世話

Japanese
Kanji in this term
世 話
せ
Grade: 3		 わ
Grade: 2
on’yomi

Etymology

Believed to derive from 忙しい (sewashii, “busy”). The kanji are ateji.

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

Noun

世話 (hiragana せわ, rōmaji sewa)

  1. care, looking after, help, favor
    お世 (せ)話 (わ)になりました。
    Osewa ni narimashita.
    Literally, “I have been taken care of.” → “Thank you very much for everything.” / “I'm very obliged to you (for what you've done).”

Usage notes

Takes the formal prefix お (o-) when talking to someone outside the group (which could be anyone else when the “group” is just oneself) about a favor done for someone inside the group.

Idioms
  • 世 (せ)話 (わ)をする (sewa o suru): to take care of, to do a favor
  • 世 (せ)話 (わ)になる (sewa ni naru): to receive a favor, to be obliged or indebted to someone (for taking care of something)
  • お世 (せ)話 (わ)になる (osewa ni naru)

References
  1. 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
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