Commands
Conjugations, Stage 4chunk 1 of 6Verb forms
Ways to tell someone to do or not do something, from rough (ike, iku na) to parental (-nasai) to blunt but personal (-te kure). You mostly hear these; for your own requests, -te and -te kudasai do the job.
- -e / -roA blunt order: do it!
- -u naA blunt 'don't!'.
- -nasaiA firm instruction, the way a parent or teacher gives it.
- -te kureDo it (for me): a blunt request.
Mix-ups The command ike sounds like the potential ikeru; ike (go!) and iku na (don't go!) are opposites built on the same verb. -nasai sounds soft but talks down.
-e / -ro
command formA blunt order: do it!
Heard in anger, among rough-talking male friends, in sports cheering and on signs. Learners mostly need to recognise it; ganbare (go for it!) and chotto mate (hang on) are the friendly exceptions.
Make it Godan: change the final -u to -e (kau → kae, iku → ike). Ichidan: drop -ru, add -ro (tabero, miro). suru → shiro, kuru → koi.
Polite -te kudasai
The command ike (go!) and the potential ikeru (can go) share the -e sound; the bare -e at the end is the order.
| taberu | tabero | 食べろ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| miru | miro | 見ろ | |
| kau | kae | 買え | |
| matsu | mate | 待て | |
| kaeru | kaere | 帰れ | |
| nomu | nome | 飲め | |
| asobu | asobe | 遊べ | |
| kaku | kake | 書け | |
| oyogu | oyoge | 泳げ | |
| hanasu | hanase | 話せ | |
| iku | ike | 行け | |
| suru | shiro | しろ | |
| kuru | koi | 来い |
oi, hayaku shiro yo
Hey, hurry up!
おい、早くしろよ
sumimasen, hayaku shite kudasai
Excuse me, please hurry.
すみません、早くしてください
Heard 81,688× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitles (3.6% of verbs)
-u na
don't! (blunt)A blunt 'don't!'.
Strong bans: parents to small kids, rough friends, signs and warnings. In normal talk people say -naide (sawaranaide).
Make it Dictionary form + na, for every verb: taberu na, iku na, suru na, kuru na.
Polite -naide kudasai
Only a bare verb + na is a ban; na after other words is the feeling particle (ii na = that's nice).
| taberu | taberu na | 食べるな | |
|---|---|---|---|
| miru | miru na | 見るな | |
| kau | kau na | 買うな | |
| matsu | matsu na | 待つな | |
| kaeru | kaeru na | 帰るな | |
| nomu | nomu na | 飲むな | |
| asobu | asobu na | 遊ぶな | |
| kaku | kaku na | 書くな | |
| oyogu | oyogu na | 泳ぐな | |
| hanasu | hanasu na | 話すな | |
| iku | iku na | 行くな | |
| suru | suru na | するな | |
| kuru | kuru na | 来るな |
abunai! sore sawaru na!
Careful! Don't touch that!
危ない!それ触るな!
abunai desu kara, sawaranaide kudasai
It's dangerous, so please don't touch it.
危ないですから、触らないでください
Heard 18,729× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitles (0.82% of verbs)
-nasai
-nasai commandA firm instruction, the way a parent or teacher gives it.
Parents to kids, teachers to students: hayaku nenasai, chanto tabenasai. It also lives in set phrases: gomennasai, okaerinasai, oyasuminasai.
Make it Use the -masu stem + nasai. Ichidan: drop -ru (tabenasai). Godan: change the final -u to -i (kainasai, machinasai, hanashinasai). suru → shinasai, kuru → kinasai.
Polite -te kudasai
It sounds gentle but talks down; don't use it to adults you don't know.
| taberu | tabenasai | 食べなさい | |
|---|---|---|---|
| miru | minasai | 見なさい | |
| kau | kainasai | 買いなさい | |
| matsu | machinasai | 待ちなさい | |
| kaeru | kaerinasai | 帰りなさい | |
| nomu | nominasai | 飲みなさい | |
| asobu | asobinasai | 遊びなさい | |
| kaku | kakinasai | 書きなさい | |
| oyogu | oyoginasai | 泳ぎなさい | |
| hanasu | hanashinasai | 話しなさい | |
| iku | ikinasai | 行きなさい | |
| suru | shinasai | しなさい | |
| kuru | kinasai | 来なさい |
mou osoi kara, hayaku nenasai
It's late, go to bed now.
もう遅いから、早く寝なさい
mou osoi desu kara, hayaku nete kudasai
It's late, so please go to bed.
もう遅いですから、早く寝てください
Heard 7,170× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitles (0.31% of verbs)
-te kure
blunt requestDo it (for me): a blunt request.
Mostly men, to friends or juniors, or in tense moments: matte kure! Everyday requests use just -te (matte) or -te kureru? (matte kureru?).
Make it te-form + kure: tabete kure, matte kure, nonde kure, shite kure, kite kure.
Polite -te kudasai
-te kure is an order; -te kureru? is a friendly question. Same verb, very different tone.
| taberu | tabete kure | 食べてくれ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| miru | mite kure | 見てくれ | |
| kau | katte kure | 買ってくれ | |
| matsu | matte kure | 待ってくれ | |
| kaeru | kaette kure | 帰ってくれ | |
| nomu | nonde kure | 飲んでくれ | |
| asobu | asonde kure | 遊んでくれ | |
| kaku | kaite kure | 書いてくれ | |
| oyogu | oyoide kure | 泳いでくれ | |
| hanasu | hanashite kure | 話してくれ | |
| iku | itte kure | 行ってくれ | |
| suru | shite kure | してくれ | |
| kuru | kite kure | 来てくれ |
chotto matte kure, sugu iku kara
Hang on, I'll be right there.
ちょっと待ってくれ、すぐ行くから
chotto matte kudasai, sugu ikimasu kara
Just a moment, please. I'll be right there.
ちょっと待ってください、すぐ行きますから
Heard 19,183× in 3.17 million lines of film and TV subtitles (0.84% of verbs)