Humble Expressions

When talking about an interaction with another person, humble expressions can be used to "demote" yourself and "raise" the other person. The pattern is お + verb stem + する. However, not all verbs follow this pattern, so it's important to learn from experience which ones are appropriate to use. Meeting, borrowing, and lending are all examples of verbs that can be used with this pattern.

私は昨日先生にお会いしました。
I (humbly) met my professor yesterday.

私は先生に本をお貸しするつもりです。
I intend to (humbly) lend my professor a book.

私は先生に辞書をお借りしました。
I borrowed a dictionary from my professor (and feel very obliged).

Those are all Genki examples that showcase the use of humble expressions, where the speaker is "lowering" themselves in relation to the other person (the professor, in this case).

する verbs don't follow the aforementioned pattern since that wouldn't make sense, but they are instead prefixed with the honorific お or ご, depending on the word. There is ご紹介, ご案内, ご説明, and お電話, for example.

There are two "give" verbs that have humble counterparts, as well. もらう -> いただく and あげる -> 差し上げる.

市長にこの優秀賞をいただきました。
I (humbly) received this award from the mayor.

大統領に花束を差し上げました。
I (humbly) gave the president a bouquet.

These humble expressions can also be used with people who are associated with you, such as family members or colleagues at work.

私の姉は最近副大統領にお会いしました。
My older sister recently met with the vice president.

Finally, the verb うかがう can be used to describe humbly visiting someone or asking questions. I'll give some Genki examples to showcase its usage.

私は先生のお宅にうかがいました。
I (humbly) visited my professor's house.

私は先生にテストについてうかがいました。
I (humbly) asked my professor about the exam.

It may be confusing initially to see humble expressions alongside modest verbs and honorific expressions. I think I'll do a post in the next few days where I summarize and compare the three different types of respectful language.