? Perhaps someone about to take the JLPT?

The rationale is that if you arrive earlier than the appointed time, then you’re rushing the host. So, expecting that the host has made preparation at the appointed time, you should allow a few minutes for the host to rest. This explains the “3-5 minutes after” part. However, if you show yourself 5 minutes after, that will just be considered late.

But I haven’t confirmed this to be actually in practice in Japan.

I’ll try to answer your question, I hope I can get it right.

First, the reason why san was not attached to the party’s name is because you consider the party as they are on your side. So, as you don’t put san when you say your own name, you don’t attach it. However, if it was an important job meeting or if you were invited by someone you didn’t know well, then you can attach san or even sama(politer) when you ask.

And if the party was not there but they had the reservation, then they might say 「まだ、来られていませんが。」(Hasn’t come yet) or 「まだ、お見えになっておられませんが。」(the same, but politer)

If the person stepped out,
「今、はずされておりますが。」(Now, he/she is out.)
If there were more than one same name, they might ask you the first name of the party, which is called 「下の名前」(bottom name)
「下の名前もよろしいですか。」(May I have the first name also?)
If the host didn’t see the name of the party but you know they are there, then you might wanna say,
「来てると思うので、ちょっとのぞいてもよろしいですか。」(I think they are here, so I can peek a little bit?)

Well, these are standard polite ways, and it might differ by the situations or the class of restaurants, and also these are just a few out of many ways to say them, but it doesn’t hurt to be polite anyways.

And I think “fashionably late” thing works in Japan, too. But maybe not in job meetings or other important appointments. If you were visiting someone’s house, then it should work or when you have a date. I usually tell them I’m fashionably late when I’m just late and sometimes it works sometimes it doesn’t. Well I think I can say Japanese culture is more strikt on time schedule than other places(maybe) but it all depends. Some people are late and some peeple are not.

Why wasn’t “-san” attach at the end of the name of the party? What if the person who made the reservation is not there, how would the host/maitre d’ respond? Maybe the person did not show up, the person stepped out, there was no reservation under that name, or there is more than one person with the same last name? The host would not likely use the polite conjugation, right?
How about the host doesn’t see the name or the person, but you are certain that your party is there, how you would you respond?
Do Japanese people believe in being “fashionably late”? I know in some cultures that it seems weird that people show up on time for a party or a meeting.

ごめんなさい、たくさんな質問があります。
よろしくおねがいします。