お任せ = omakase (任せる = makaseru)
「クリスマスは私にお任せ下さい！」
= Kurisumasu wa watashi ni omakase kudasai.
= You can count on me for Christmas!
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Ho ho ho!!! Hi everyone! Christmas is coming soon. What do you want for Christmas?
From the picture.
クリスマスは私にお任せ下さい。
= Kurisumasu wa watshi ni omakase kudasai.
= Please count on me for Christmas.
So today’s word is お任せ = omakase
The verb is 任せる = makaseru = to leave it up to someone to do something, to entrust someone with a job
When we say it politely we add お = o
お任せする = omakase suru
We also use it as a noun or adjective お任せ = omakase in colloquial Japanese.
Structure :
★A は(or を）B に任せる= A wa (or wo) B ni makaseru
★B に Aは（or を）任せる = B ni A wa (or wo) makaseru
= to leave A (=something, job, matters,etc.) to B (=someone)
Let’s take look at example sentences.
Ex. この仕事を彼に任せる。
= Kono shigoto wo kare ni makaseru.
= (I’ll) leave this job to him.
Ex. プロに任せた方がいいんじゃない？
= Puro ni makaseta hou ga iinjanai?
= I think you should ask a pro to take care of it.
Ex. 後は任せたよ！
= Ato wa makaseta yo!
= I will leave the rest up to you.
Ex. 予約はお任せしてもいいですか？ (polite)
= Yoyaku wa omakase shite mo ii desuka?
= Could you be in charge of making reservations?
Ex. この件は、マギーに任せてあるのでわかりません。
= Kono ken wa Maggie ni makasete aru node wakarimasen.
= I don’t know about this matter because I left everything (up) to Maggie (or because Maggie is in charge of this matter.).
Ex.全て運に任せよう。
= Subete un ni makaseyou.
= Let’s leave everything to luck.
Ex. ご想像にお任せします。
= gosouzou ni omakase shimasu.
= I ‘ll leave it up to your imagination.
(You can use it when people ask you personal questions.)
Ex. 明日は運転任せるからお願いね。
= Ashita wa unten makaseru kara onegai ne.
= You’re in charge of driving tomorrow, OK? I ‘m counting on you.
When you make a phone call to make an appointment of a beauty salon or spa, they usually ask
「担当者のご希望はありますか？」
= Tantousha no gokibou wa arimasuka?
= Who would you like to take care of you? (Who would like as your hair stylist (esthetician?)
If you don’t have any preferences, say
「お任せします。」
= Omakase shimasu.
= Whomever. You can decide.
When you go to a nice restaurant and you don’t know which wine to pick, you can ask someone,
ワイン、どれを選んでいいかわからないからお任せしてもいいですか？
= Wain dorewo erande iika wakaranai kara omakase shimasu.
= I can’t choose the wine so can I ask you to order for me?
When you make a reservation at a restaurant for a big group, they will ask you
「お料理は如何いたしましょうか？」
= Oryouri wa ikaga itashimashouka?
= What kind of food would like us to prepare?
and if you don’t know what to do, you say
「お任せでお願いします。」(polite but colloquial.)
= Omakase de onegai shimasu.
= We will leave it to you.
Sometimes you see a course called
お任せ料理
= Omakase ryouri
= Literally you leave it up to the chef to decide what to serve. Chefs will prepare creative dishes to pleasantly surprise diners in a restaurant.
If you want to be in charge you can say
私に任せて下さい。
= Watashi ni makasete kudasai.
= Leave it to me.
私にお任せ下さい。(polite)
= Watashi ni omakase kudasai.
= Please leave it to me.
Structure :
(Aは )私に任せて下さい。
= (A wa ) watashi ni makasete kudasai.
= Leave me A.
Ex.「ここは任せて！」
= Kokowa makasete!
= Leave it to me here. (I will take care of it here. (For example, “I’ll get the bill.”))
Ex. 料理は私達に任せて下さい。
= Ryouri wa watashitachi ni makasete kudasai.
= We will take care of preparing the food. So don’t worry about it.
You can say this for something you are confident with.
Ex. 英語は任せて下さい。
= Eigo wa makasete kudasai.
= When it comes to English, you can count on me.
If you emphasize A you can also say
〜なら(=~nara) instead of 〜は (=~ wa)
Ex. 食べることなら任せて！
= Taberu koto nara makasete!
= (I’m not sure about other things but) Leave it to me when it comes to eating.
マギー先生より = Maggie Sensei yori = From Maggie Sensei
本物のサンタさん、クリスマスのプレゼントはお任せします！
= Honmono no santa san, kurisumasu no purezento wa omakase shimasu!
= Dear real Mr. Santa, I will leave it up to you to pick out Christmas presents for me.
6 Responses to “お任せ = omakase (任せる = makaseru)”
Leave a Reply
@maggiesensei 
Cygnus on November 4th, 2011
Hi Maggie!
Thank you for another great lesson. I have a question.
Ex. 後は任せたよ！
= Ato wa makaseta yo!
= I will leave the rest up to you.
Can the past have a future nuance? Did you mean to write “後は任せるよ！”?
Maggie on November 4th, 2011
@Cygnus
Yes, this form has a future nuance.
We say 任せたよ for future.
The difference between 任せたよ and 任せるよ is very subtle.
I would say 任せたよ involves stronger feeling (Ex. As I told you, I am counting on you to have completed what I asked you for) than 任せるよ( I don’t care much, You just take care of it.)。
The same thing with 頼（たの）んだよ and 頼（たの）むよ = Please do something.Please take care of it/ I depend on you.
頼んだよ emphasizes more than 頼むよ
Cygnus on November 4th, 2011
Excellent! I will never forget this :-).
ところで, is there a way to donate via Paypal to Red Cross or you? I checked the link but I’m not sure they accept Paypal.
Maggie on November 4th, 2011
@Cygnus
I have checked if you can donate to Red Cross via PayPal and found this link.
http://www.paypal-japan.com/charity/
Oh sorry…It seems to be over… I will let you know if I find it out.
There seem to have a lot of scam so please be careful,though.
Gianluigi on December 22nd, 2010
Hi Maggie Sensei. Just to make sure I understood, you can mark the object both with を and は (as usual). But in the case I am talking about 2 third persons? 英語はＸさんがＹさんに任せた方がいいんです and 英語はＸさんはＹさんに任せた方がいいんです are both correct right? And if instead of んです I want to use I think? I end up with 3 は? 私は英語はＸさんはＹさんに任せた方がいいと思います…it seems to me too many topic markers :O
Maggie on December 22nd, 2010
@Gianluigi
Hi! Wow! You made complicated sentences. They both mean the same but nuance is a bit different. When you use “Xさんが” we can assume you are comparing X with other people and more than anybody you think X should take care of it.
私は英語はＸさんはＹさんに任せた方がいいと思います is grammatically correct.
But you are right. It has too many topic markers so you can omit the subject.(私は）