教える
おしえる
oshieru
= to teach / to tell / to show how
Oshieru is a verb English speakers quietly under-use, because English keeps “teach” for classrooms and reserves “tell” for everything else. Japanese doesn’t split the two: reciting your phone number to a new coworker and walking a student through algebra are both, grammatically, acts of oshieru.
Oshieru spans a wider range than the English “teach.” On one end sits formal instruction, like sensei ga suugaku o oshieru (the teacher teaches math). On the other end sits ordinary information-sharing: michi o oshieru means to tell someone the way, and renrakusaki o oshieru means to give out your contact info. Both uses are the same verb, because in Japanese, handing over knowledge someone didn’t have is oshieru regardless of whether a lesson is involved. It’s an ichidan verb, so it conjugates cleanly: oshiete (te-form, used for requests and connecting clauses) and oshieta (past tense, taught/told). The receiving side of the exchange has its own verb, osowaru (to be taught), which frames the same event from the learner’s perspective rather than using a passive form of oshieru.
The moment this verb clicks for learners is realizing oshiete kudasai isn’t limited to lessons — it works for directions, restaurant recommendations, gossip, anything you want someone to disclose. A common beginner mistake is reaching for iu (to say) or hanasu (to speak) when asking someone to share information, but neither carries the sense of “give me knowledge I lack” that oshieru does. If you want a coworker’s favorite ramen shop or a stranger’s train transfer advice, oshiete is the natural verb, not itte or hanashite. This shows up constantly in messaging culture too: LINE oshiete is simply “give me your LINE ID,” no classroom implied.
Everyday use
すみません、南口はどっちか教えてもらえますか。
Sumimasen, minamiguchi wa dochi ka oshiete moraemasu ka.
Excuse me, could you tell me which way the south exit is?
Casual / Social Media
おすすめのカフェあったらぜひ教えてください！
Osusume no kafe attara zehi oshiete kudasai!
If you have a favorite cafe, please tell me about it!
Formal / Cultural context
弊社のやり方をぜひ教えていただけますでしょうか。
Heisha no yarikata o zehi oshiete itadakemasu deshou ka.
Would you be willing to teach me how things are done at our company?
Oshieru sits at the center of Japan’s senpai-kouhai knowledge transmission, and the direction of the request matters as much as the verb itself. A junior employee doesn’t just ask a senior colleague a question; they ask to be taught, with phrasing like oshiete itadakemasu ka (would you be so kind as to teach me). This framing treats the senior’s time and expertise as a gift rather than an obligation, which is why the polite, humble version of the request is standard in workplaces and apprenticeship-style training even for tasks as small as how to file a form.
The cultural weight placed on teaching also explains why sensei, the title given to those who oshieru, extends so far beyond schoolteachers. Doctors, lawyers, politicians, and manga artists are all addressed as sensei, because the title tracks anyone positioned to transmit specialized knowledge to someone who needs it, not just anyone standing at a blackboard. That same logic is what lets oshieru stretch from a professor lecturing on physics to a friend telling you which exit to take at the station.