Making Requests
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 「」
and the firmer 「」. 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.
「～」－ a special conjugation of 「」
「」 is a special conjugation of 「」,
which is the honorific form of 「」. We will learn more about honorific and humble forms
in the beginning of the next major section. We are going over 「」 here because it has a
slight difference in meaning from the normal
「」 and the honorific 「」.
「」 is different from 「」 in the following fashion:
（１） を。- Please give me that.
（２） を？- Can you give me that?
As you can see 「」 is a direct request for something while 「」 is used as a question asking for someone to give something. However, it
is similar to 「」 in that you can make a request for an action by simply attaching it to the te-form of the verb.
（１） で。- Please write it in kanji.
（２） 。- Please speak slowly.
The rules for negative requests are same as the rules for 「」 as well.
（１） をで。- Please don't write graffiti.
（２） に。- Please don't come here.
In casual speech, it is often common to simply drop the 「」 part.
で。- Please speak in Japanese.
を。- Please lend me the eraser.
にで。- Please don't go to a far place.
For those who want to sound particularly commanding and manly, it is also possible to use 「」 with the 「る」 removed.
で。- Speak in Japanese.
を。- Lend me the eraser.
にで。- Don't go to a far place.
Because 「」 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
「」.
（１） がが。- 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） 「を」とが。- Father said, "Please give me that."
Using 「～」 as a casual request
A casual alternative of 「」 used usually by females is 「」. It is always written in hiragana. Written in kanji, it is usually
used in a very formal expression such as 「」. There's not much more to say here because grammatically; it works the same
way as 「」.
Examples
（１） を。- Please give me the spoon.
（２） にを。- Please write your name here.
Using 「～」 to make firm but polite requests
「」 is a special honorific conjugation of 「」. 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 「」, 「」
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 「」 to make firm but polite requests
- Conjugate the verb to its stem and attach 「」
- 例） →
- 例） → →
- 例） → →
Examples
（１） ！- Listen well!
（２） に。- Sit here.
You can also drop 「さい」 portion of the 「」 to make a casual version of this grammar.
（１） から、。- There's still a lot, so eat a lot.
（２） でとなら、なよ。 - If you think that's fine, then go ahead and do it.
The Command Form
We will go over the command form in the interest of covering all the possible verb conjugations. In reality, the command form is rarely
used as Japanese people tend to be too polite to use imperatives. Also, this coarse type of speech is rarely, if indeed at all,
used by females who tend to use 「」 or an exasperated 「」 when angry or irritated.
This form is only really useful for reading comic books or watching
movies. You may often see or hear 「！」 ("Die!") in movies or manga which, of course, you'll never hear in real life. (I hope!)
Be sure to note that, in addition to the familiar 「」, 「」 exception verbs, 「」 is also an exception for the command form.
Rules for creating command form
- ru-verbs - Replace the 「る」 with 「ろ」
- u-verbs - Change the last character from an / u / vowel to an / e / vowel
- Exceptions - 「」 becomes 「」,
「」 becomes 「」,
「」 becomes 「」
Sample ru-verbs
| Plain | Command |
|---|
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Sample u-verbs
| Plain | Command |
ローマ字 | ローマ字 (Com) |
|---|
| |
hanasu | hanase |
| |
kiku | kike |
| |
asobu | asobe |
| |
matu | mate |
| |
nomu | nome |
| |
naoru | naore |
| |
shinu | shine |
| |
kau | kae |
|
|
Exception Verbs
| Plain | Command |
|---|
| |
| |
| |
|
Examples
（１） に。- Do as you please.
（２） ！- Go away!
（３） を。- Hurry up and bring me some alcohol.
The negative command form is very simple: simply attach 「な」 to either ru-verbs or u-verbs. Don't confuse this with the 「な」 gobi we will
be learning at the end of this section. The intonation is totally different.
Using the negative command form
- Attach 「な」 to the verb.
- 例） 行く → 行くな
- 例） する → するな
Examples
（１） をな！- Don't eat that!
（２） なをな！- Don't say such weird things!
This is not to be confused with the shortened version of 「～なさい」 we just learned in the last section. The most obvious
difference (besides the clear difference in tone) is that in 「～なさい」, the verb is first converted to the stem while the negative command has no conjugation.
For example, for 「」, 「」 would be the short version of
「」 while 「な」 would be a negative command.
This page has last been revised on 2005/9/21
Added くれ exception for command form. (2005/9/21)