見合わせます（みあわせます、miawasemasu）
- to postpone

The Japanese word 見合わせます, read みあわせます, means to refrain from doing something, to postpone, to hold off, to suspend, or to reconsider an action. It implies a conscious decision not to proceed with something, often due to unfavorable circumstances, uncertainty, or a need for further evaluation. The action being "refrained from" or "postponed" is typically something planned or anticipated. The act of 見合わせます involves a deliberate pause before moving forward. It suggests a thoughtful consideration of the situation at hand. It can also imply a temporary cancellation or delay. The use of 見合わせます often carries the sense of a temporary or conditional decision.

⚫︎ 明日のイベントは、天候が悪いので、開催を見合わせます。 Translation: The event tomorrow will be postponed because of the bad weather. ⚫︎ 会議は、重要なメンバーが出席できないため、日程を見合わせます。 Translation: The meeting will be postponed because important members cannot attend. ⚫︎ 安全上の理由から、そのプロジェクトの開始を見合わせます。 Translation: For safety reasons, we will postpone the start of that project.

⚫︎ 見合わせます is a polite and formal verb, often used in business contexts, official announcements, and situations where politeness is important. ⚫︎ It can be used to announce a postponement, a cancellation, or a temporary suspension of an activity or event. ⚫︎ You would use it when you want to clearly communicate that something will *not* be happening as originally planned, at least for the time being. ⚫︎ It is important to remember that 見合わせます implies a conscious and deliberate decision. ⚫︎ You can use it in various formal sentences.

⚫︎ The base form of the verb is 見合わせる (みあわせる). ⚫︎ 見合わせます is the polite (masu-form) conjugation of 見合わせる. ⚫︎ It is written with the kanji 見 (mi - see, look), and the hiragana 合わせ (awase - match, combine, face each other) and ます (masu - polite ending). ⚫︎ There are no other common ways to write this word. The okurigana is standard, which is 合わせます.

⚫︎ 延期する (enki suru) - to postpone ⚫︎ 中止する (chuushi suru) - to cancel ⚫︎ 控える (hikaeru) - to refrain from (a more general term for avoiding something) ⚫︎ 保留にする (horyuu ni suru) - to put on hold, to table ⚫︎ 見送る (miokuru) - to let something pass, to abandon (a plan)

⚫︎ There isn't a direct antonym. The opposite would depend on the situation. For example, if you 見合わせます doing something due to bad weather, the opposite would be proceeding or going forward with the activity. ⚫︎ 実行する (jikkoo suru) - to carry out, to execute ⚫︎ 開始する (kaishi suru) - to start, to begin

今後の状況を鑑みて、旅行の計画は一旦見合わせます。 ・Translation: Considering the future situation, we will postpone the travel plan for the time being. ・Explanation: This sentence explains that the plan will be paused and observed before any action.

サービスの提供は、システムメンテナンスのため、一時的に見合わせます。 ・Translation: The provision of the service will be temporarily suspended due to system maintenance. ・Explanation: This sentence uses 見合わせます to inform users about the unavailability of the service.

The word 見合わせる is a combination of two kanji: 見 (mi - see, look) and 合わせる (awaseru - match, combine, face each other). Together, they suggest "to look at (something) together (with something else)", and then "to compare" or "to hold off." The act of holding off on something often involves looking at it or considering it from different angles, hence the connection to the component kanji. The addition of the polite suffix ます creates 見合わせます.