Home Mail SiteMap

Making Request

Politely (and not so politely) making requests
Similar to asking for favors, which we learned in the last lesson, there are also various ways to make requests in Japanese. This is effectively the Japanese way of saying, "please do X". We'll first learn the most common way to make requests using a special conjugation of the verb 「くださる」 and the firmer 「なさる」. Finally, we'll learn the rarely used excessively strong command form for the sake of completeness. You can safely skip the last part unless you're an avid reader of manga.

「～ください」－ a special conjugation of 「くださる」
「ください」 is a special conjugation of 「くださる」, which is the honorific form of 「くれる」. We will learn more about honorific and humble forms in the beginning of the next major section. We are going over 「ください」 here because it has a slight difference in meaning from the normal 「くれる」 and the honorific 「くださる」. 「ください」 is different from 「くれる」 in the following fashion:
（１）　それをください。- Please give me that.
（２）　それをくれる？- Can you give me that?
As you can see 「ください」 is a direct request for something while 「くれる」 is used as a question asking for someone to give something. However, it is similar to 「くれる」 in that you can make a request for an action by simply attaching it to the te-form of the verb.
（１）　漢字で書いてください。- Please write it in kanji.
（２）　ゆっくり話してください。- Please speak slowly.

The rules for negative requests are same as the rules for 「くれる」 as well.
（１）　落書きを書かないでください。- Please don't write graffiti.
（２）　ここにこないでください。- Please don't come here.

In casual speech, it is often common to simply drop the 「ください」 part.
日本語で話して。- Please speak in Japanese.
消しゴムを貸して。- Please lend me the eraser.
遠い所に行かないで。- Please don't go to a far place.

For those who want to sound particularly commanding and manly, it is also possible to use 「くれる」 with the 「る」 removed.
日本語で話してくれ。- Speak in Japanese.
消しゴムを貸してくれ。- Lend me the eraser.
遠い所に行かないでくれ。- Don't go to a far place.

Because 「ください」 like the masu-form must always come at the end sentence or a subordinate clause, you cannot use it to directly modify a noun. For example, the following is not possible with 「ください」.
（１）　お父さんがくれた時計が壊れた。- The clock that father gave broke.

Of course, since direct quotes is merely repeating something someone said in verbatim, you can put practically anything in a direct quote.
（１）　「それをください」とお父さんが言った。- Father said, "Please give me that."

Using 「～ちょうだい」 as a casual request
A casual alternative of 「ください」 used usually by females is 「ちょうだい」. It is always written in hiragana. Written in kanji, it is usually used in a very formal expression such as 「頂戴致します」. There's not much more to say here because grammatically; it works the same way as 「ください」.

Examples
（１）　スプーンをちょうだい。- Please give me the spoon.
（２）　ここに名前を書いてちょうだい。- Please write your name here.
Using 「～なさい」 to make firm but polite requests
「なさい」 is a special honorific conjugation like 「する」. It is a soft yet firm way of issuing a command. It is used, for example, when a mother is scolding her child or when a teacher wants a delinquent student to pay attention. Unlike 「ください」, 「なさい」 only applies to positive verbs and uses the stem of the verb instead of the te-form. It also cannot be used by itself but must be attached to another verb.

Using 「なさい」 to make firm but polite requests
Conjugate the verb to its stem and attach 「なさい」
例）　食べる → 食べなさい
例）　飲む → 飲み → 飲みなさい
例）　する → し → しなさい
Examples
（１）　よく聞きなさい！- Listen well!
（２）　ここに座りなさい。- Sit here.
You can also drop 「さい」 portion of the 「なさい」 to make a casual version of this grammar.
（１）　まだいっぱいあるから、たくさん食べな。- There's still a lot, so eat a lot.
（２）　それでいいと思うなら、そうしなよ。 - If you think that's fine, then go ahead and do it.