N5 · Using the te-form
てください: asking someone to do something
the te-form with ください
The te-form plus ください asks someone to do something; ないでください asks them not to.
Take the te-form of a verb and add ください, and you have the ordinary polite request: 待ってください "please wait", 見てください "please look". After a noun and を, the same ください asks for a thing — 水をください, "some water, please". After a te-form it asks for an action.
To ask someone not to do something, use the plain negative in ない, then で, then ください: 触らないでください, "please do not touch". This is the form on notices in museums, parks and trains, and it is built on the ない-form, not on the te-form.
てください is polite in its words but direct in what it does: it expects the other person to comply. Doctors, teachers, staff and signs use it all the time, because they are giving instructions. English speakers tend to treat it as the equivalent of "please" and use it for every request, including favours from a boss or a stranger, where it can sound like an order. For a favour, the question forms てくれませんか and ていただけませんか are the right tools.
Among friends and family, ください is usually dropped, and the bare te-form is the request: ちょっと待って, "hang on". The negative works the same way: 忘れないで, "don't forget".
The form
stem (regular) stem (irregular) ending auxiliary verb
| wait → please wait | 待ってください |
| write → please write | 書いてください |
| read → please read | 読んでください |
| eat → please eat | 食べてください |
| come → please come | 来てください |
| do → please do | してください |
| write → please do not write | 書かないでください |
| eat → please do not eat | 食べないでください |
| among friends | 待って |
| among friends, negative | 忘れないで |
The rules one by one
Take the te-form of the verb and add ください.
ここに名前を書いてください。Please write your name here.
For "please don't", use the ない-form, then で, then ください.
ここで写真を撮らないでください。Please do not take photographs here.
ください after a noun and を asks for a thing; after a te-form it asks for an action.
水をください。それから、塩を取ってください。Some water, please. And please pass me the salt.
Among friends and family, ください is dropped and the te-form alone is the request.
ちょっと待って。Hang on a moment.
A closer look
Why a request is a kind of giving
ください is the imperative of くださる, the respectful verb for someone giving something to the speaker. 水をください is therefore literally "give me water", and 待ってください is "give me your waiting". Japanese treats a request as a favour received, which is the same frame as てくれる and てもらう in the area on giving and receiving.
Because it is an imperative, however polite, てください leaves the listener little room to say no. Turning it into a negative question softens it step by step: 待ってくれませんか, 待ってもらえませんか, 待っていただけませんか. The further down that list a request is, the more it sounds like a favour rather than an instruction.
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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you hear it from staff, in announcements or on signs
the request is often お + the ます-stem + ください instead: お待ちください, お入りください.
少々お待ちください。One moment, please.
This is the honorific request. It does not use the te-form at all, and it is more respectful than てください, which is why shops and stations prefer it.
How to spot it
- てください
- でください
- ないでください
- 〜て
- 〜ないで
Example sentences
もう少しゆっくり話してください。Please speak a little more slowly.
次の駅で降りてください。Please get off at the next station.
教室で電話を使わないでください。Please do not use your phone in the classroom.
明日は9時に来てください。Please come at nine tomorrow.
この薬は食事の後に飲んでください。Please take this medicine after meals.
心配しないでください。Please don't worry.
8 more example sentences
窓を開けてください。Please open the window.
大きい声で言ってください。Please say it loudly.
遅れないでください。Please don't be late.
この言葉の意味を教えてください。Please tell me what this word means.
靴を脱いでください。Please take your shoes off.
ここでたばこを吸わないでください。Please do not smoke here.
駅に着いたら、電話してください。Please call me when you get to the station.
もう一度言ってください。Please say that again.
Worth knowing (1)
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ください with a thing, ください with an action
The same word does two jobs. After a noun and を it means "please give me": 切符を二枚ください. After a te-form it means "please do": 切符を見せてください, "please show me your ticket". What stands in front of ください decides which one is meant.
切符を見せてください。Please show me your ticket.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
The negative request is built on the ない-form: 食べない → 食べないでください. Putting ないで after the te-form produces 食べてない, which is the spoken form of 食べていない, "have not eaten" — a different thing altogether.
Te-form plus ください asks for an action; ないでください asks for it not to happen.
Your turn
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