May…: 〜ますように

〜ますように expresses a wish, a prayer: “may…”, “please let…”. It's the sentence you write on the wooden plaques (絵馬, えま) at shrines like Fushimi Inari, or murmur with your hands together. You keep the polite ます-form (or ません for a negative wish).

• 試験に合格しますように。しけんにごうかくしますように。May I pass the exam.
• 明日、雨が降りませんように。あした、あめがふりませんように。Please don't let it rain tomorrow.
• 家族がみんな元気でいられますように。かぞくがみんなげんきでいられますように。May my whole family stay healthy.

ように means “so that”. On its own at the end of a sentence, after a ます-form, it becomes a prayer addressed to the gods, to fate, or to no one in particular: “may things turn out so that…”. The polite ます-form comes from the fact that, deep down, you're addressing something greater than yourself.

• いい一年になりますように。いいいちねんになりますように。May this be a good year.

Keep the verb in the ます-form, then ように. For a negative wish: ません + ように. To wish for a lasting state, the potential is often used (いられます, できます). If you want to say that you're praying, add と願う / と祈る.

• 風邪をひきませんように。かぜをひきませんように。Please don't let me catch a cold.
• 子どもが元気に育ちますようにと願った。こどもがげんきにそだちますようにとねがった。I prayed that my child would grow up healthy.

At shrines (神社), you write your wish on an 絵馬 (えま), a small wooden plaque, and hang it up with the others. At Fushimi Inari, among the red torii gates, they're shaped like a fox's head. Almost all of them end in 〜ますように.

• 大学に入れますように。だいがくにはいれますように。May I get into university.

With another verb after it, ように means “so that” (the point on line 1): 聞こえるように話す. On its own at the end of a sentence, after ます, it's a wish. And 〜たい simply says what I want to do myself, without appealing to fate.

• 後ろの人にも聞こえるように、大きな声で話してください。うしろのひとにもきこえるように、おおきなこえではなしてください。Please speak up, so that the people at the back can hear too.