まして details
write + and
kaki mashite
and; so — carries a polite clause into the next one, in formal speech and writing
お待たせしまして、申し訳ございません。
o matase shimashite, moushiwake gozaimasen.
I am terribly sorry to have kept you waiting. formal
本日はお忙しい中お集まりいただきまして、ありがとうございます。
honjitsu wa o isogashii naka o atsumari itadakimashite, arigatou gozaimasu.
Thank you for gathering here today in the middle of your busy schedules. formal
- ます-stem
- noun
- na-adjective
- formal
- contraction
Examples
links a polite clause to the one that follows — the formal opening of an apology, a greeting or an explanation
お待たせしまして、申し訳ございません。
o matase shimashite, moushiwake gozaimasen.
I am terribly sorry to have kept you waiting. formal
本日はお忙しい中お集まりいただきまして、ありがとうございます。
honjitsu wa o isogashii naka o atsumari itadakimashite, arigatou gozaimasu.
Thank you for gathering here today in the middle of your busy schedules. formal
すみません、電車が遅れてまして、あと十分ほどかかります。
sumimasen, densha ga okuretemashite, ato juppun hodo kakarimasu.
Sorry — the train is running late, so it'll be another ten minutes or so. neutral
説明が分かりにくくなってしまいまして、大変失礼いたしました。
setsumei ga wakarinikuku natte shimaimashite, taihen shitsurei itashimashita.
My explanation ended up being hard to follow, and I do apologise for that. formal
Formation
{V-masu-stem}ましてattaches to ます-stem{N}でしてattaches to noun{NA-stem}でしてattaches to na-adjective
Variant notes
- ませんで — the negative counterpart — 気がつきませんで、失礼いたしました; noticeably older-sounding than なくて.
- てまして — ています loses its い before this link in speech — 立て込んでまして、お返事が遅れました.
Notes
speech. In an ordinary polite sentence the link is plain て
(書いて、出しました), and まして there sounds laboured.
Related patterns
Similar
Polite speech normally keeps the PLAIN て inside the sentence (駅で買って、持って行きました), so まして is not the polite version of て — it marks formality on top of politeness, and in ordinary polite conversation it sounds laboured rather than more polite.
The causal て can be swapped for から or ので and still stand (遅れたので困った); the まして of a thanking or apologising frame cannot — ×お集まりいただいたからありがとうございます — because it feeds a speech act rather than a consequence.
Combines with
お待たせしまして申し訳ございません is the humble wrap carried into an apology by this link — the two stack constantly, which is why まして is heard far more often on service verbs than on ordinary ones.