Asking someone

Stage 2Sentence endings & intentChunk 13 of 28 · items 171–174 of 484

Ways to get the listener to do something: asking for a thing, the bare -te and the softer favour forms, then the 'don't' form.

Mix-ups

-te is blunt; -te kureru? and -te moraeru? are plain asks, and the negatives -te kurenai? and -te moraenai? are softer still. onegai (polite kudasai) asks for a thing, and kudasai also makes -te polite. -naide is the 'don't' of -te.

-te

polite -te kudasaidrama rank —none

do... (casual request)

〜てPlay 〜てくださいPlay

The bare te-form is the everyday casual request to friends and family (matte, mite, kiite). Add chotto or ne to soften it.

casualPlay

gomen, chotto matte

Sorry, hang on a sec.

ごめん、ちょっと待って

politePlay

sumimasen, chotto matte kudasai

Sorry, just a moment, please.

すみません、ちょっと待ってください

-te kudasai is polite but still direct; with strangers, -te moraemasu ka is safer.

Learn alongside: -te kurenai?, -te moraeru?, -te ne (Stage 3)

-te kurenai?

polite -te kuremasen kadrama rank #565*

could you (please)?

〜てくれない？Play 〜てくれませんかPlay

A softer request for a favour, asked as a negative question. It is one step up from bare -te and fine with friends and family.

casualPlay

gomen, chotto matte kurenai?

Sorry, could you wait a sec?

ごめん、ちょっと待ってくれない？

politePlay

sumimasen, chotto matte kuremasen ka

Sorry, could you wait a moment?

すみません、ちょっと待ってくれませんか

The negative question makes it softer than -te kureru?, and it is not a refusal. Rising, it's a request; flat, it's a complaint: tetsudatte kurenai = they won't help me.

Learn alongside: -te, -te moraeru?, -te ne (Stage 3)Learn first: -te, -te kureru

-te moraeru?

polite -te moraemasu kadrama rank #1101*

could I get you to...?

〜てもらえる？Play 〜てもらえますかPlay

Asks for a favour framed as something you would receive. It is about as soft as -te kureru?, and its polite form -te moraemasu ka is the safe choice with clerks and strangers.

casualPlay

gomen, chotto matte moraeru?

Sorry, could you wait a bit?

ごめん、ちょっと待ってもらえる？

politePlay

sumimasen, chotto matte moraemasu ka

Sorry, would you mind waiting a moment?

すみません、ちょっと待ってもらえますか

The negative is softer: -te moraenai? casually, and -te moraemasen ka, the softest of the set, politely.

Learn alongside: -te, -te kurenai?, -te ne (Stage 3)Learn first: -te morau, -te kurenai?

-naide

polite -naide kudasaidrama rank #3426*

don't... (casual request)

〜ないでPlay 〜ないでくださいPlay

Asks someone not to do something. It is built on the -nai form (wasurenai → wasurenaide) and often softened with ne.

casualPlay

kore wasurenaide ne

Don't forget this, okay?

これ忘れないでね

politePlay

kore o wasurenaide kudasai ne

Please don't forget this.

これを忘れないでくださいね

In the middle of a sentence, -naide means 'without doing' (nenaide benkyou shita).

Learn first: -te, -nai