A Little More ましょう
“Pray to God, but row for the shore.” – Russian Proverb
These are some things to know about ましょう. I think you could probably get away with just reading this page (carefully) and nothing else. You’ll get the big picture points, and the practice and examples down the road will work out the rest on their own. Still, the big picture points are definitely something you need to know.
1. ましょう Is Neutral/Formal
It comes out of ます form verbs, which is neutral/formal form all of its own. Make that connection, it will help you to remember that ましょう is the neutral / formal form of “let’s” – later on you’ll learn a casual version of ましょう. This casual version comes from dictionary form (the casual version of verbs), which also makes a lot of sense. So, ましょう = neutral/formal.
2. ましょう As “I will” / “We Will”
You can use ましょう to tell someone you’ll do something for them. As in:
a プレゼントをあげましょう？
I’ll give you a present (i.e. let’s give you a present)
a バックパックをもちましょう？
I’ll carry your backpack (i.e. Let’s carry your backpack)
If the sentence doesn’t really make sense in terms of “let’s” do something, then there’s a good chance this is the meaning of ましょう you’re looking for. It kind of makes sense in a roundabout way, which makes this somewhat easy to remember, but make sure you put this idea in your mind somewhere before moving on.
3. と思う and と言う Don’t Work
The と思う and と言う patterns you learned in the と chapter don’t work with ましょう. As in, you cannot say the following things:
× アメリカに行きましょうと思う
× かれは「先生になりましょう」と言った
Both of these don’t work. In cases like these, you’d use the casual form ましょう (which you don’t know yet) and then add と思う or と言う to it. If you remember, casual form verbs come before these two things already, and ましょう is no exception.
So, put these three things into your mind. Read over it one more time if you have to. Like I said, one or two careful reads of this page should be good enough. You’ll get enough explanation and practice as you move forward where everything should fall into place nicely either way.