Grammar Info
N4 Lesson 7: 12/18
お~くださいPlease do (Honorific)
お気をつけください is quite commonly used and accepted. This comes from treating 気をつける as one expression.
Structure
お + Verb[stem]+ ください
Details
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About お~ください
お~ください is an honorific language expression in Japanese which is used in a similar way to なさい. It is the imperative form of くださる, which itself is the honorific language equivalent of くれる. In this way, it conveys 'please do (A) for me'.
お~ください is more polite than なさい, and may be used when making requests to almost anybody, regardless of if they are higher, or lower status than you).
Caution
ご~ください will only be used as part of the humble speech expression, ご~する (or お〜する). In these cases, it becomes ご~してください.
Antonyms
Related
Examples
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少しお待ちください。
Please wait just a minute.
どうぞお召し上がりください。
Please go ahead and eat.
しばらくお休みください。
Please take a short break.
どうぞ、お掛けください。
Please, have a seat.
明日までにお支払いください。
Please complete the payment by tomorrow.
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「お/ご…ください。」
Talk In Japan
Using 「ください」 with honorifics
Tae Kim
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[DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar
Page 343
Genki II 1st Edition
Page 140
Genki II 2nd Edition
Page 170
Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide
Page 229
みんなの日本語 II
Page 150 [CH 49]
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お~ください – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (14 in total)
Pushindawood
please do (honorific)
Structure
- お + Verb[stem] + ください
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Daru
この文法には使われている例文はこれです。
どぞど、お座りください
ですが、敬語を使う場合は次の文章のほうがよく使われっていると思います。
こちらにお掛けください
何が違いますか?
mrnoone
@Daru こんにちは!
同じです。それに、どちらも非常によく使われる敬語表現です。
しかし、「どうぞ」と言ったほうが強く促してるような感があります。しかも、「お座り」は目下の者に使う言葉と受け取られることもあります。だから、注意してください。Hello!
They are the same. Moreover, both are honorific phrases that are used very often. However “どうぞ” feels more “urging”. Plus, sometimes 「お座り」 might be interpreted as a phrase used towards subordinates. So be careful about it.Cheers
ulurujamman
Would it be possible to get a bit more information on the practical difference between making an honorific request and a humble request?
For instance, between the honorific request:
お許しください
and it’s humble equivalent:
許してもらえませんか
mrnoone
@ulurujamman
Hey and sorry for the late answerVery good question
First of all:
The humble version of てもらう is ていただける (and ていただけませんか which is a bit more polite, since it is more “hesitant”).
Differences:
- お(ご) + … + ください is more polite and formal than ていただけませんか (and in general, お(ご) + … + くださる/お(ご) + …+ いただく are more ...
ulurujamman
Thanks, this is very comprehensive! I will study it carefully
Melanthe
In this exercise:
どうか _______ 。[許す]
Please find a way to forgive me.Why is ゆるしていただけませんか not a correct answer? It wants me to type おゆるしください, but wouldn’t that imply I want them to forgive me for their own good, whereas していただけませんか would mean them forgiving me for my sake? I’m not sure it’s obvious from the English which of the two nuances are meant.
Pushindawood
@Melanthe ていただけませんか and てもらえませんか are both humble requests, but they give off the nuance of the speaker asking “won’t you (do something) for me?” rather than simply saying “please (do something).” Therefore, 許していただけませんか would be closer to “Can’t I get you to forgive me?” and お許しください would be “Please (humbly) forgive me.” I hope this helps. Cheers!
Melanthe
So お [verb stem] ください is more neutral? I read in Genki that it has the implication of it being for the listener’s own good. That implication isn’t always there?
nikuotoko
For the example sentence どうぞお召し上がりください:
The grammar point says it’s the ーます form minus the ーます, but the ーます form of 召し上がる is 召し上げます.
Why isn’t the honorific form お召し上げください
Is there a ーます form of 召し上げる I’ve missed?
IcyIceBear
it’s because 召し上がる is a godan verb. It transforms to 召し上がり
ますTIL, 召し上げる is an ichidan verbs meaning to forfeit or confiscate (☉。☉)
nikuotoko
ありがとうございます
This has been driving me nuts. Of course Jisho sent me straight to the Godan verb with the same kanji and everything 😵💫
bokudake
Please complete the payment by tomorrow.
明日までにお支払いください。(支払う)Doesn’t this example rather translate to please pay by tomorrow? Does お支払う mean to complete payment?
I tried answering with おしはらいおわりください (お支払い終わりください); is this bad Japanese?Fuga
Hey there @bokudake !
お支払い is a noun that means, ‘payment’. So a more direct translation for this would be, ‘Please do a payment by tomorrow’, but because that sounds ‘too unnatural’, we have used the word ‘complete’ in the English translation.
お支払い終わりください sounds a little unnatural, but not only that, it willchange the nuance of the sentence slightly . Since おわる means to ‘finish’ it will give the nuance that this payment has been going on for a while (like a loan). This is similar to how ‘making a payment’ and ‘finished a payment’ sound similar, but have a slight difference in nuance.
I hope this clears it up!
bokudake
Thanks for the explanation!
お支払い is a noun that means, ‘payment’.
I understand you take the verb 支払う (to pay) here and turn it into the masu-form 支払い, and add the honorofic prefix お like you do with any other verb in this grammatical structure (e.g. お使い, お閉め, …), which turns it into a noun.
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