～いたす
humble form of suru
いたす is the humble (kenjougo) replacement for する. The meaning is still simply “to do”, but by choosing いたす the speaker lowers their own action to show respect to the listener. It almost always appears in the polite form いたします.
English has no direct equivalent. The closest feeling is a very formal “I shall do ...”. You will hear it constantly in business settings, shops, and announcements.
1. Set humble phrases
Many fixed polite expressions are built on いたします. The most common is 失礼いたします, used when entering or leaving a room, or ending a phone call.
失礼いたします。
“Excuse me.”
- 失礼（しつれい）= rudeness, discourtesy
- いたします = do (humble polite form of する)
2. Stating what you will do for someone
Use ～いたします to describe your own upcoming action politely, often with the honorific prefix ご or お on the noun.
明日、ご連絡いたします。
“I will contact you tomorrow.”
- 明日（あした）= tomorrow
- ご連絡（ごれんらく）= contact (with honorific prefix ご)
- いたします = will do (humble polite form of する)
～いたす vs ～される
These are mirror images. ～いたす humbly lowers your own action (私がご案内いたします, “I will show you the way”), while respectful ～される raises someone else’s action (先生が研究される, “the teacher does research”). Never use いたす for another person’s actions.
How to form it
Action noun + いたす (normally polite: いたします)
- 連絡する（れんらくする）= to contact → ご連絡いたします（ごれんらくいたします）= I will contact you (humble)
- 案内する（あんないする）= to guide → ご案内いたします（ごあんないいたします）= I will show you the way (humble)
- 失礼する（しつれいする）= to be rude, excuse oneself → 失礼いたします（しつれいいたします）= excuse me (humble)
Key idea
いたす is する with a bow: the same “do”, but it lowers your own action out of respect for the person you are speaking to.
Other N3 grammar
Updated .