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In my limited exposure to 尊敬語【そんけいご】 and 謙譲語【けんじょうご】, I feel like I've only really seen them used in their normal -ます forms and never in て form or conjugated such as a -たい form. Are honorific and humble verbs not typically used in conjugated forms like these? If I wanted to write a more extended sentence, would it be better to use normal verbs up until the end and finish with a 尊敬語【そんけいご】 or 謙譲語【けんじょうご】 verb?

EDIT: To be a little more clear about what I mean, could you do the following?

Ex. To say "I called X and went home." - Xさんに連絡いたして、お帰りしました。
or
Ex. To say "I wanted to greet you." - 挨拶を致したかったです。

Are these valid sentences or is that not how 尊敬語【そんけいご】 and 謙譲語【けんじょうご】 are used?

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  • I am sorry, I am voting to close. 1 Your question is a bit unclear. 2 There would be many exceptions, 申し上げ”た”事は…，（謙譲）, お召し上がりください…（尊敬）...etc.
    – user7644
    Apr 23, 2016 at 6:23
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    @KentaroTomono I tried to add examples of what I mean to be a bit more clear.
    – charlieshades
    Apr 23, 2016 at 6:38
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    It's natural for a learner not to realize there would be many exceptions. We learners ask questions because we don't know everything :-)
    – user1478
    Apr 23, 2016 at 6:44
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    @charlieshades But please never be offended, since, well, even native Japanese speakers do not use 尊敬語, 謙譲語 etc etc correctly. 52 years old woman so called "an education planner" in my company always sas "～でよろしかったでしょうか”？ to customers. Which sounds like 尊敬語 or 謙譲語 but not.
    – user7644
    Apr 23, 2016 at 10:55
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    @KentaroTomono Just to be clear, that user said they do not have the answer to the question, so asking them to post an answer doesn't help. Anyway, the comments section isn't supposed to be used for calling people trolls. We're supposed to Be Nice, and that includes not calling people names, so I've removed that entire discussion from the comments section.
    – user1478
    Apr 23, 2016 at 11:01

3 Answers 3

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I think 尊敬語 and 謙譲語 can be used in the て form and たい form.

To say "I called X and went home" in 謙譲語, I think you could probably say like...

  • Xさんにご連絡申し上げて、帰らせていただきました。
  • Xさんに連絡させていただいて(orさせていただき)、帰宅いたしました。/ 失礼いたしました。
    etc...

For "I wanted to greet you" in 謙譲語, I think you could say like...

  • ご挨拶申し上げたかったです。
  • ご挨拶させていただきたかったです。
    etc...

Other examples off the top of my head...

  • 来てくださって、ありがとうございます。
  • ご覧になりたい場合は、遠慮なくお申し出ください。
  • 是非一度、お目にかかってお話を伺いたい(orお伺いしたい)と思っております。
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8
  • >ご挨拶申し上げたかったです。 sounds nicer to me, since he tries to "say" "greetings" to someone ( I guess ), but I thought or think his real intention is a mystery.
    – user7644
    Apr 23, 2016 at 10:09
  • And what is your answer to his question " If I wanted to write a more extended sentence, would it be better to use normal verbs up until the end and finish with a ​尊敬語 そんけいご or ​謙譲語 けんじょうご ​ verb?" ?? What do you think what he is trying to say when he says "extended", while you are completely changing his original examples.........
    – user7644
    Apr 23, 2016 at 10:18
  • @KentaroTomono By "extended sentence", I really just meant a sentence with one than one clause, since most textbooks have examples like 「電車が参ります。」 and 「先生はテレビをご覧になっています。」 which are short and not the most helpful. I do appreciate changing my examples to something more proper, though, because I don't have a lot of experience with this.
    – charlieshades
    Apr 25, 2016 at 22:34
  • @charlieshades, this is choco san's answer's place....and then even though I am sorry if you ask me "which are short and not the most helpful.", I mean, How long is it going to be actually????????
    – user7644
    Apr 26, 2016 at 10:51
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    ^ @KentaroTomono, 「which are short and not the most helpful」は、あなたへの質問文ではなく、「examples like 電車が参ります and 先生はテレビをご覧になっています」を修飾する関係代名詞節ですので、和訳すると「多くのテキストに載っている（1つの節から成る）例文は、短くてあまり役に立ちません。」という意味ですよ。つまり Tomonoさんの「What do you think he is trying to say when he says "extended"?」という質問への回答として、「『extended sentence』は、『2つ以上の節から成る文』という意味で言いました。」と説明していらっしゃるんですよ。
    – Chocolate ♦
    Apr 26, 2016 at 12:23
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I am sorry to say, I am not able yet to grasp your intention basically, but what I can point out is....

Ex. To say "I called X and went home." - Xさんに連絡いたして、お帰りしました。

sounds very strange, because

1 I am not sure if you are trying to "report" you action to "someone else other than you". Plus, since your action, going home is described as "お帰りしました” 　, here you don't have to put お，which is called 美化語, so that you are "beautiying" "your own action", thus your いたす + お are contained in the same sentence which sounds very awkward to me ( especially about お )

To say "I wanted to greet you." - 挨拶を致したかったです。

Also sounds srange since in this case in this case, one of the probability is you are dropping 御（ご） or simply ご，without this the word 挨拶 sounds a bit "abrupt" to me if you are tring to say someone upper than you.

And had it been added with ご，then you would not have needed to say "致す” since by adding ご，which is also the same above 美化語，then your sentence will have some kind of double politeness, which is redundant, to me.

Thank you.

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Xさんにご[連絡]{れんらく}の[上]{うえ}で[帰宅]{きたく}[致]{いた}しました。

I think that "and" shows the reason why you went home.
Exactly, the way of ～して is a obscure conjunction.

In the case of ～したい:

ご挨拶したかったです。
→ご挨拶できず申し訳ありません。

I feel that is a speaker's own desire.

In the case of objective expression：

ご挨拶したく思いました。

Those are not altogether false, but I think those are not quite suitable. I understand this question partially.

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