Giving instructions in Japanese
This lesson teaches everyday instructions and requests in Japanese. English and Japanese do not conjugate verbs for a familiar versus polite “you”; Japanese marks politeness through request forms such as てください and てもらえますか. You will practice opening, closing, putting something somewhere, and waiting.
Everyday actions: open, close, put, and wait
The action words are 開ける (to open), 閉める (to close), 置く (to put or place), and 待つ (to wait). These are dictionary forms. Their て-forms are 開けて, 閉めて, 置いて, and 待って. The book examples use 開く（ひらく）, with the て-form 開いて, and 閉じる（とじる）, with the て-form 閉じて. These are natural choices for opening and closing a book; 開ける and 閉める are common with doors, for example. Affirmative instructions and requests here use the て-form; negative instructions use the ない-form followed by で.
Direct instructions: plain and polite requests
A direct, familiar instruction can use the て-form by itself: “本を開いて。” “ここで待って。” For a more polite request, add ください: “本を開いてください。” and “ここで待ってください。” English uses the same bare command verb in both cases, but Japanese uses the ending to set the politeness level. To say where to put something, Japanese marks the place with に and can mark “on top of the table” with テーブルの上に: “本をテーブルの上に置いて。”
動詞のて形（ください）。
- informal
本を開いて。
- formal
本を開いてください。
- informal
本をテーブルの上に置いて。
- formal
ここに本を置いてください。
- informal
ここで待って。
- formal
ここで待ってください。
Softened requests: ask someone to do it
For a familiar request, attach くれる？ to the て-form: “開けてくれる？” or “ここに置いてくれる？” This asks whether the other person will do it for you. For a more polite request, use てもらえますか: “本を閉じてもらえますか？” The particles and verb ending carry the request; Japanese does not need an equivalent of English “you” in these examples.
動詞のて形くれる？／動詞のて形もらえますか？
- informal
開けてくれる？
- formal
本を閉じてもらえますか？
- informal
ここに置いてくれる？
Negative instructions: ask someone not to do it
Use the verb’s ない-form followed by で: “本を閉じないで。” Add ください to make the request more polite: “本を閉じないでください。” English uses “don't” before its command verb, while Japanese changes the verb to its ない-form and adds で. The polite ending softens the instruction.
動詞の{ない|not}形で（ください）。
- informal
本を閉じないで。
- formal
本を閉じないでください。