Does 供える only mean to make an offering in the religious/spiritual sense or can it be used to say “to offer” in the normal, non-religious sense?
Like can you say 私は先生に水のボトルを供えた or does that sound weird
1 Like
供える (note the kanji, you also mixed 備える in there) does typically have a religious connection.
I feel like this is slightly complicated by the use of 先生, since I’m not sure if you want it to be a situation where 上下関係 is taken into consideration, or if you just chose that offhand.
Neutrally, words like 与える or 提供する could describe that action, but what a person actually says to the teacher when doing it would be different and depend on their age and how they intend to use keigo, etc.
1 Like
In a casual context, like offering your friend a pen, what would be the best word to use?
To describe it like narrating in your head or what you’d say when doing it?
idk, either?
Like I said the words I mentioned sound kind of neutral and detached, so they’d be more like describing, but giving something to a friend you can just say あげる.
But wait, now with the pen… Are you expecting it back? Or are you giving it? With the bottle you wouldn’t expect it back obviously.
Maybe 差し出す is the best word for describing what you’re imagining. You wouldn’t say it to them though. It means to hold something out for someone to take, in a physical sense.
5 Likes
So just to recap, in almost all contexts, 供える carries a religious or spiritual connotation?
In the definition, it also mentions offering something to someone of nobility in addition to the religious/spiritual aspect. But example sentences are overwhelmingly religious/spiritual.
2 Likes
I ended up consulting a J-J dictionary (I feel like I should do that more when I’m confused about the nuance/connotation of a word) and it was helpful
2 Likes