Learn to make requests in Japanese
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| Do you know how to make requests in Japanese? |
| You'll learn how in just a moment. |
| Hi, my name is Emiri, and this is Three Step Japanese by JapanesePod101.com. |
| In this lesson, you'll learn how to make requests through a quick conversation. |
| Let's look at the dialogue. |
| As you listen, pay attention to how they ask about the topic and how the other person responds. |
| おばあちゃん、にほんの りょうりを おしえてください｡ |
| Obāchan, nihon no ryōri o oshiete kudasai. |
| いいですよ｡ じゃ、おみそしるを つくりましょう｡ まず、なべに みずを いれてください｡ |
| Ii desu yo. Ja, omisoshiru o tsukurimashō. Mazu, nabe ni mizu o irete kudasai. |
| はい｡ |
| Hai. |
| このだいこんを あらってください｡ そして きってください｡ |
| Kono daikon o aratte kudasai. Soshite kitte kudasai. |
| はい｡ |
| Hai. |
| あ、ちょっと まってください｡ それは、だいこんじゃ ありませんよ｡ |
| A, chotto matte kudasai. Sore wa, daikon ja arimasen yo. |
| Let's break it down. |
| おばあちゃん、にほんの りょうりを おしえてください｡ |
| Obāchan, nihon no ryōri o oshiete kudasai. |
| This starts with the word, おばあちゃん (Obāchan), meaning "Grandma." おばあちゃん . おばあちゃん. |
| Next is the phrase, にほんの (Nihon no), meaning "of Japan" or "Japanese." にほんの . にほんの. |
| After this is the word, りょうり (ryōri), meaning "cooking." りょうり . りょうり. |
| Next is the particle, を (o), the object-marking particle. |
| Last is the phrase, おしえてください (oshiete kudasai), meaning "please teach me." |
| It's made up of the -te form of "to teach," おしえて (oshiete), and followed by ください (kudasai). |
| おしえてください . おしえてください. |
| All together, it's "Grandma, please teach me Japanese cooking." |
| いいですよ｡ じゃ、おみそしるを つくりましょう｡ まず、なべに みずを いれてください｡ |
| Ii desu yo. Ja, omisoshiru o tsukurimashō. Mazu, nabe ni mizu o irete kudasai. |
| Sure. Then, let’s make miso soup. First, put water in the pot. |
| はい｡ |
| Hai. |
| Okay. |
| このだいこんを あらってください｡ そして きってください｡ |
| Kono daikon o aratte kudasai. Soshite kitte kudasai. |
| First is the word, この (kono), meaning "this." この . この. |
| After this is the word, だいこん (daikon), meaning "radish." だいこん . だいこん. |
| Next is the particle, を (o), the object-marking particle. |
| After this is the verb, あらって, and ください (aratte kudasai). Together they mean "please wash." あらってください . あらってください. |
| That makes up the first sentence, このだいこんを あらってください｡ (Kono daikon o aratte kudasai.) |
| "Please wash this radish." |
| Let's move on to the next sentence. |
| First is そして (soshite), meaning "then." そして . そして. |
| After that is the verb, きって, and ください (kitte kudasai), together meaning "please cut." きってください . きってください. |
| So, the second sentence means "Then, cut it." |
| Even though "きってください" literally means "please cut it," we leave the second "please" out of this sentence when translating it to English. It's implied by the context. |
| All together, it's "Please wash this radish. Then, cut it." |
| はい｡ |
| Hai. |
| Okay. |
| あ、ちょっと まってください｡ |
| A, chotto matte kudasai. |
| This starts with the interjection, あ (a), meaning "Oh." あ . あ. |
| Next is the phrase, ちょっと (chotto), meaning "a little" or "a moment." ちょっと . ちょっと. |
| After this is the verb, まって (matte), which is the te-form of the verb まつ (matsu), meaning "to wait." まって . まって. |
| Last is ください (kudasai), please. ください . ください. |
| All together, it's あ、ちょっと まってください｡ (a, chotto matte kudasai). "Oh, please wait a moment." あ、ちょっと まってください｡ |
| それは、だいこんじゃ ありませんよ｡ |
| Sore wa, daikon ja arimasen yo. |
| That’s not a radish. |
| Let's look at the sentence pattern. |
| This pattern is the structure that all of our examples will follow. |
| [Verb stem] + ~て ending + ください｡ |
| (Verb stem + ~て ending + kudasai.) |
| Please [verb]. |
| This pattern is used when making polite requests in Japanese. It consists of three parts. |
| First is the verb stem, which is the base form of the verb before adding any conjugations. |
| Second is the ~て ending, which is a conjugation used in various grammatical structures, including polite requests. The way a verb converts into the ~て form depends on its type. |
| Last is ください (kudasai), which means 'please' and is used to politely ask someone to do something. It makes the request more formal and respectful. |
| Let’s see how a line from the dialogue follows this pattern. |
| ちょっと まってください｡ (Chotto matte kudasai.) 'Please wait a moment.' |
| In this sentence: |
| ちょっと means "a moment," and isn't a part of the pattern. |
| まって (matte) comes from the verb まつ (matsu), meaning 'to wait.' This verb follows the rule where -つ (-tsu) verbs change to -って (-tte) in their ~て form. Here, まつ (matsu) becomes まって (matte). |
| ください (kudasai) follows the ~て form of the verb to make the sentence a polite request. |
| Together, まってください (matte kudasai) means 'please wait.' |
| So, the full sentence ちょっと まってください｡ means 'Please wait a moment.' |
| Now you can use this structure to make polite requests in Japanese! |
| The "てください (~te kudasai)" form is the polite way to make a request. |
| If you leave "ください" out of the sentence, leaving it as just "ちょっと まって (chotto matte)," that is the informal way to ask "wait a moment." |
| However, because the て form of a verb is the command form, using it without ください can be understood as giving someone a command depending on the situation. |
| Now let's look at some speaking examples. |
| にほんの りょうりを おしえてください｡ (Nihon no ryōri o oshiete kudasai.) |
| Please teach me Japanese cooking. |
| Can you see how the pattern applies here? |
| Let's break it down: |
| おしえ (oshie) is the verb stem of 教える (oshieru, "to teach"). It takes the て-ending, making it おしえて (oshiete). Then, ください (kudasai) makes it a polite request. |
| So, that is how にほんの りょうりを おしえてください｡ fits the pattern [Verb stem] + て + ください. |
| Here's another example |
| このだいこんを あらってください｡ (Kono daikon o aratte kudasai.) |
| Please wash this radish. |
| このだいこんを あらってください｡ (Kono daikon o aratte kudasai.) |
| Please wash this radish. |
| Let's try one more, |
| 「はると」と よんでください｡ ("Haruto" to yonde kudasai.) |
| Please call me 'Haruto.' |
| 「はると」と よんでください｡ ("Haruto" to yonde kudasai.) |
| Please call me 'Haruto.' |
| One last example. |
| にほんごを べんきょうしてください｡ (Nihongo o benkyō shite kudasai.) |
| Please study Japanese. |
| にほんごを べんきょうしてください｡ (Nihongo o benkyō shite kudasai.) |
| Please study Japanese. |
| Let's review. |
| Do you remember how to say "this"? |
| この (kono) |
| この (kono) |
| And how to say the command form of "wash"? |
| あらって (aratte) |
| あらって (aratte) |
| Do you remember how to say "please"? |
| ください (kudasai) |
| ください (kudasai) |
| And how to say "then"? |
| そして (soshite) |
| そして (soshite) |
| Do you remember how to say the command form of "cut"? |
| きって (kitte) |
| きって (kitte) |
| And how to say "a moment"? |
| ちょっと (chotto) |
| ちょっと (chotto) |
| Do you remember how to say the command form of "wait"? |
| まって (matte) |
| まって (matte) |
| And how to say "Please wash this radish."? |
| このだいこんを あらってください｡ (Kono daikon o aratte kudasai.) |
| このだいこんを あらってください｡ (Kono daikon o aratte kudasai.) |
| Do you remember how to say "Then, cut it."? |
| そして きってください｡ (Soshite kitte kudasai.) |
| そして きってください｡ (Soshite kitte kudasai.) |
| Do you remember how to say "Wait a moment."? |
| ちょっと まってください｡ (chotto matte kudasai.) |
| ちょっと まってください｡ (chotto matte kudasai.) |
| Now you know how to make requests in Japanese. |
| ...and you can move on to the practice. |
| またね (mata ne)! |
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