The Mashou-Form

The mashou-form, a.k.a the polite volitional, is used for suggesting activities or things to do.

The mashou-form is the more polite version of the volitional form, and the two share the same meaning. The difference between the two forms is their relative politeness.

Conjugation

Conjugating verbs into the polite volitional is a relatively simple task. Simply take the masu-form of the verb, remove the ます and replace it with ましょう.

U-Verbs

Masu-Form	Mashou-Form
飲みます	飲みましょう
買います	買いましょう
話します	話しましょう

Ru-Verbs

Masu-Form	Mashou-Form
見ます	見ましょう
食べます	食べましょう
起きます	起きましょう

Irregular Verbs

Masu-Form	Mashou-Form
します	しましょう
きます	きましょう

Making Questions

The mashou-form can be used to make statements 'let's do X', or be used to form questions using the the question particle か, e.g.

• さあ、仕事の息抜きにコーヒーでも飲みましょうか。
  (Shall we take a break from work and have a coffee?)

You can also use ましょうか to offer assistance to somebody, for example to someone carrying heavy luggage you might say:

• 荷物を持ちましょうか
  Shall I carry your luggage?

Example Sentences

• 始めましょう。
  Let's start!

• 始めましょうか。
  Shall we begin?

• 手伝いましょうか？
  Would you like help?

• 彼のアドバイスを聞いてみましょうよ。
  Let's listen to his advice.

• 限りある水資源を大切にしましょう。
  Let's preserve the limited water resources.

• 荷物を持ちましょうか
  Shall I carry your luggage?