~mashou – Let’s
“~mashou” means “Let’s do something”. For example : Let’s play (Asobimashou). It is as simple as ABC 😉
Examples
Kobayashi : Today, where do you go? – Kyou, doko e (iku)ikimasu ka?
Tony : I will be going to Shinjuku – Shinjuku e ikimasu
Kobayashi : How about you? – Anata wa?
Michael : I will be going to Shinjuku too – Watashi mo Shinjuku e ikimasu
Tony : Then, let’s go together – Jaa, issho ni ikimashou ka?
Michael : Alright, let’s go – Ee, ikimashou
Meaning : Kyou (Today), Doko (Where), Issho ni (Together)
Other Examples
Let’s drink coffee at the coffee shop – Kissaten de ko-hi- o (nomu)nomimashou
Let’s erase off the words on the blackboard – Kokuban no ji o (kesu)keshimashou
Let’s sing Japanese songs – Nihongo no uta o (utau)utaimashou
Meaning : Kissaten (Coffee Shop), Kokuban (Blackboard), Ji (Words), Kesu (Erase), Uta (Songs), Utau (Sing)
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February 28th, 2006 at 12:27 am
When I attended university, I had a TOEFL student from Japan as my roommate. Some evenings I would stay up late and spout of nonsensical words that I thought sounded like Japanese. One night I actually hit on one! When I said “hana-gee” (correct spelling unknown), he died laughing. After he was able to breath again, he told me that I had said, “Bloody nose booger.” Can’t wait to be able to use that in context someday.
February 28th, 2006 at 9:00 am
LOL…. The correct Romaji spelling is “Hanagi” which means “piece of jewelry worn through a hole in the nose”.
So next time, you must watch your words when there is Japanese in front of you :d
June 18th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
According to your grammar explanation, “~mashou” means “Let’s do something”. Is it also used as “Shall I”?
Example
Ko-hi- wo iremashou ka.
Shall I make you coffee?
Pls explain?
June 18th, 2007 at 7:33 pm
Hi Aadi,
Yes, you can interpret it as “Shall I”. The reason I put “Let’s do something” is that many Japanese use single word when they are expressing “let’s do something”
Example :
Q : Kohii o nomimasu ka? – Do you want to drink coffee?
A : Hai, nomimashou. – Yeah, let’s have a drink
In this case, I’m not sure whether “shall” can be used or not.
June 28th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
Masu seems to be singular, whilst Mashou means multiple.
Using Tony’s example, that would be “nomi~masu”, as you can see, Do “you” want to drink coffee is the context, meaning one person.
“Nomi~mashou” is used in context with “let’s” have a drink, which means, “You and me (+ others, maybe)”, meaning multiple people.
Hope this helps. :D…
September 4th, 2008 at 9:32 pm
hanaji :bleeding nose ,answer to Dale