49 - Making Requests Like a Boss

Yesterday I gave you what some could argue was an overwhelming list of politeness levels for making requests.

Then I left you stranded among all that grammar, left to insert verbs yourself.

Today, however, I've gotten Rei to throw a bunch of verbs into those formulas, which we can look at together.

Awesome Note: Although most of these only include one or two words, these are all full sentences. Part of the reason that spoken Japanese is, at times, so simple is that we can use context to leave out words... which is happening for all of these (very natural-sounding) phrases.

We are dropping off nouns like crazy, in particular. And often times I'm just guessing those nouns based off of imagined context. So you can often think of other translations that are completely different. Also, you'll notice that sometimes I throw in random pleases, in a (futile) effort to match up politeness levels with the Japanese.

OK. Here we go...

Note: We're starting with the most polite constructions and working our way down.

01 ～ていただけませんか

Although I very rarely use this construction, I do hear it a lot.

いただく (itadaku) is a fancy way of saying もらう (morau), "to receive."

In #1 and #2, we have the potential, negative forms of these verbs attaching to the te-form of a verb.

So the literal translations are something like, "Could I not possibly have you VERB?"

書いていただけませんか
kaite itadakemasen ka
Could you possibly fill this out for me, please?

来ていただけませんか
kite itadakemasen ka
Could you possibly come over here, please?

02 ～てもらえませんか

貸してもらえませんか
kashite moraemasen ka
Could you possibly lend me some money?

見てもらえませんか
mite moraemasen ka
Could I get you to take a look at this, please?

03 ～てくれませんか

Understanding the difference between もらう (morau, "to receive [from someone]") and くれる (kureru, "to give [me]") is a nightmare for another day.

Notice we're using the negative form again, which ups our politeness level.

開けてくれませんか
akete kuremasen ka
Would you mind opening the window, please? // Could you open this for me, please?

送ってくれませんか
okutte kuremasen ka
Could you give me a ride, please?

04 ～てください

The classic request formula in Japanese! I've always though that it felt a bit direct, to be honest.

It is quite common and polite, though. A nice way to simply say "Please VERB."

脱いでください
nuide kudasai
Please take off your shirt.

迎えに来てください
mukae ni kite kudasai
Please come pick me up.

05 ～てくれない？

Earlier we had ～てくれませんか (~te kuremasen ka). By using the same verb, again in the negative, but this time in plain form, this becomes a bit less polite. It's still not at all rude, though.

I use this one with Rei quite a bit when I'm (nicely) asking her to do something, like grab me a water bottle out of the fridge, for example.

やってくれない？
yatte kurenai?
Will you do it for me? // Will you do this for me?

見せてくれない？
misete kurenai?
Will you show me? // Can I see your notes?

06 ～てくれる？

Almost the same as the previous request formula, but this one is a little less polite because it's not in negative form. We're not saying "Won't you grab me a water?" Instead, we're saying, "Will you grab me a water?"

確かめてくれる？
tashikamete kureru?
Will you check this for me?

洗ってくれる？
aratte kureru?
Will you wash those for me?

07 ～てくれ

This is a bit rough sounding. You will very rarely hear females use this construction.

It's not rude... if you're talking to someone you're quite familiar with and they are NOT above you in the "social hierarchy," so to speak (e.g. your boss or teacher). But yeah, it's not "clean-sounding."

It's also used, for example, when strongly asking for something, like the "please wake up" example below.

Maybe this should be number #8 or #9... oops.

捨ててくれ
sutete kure
Throw that away, will you?

起きてくれ
okite kure
Wake up.

08 ～て

Pretty much OK all around for casual requests.

答えて
kotaete
Please answer me.

取って
totte
Take this. // Hand me that pen. // Grab me a tissue.

起きて
okite
Hey, wake up.

09 Masu-Stem ＋な

A bit more assertive than #8.

早く行きな
hayaku iki na
You should really go (to the dentist) soon.

もう寝な
mou ne na
Go to sleep already.

10 ～てよ

This would be the same as #8, but adding よ (yo) makes it sound like the speaker is impatient (or insistent). They want the listener to hurry up and do something. Or stop making excuses for not doing something.

教えてよ
oshiete yo
Tell me.

数えてよ
kazoete yo
Count the money.

11 Masu-Stem + なよ

Like #10 makes the nuance more insistent and/or impatient for #8, so too does #11 boost the impatience and insistence of #9... thus making it less polite.

落ち着きなよ
ochitsuki na yo
Calm down.

座りなよ
suwari na yo
Sit down.

12 Masu-Stem + なさい

I NEVER use this.

And yet, it was one of the first request/command formulas I learned. This will only be used by a person of authority speaking down to someone. I hear it most often with parents telling their kids what to do.

下りなさい
orinasai
Get down from there!

飲みなさい
nominasai
Drink this. // Drink your medicine.

13 Imperative

This is a blunt, bare command. You'll hear it a lot in anime... where people like to say rude stuff before killing each other and whatnot.

We'll look at how to form these verbs some other time.

離れろ
hanarero
Get away from me.

気をつけろ
ki wo tsukero
Be careful!

14 Extra-Rude Imperative

In my list yesterday, I included 食え (kue), "Eat it!"

This is the same verb form as #13, but I was just pointing out that some words will be more polite than others. Although it's rude to command someone saying 食べろ (tabero), it' s ruder to say 食え (kue).

Similarly, in English, saying "Listen!" is not quite as rude as saying "Die!" Right?