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来年は是非明るい年でありますように願うばかりです I hope that the next year will be great for you

Is this sentence grammatically incorrect? In what way(s)? If incorrect, why can でありますように not be followed by an explicit verb? Can it be followed by another type of verb?

Here is the original example http://omo-ashi.progoo.com/bbs/omo-ashi_topic_pr_704.html

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Your question is not clearly stated, so the two answers so far seem to miss the point. The non-polite form である can take ように + an explicit verb. The polite form であります cannot. You need to mention that distinction. – sawa Jan 4 '12 at 22:07
The「であります+ように。」form is alright only when expressing a wish.　「来年は明るい年であるように。」is not acceptable in this case. – Chocolate Jan 5 '12 at 14:57

3 Answers

up vote 2 down vote

I think 「～でありますように、～」is OK, but I'd rather say　「来年は明るい年となるようにお願いいたします。」.

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Nah~ We wouldn't say 「なるようにお願いいたします」. We'd say 'なるようにお祈りいたします' instead. – Chocolate Jan 5 '12 at 14:48
thank you. so なりますように祈りたします would be incorrect? – yadokari Jan 5 '12 at 17:25
間違ってしまいました。（＾＿＾）「お祈りいたします」would be OK. – Lyu-lyu Jan 5 '12 at 19:04
@Lyu-lyu-san, Never mind. -- yadokari-san, It should be お祈り not 祈り, いたします not たします, and I think なりますよう instead of なりますように would be more natural, so I have「なりますようお祈りいたします。」, which I think would be politer than なるようにお祈りいたします。/なるようお祈りいたします。 – Chocolate Jan 6 '12 at 13:46
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@Lyu-Lyu-san, We usually write it that way on New Year cards. I think we prefer なりますよう over なりますように here because the former sounds more polite and literary, as お祈りいたします is the super-polite humble form（謙譲語）. – Chocolate Jan 8 '12 at 17:50
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up vote 1 down vote

I understand this sentence perfectly and don't think it is grammatically wrong or sounds awkward, but I think 'でありますように' already implies 'I hope', so if you add '願うばかりです' to it then it'd sound like the 'I hope' part is repeated and redundant.

I also doubt '是非' can be used this way. It'd literally mean 'by all means' here but I think this kind of 是非 is usually used when you recommend/advise/ask/suggest someone (to) do something, like '是非出席してください。'/'是非読んでみてください。'

(edit)

I'd rather say

'来年は是非とも明るい年となってくれるよう願うばかりです。'/'来年は明るい年となることを願うばかりです。'

or '来年は明るい年でありますように。'/'来年は明るい年となりますように。'

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How is ぜひ出席してください。 different from just 出席してください。? – Flaw Jan 5 '12 at 10:29
ぜひ adds an emphasis. – Chocolate Jan 5 '12 at 15:07
So that means the speaker insists his requests and expects a higher degree of compliance? – Flaw Jan 5 '12 at 23:31
Right, like お入りください/入って下さい='Come in'/ ぜひお入りください='Do come in.' Ah and I think it'd add some nuance of politeness too; ぜひお入りください can be like 'Please come in.' – Chocolate Jan 6 '12 at 16:43
up vote 0 down vote

でありますように can be followed by any verb that can make it part of a sensible sentence.

The most prevalent verb to fit that bill is 願う.

It is so prevalent in that use, in fact; that when people say 〜ように。; they usually mean 〜ようにねがいます。.

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that is what i would presume. however, please tell me if you have an opinion on the points brought up in the comments to one of the answers to this question japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/4155/how-does-this-ように-work – yadokari Jan 4 '12 at 13:27

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