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I'm reading a children's book and this silly shrimp says ここで寝ましょう... but
there's no one else around... If ましょう is a way to state that what you are
saying is subjective not objective, and depends on your
volition/understanding... then why would you say it to yourself. Is it like
when someone says "Well I guess I **_shall_** go to bed then" out loud to no
one in particular?

BONUS: Are there any other contexts where you are only referring to yourself
when you say ましょう しよう etc. I think I saw someone say "これを買いましょう" to affirm
their decision, as in "I shall buy this one".
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-25T01:14:36.173
15571
2014-04-25T05:15:19.080
3754
question
grammar
What does ～ましょう　～おうmean when you say it to no one
I think ～よう is often used to express a feeling such as you are “thinking”,
“considering”, “planing”, “deciding”, “guessing” or something.

You say “帰ろう”, “寝よう”, “買おう” to yourself when you are making a decision. “帰る”
"寝る" “買う” may be inappropriate because it's nether a “judgement” (because you
always know exactly what you will do) nor a “statement” (because nobody needs
this information.) You just directly express this kind of feeling using “～よう”
no matter there is a listener or not. I think expressing one's emotions is
something you often do without any reasons.

～ましょう might be used in certain situations, In novels, some people (e.g. お嬢様)
just use the polite form exclusively. In narratives, the speaker is aware of
the existence of the audiences, so he uses the polite form. But the ～ましょう in
this case is not the speaker's feeling, but the the character's. Maybe the
author of the children's book deliberately chose the polite form throughout
the book, did he?

When you are speaking to a listener, you often change ～よう to ～ようと思います and ～よう
carries some additional meanings. It seems that they think ～よう sounds too
direct. They think 気持ちを抑えめに表現する＝丁寧に表現する.

I think これを買いましょう often implies the speaker decided to buy, tell the listener
and ask for confirmation.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2014-04-25T05:08:31.710
15578
2014-04-25T05:15:19.080
2014-04-25T05:15:19.080
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answer