Grammar Info

N2 Lesson 7: 17/21

お～願(ねが)うPlease, Could you please

Structure

お + Verb［stem］+ 願(ねが)う
ご + (Chinese Origin) Noun + 願(ねが)う
(Western Origin) Noun + 願(ねが)う

Details

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    Polite

About お～願う

お～願(ねが)う is a humble speech expression in Japanese used for making requests in the same way as お～ください 'please do (A)'. As with many other polite structures, the use of お will primarily appear with words of Japanese origin, while ご will be used for the majority Chinese-origin kanji compounds.

願(ねが)う itself is a う-Verb meaning 'to petition', and the literal translation is something like 'I petition that you do (A) for me', which sounds incredibly stiff in English, but gets the point across that someone is doing a favor for you.

Naturally, due to being a polite sentence pattern, お～願(ねが)う will almost always appear in it's ます-form, お～願(ねが)います.

Interestingly, words of western origin, such as katakana loanwords, will often omit both お and ご, appearing simply with 願(ねが)う attached to the end.

Additionally, お～願(ねが)う can be used in the question form, お～願(ねが)えますか to convey a polite request. This comes across as 'may I ask you to (A)', or 'could I get you to (A)'.

Caution

As お～願(ねが)う is an even more polite way of saying お～ください, or simply even just てください, it will rarely be used outside of formal circumstances, such as voice-overs giving instructions etc. If used in daily speech, it may come across as sarcasm.

Synonyms

Antonyms

Related

Examples

--:--

    書類(しょるい)のこの下(した)にサイン願(ねが)います。

    Please sign at the bottom of the document.

    問題(もんだい)が起(お)こった場合(ばあい)はご連絡(れんらく)願(ねが)います。

    If you have any problems, please feel free to contact us.

    ここは図書館(としょかん)です。お静(しず)かに願(ねが)います。

    This is a library. Please be quiet.

    一週間(いっしゅうかん)以内(いない)にお返事(へんじ)願(ねが)います。

    Please reply within one week's time.

    この文章(ぶんしょう)で間違(まちが)いないか、ご確認(かくにん)願(ねが)います。

    Please check if there are any mistakes in this sentence.

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      お～願う – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (3 in total)

      • casual

        casual

        Is this a humble speech expression, or not a humble but simply polite?
        Article text says 謙譲語, but Details->Register does not, and the sentences include a Polite hint instead of Kenjougo hint.
        It would be helpful for learners to take one position and apply it universally.

      • soundjona

        soundjona

        I think the explanation could be improved to explain 願います is also replacing the する part of する verbs

        Example :
        一週間いっしゅうかん以内いないにお返事へんじ願ねがいます。
        Instead of
        一週間いっしゅうかん以内いないにお返事へんじし願ねがいます。

        What GPT thinks about it :

      • Fuga

        Fuga

        Hey @soundjona !

        For this grammar point, the する part of する-verbs is not being replaced with 願います. The 願う is simply attached to the noun, so saying お返事し願ねがいます sounds very unnatural. In this instant, what chat GPT said is not correct.

        I hope this helps!

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