てください details
write + (and…) + please do
kaite kudasai
please do
meaning: please write
ねえ、あとでその写真、送って！
nee, ato de sono shashin, okutte!
Hey, send me that photo later! casual
すみません、もう一度ゆっくり話してください。
sumimasen, mou ichido yukkuri hanashite kudasai.
Excuse me, please say that again slowly. neutral
- formal
Examples
please do — polite request or instruction
ねえ、あとでその写真、送って！
nee, ato de sono shashin, okutte!
Hey, send me that photo later! casual
すみません、もう一度ゆっくり話してください。
sumimasen, mou ichido yukkuri hanashitekudasai.
Excuse me, please say that again slowly. neutral
お手数ですが、こちらの書類に署名してくださいませんか。
otesuu desu ga, kochira no shorui ni shomei shite kudasaimasen ka.
Sorry for the trouble, but would you please sign this document? formal
Formation
{V-te}くださいattaches to て-form
Variant notes
- てくださいませんか — negative question softens the instruction into a request — 待[ま]ってくださいませんか
Notes
Related patterns
Similar
Both request politely, but てください instructs while ていただけませんか asks whether the favor is possible — teachers and signage use ください downward; requests aimed up the hierarchy switch to いただけませんか.
One ください, two complements — Nをください asks to be handed a thing, てください asks for an action; only the noun frame drops its particle in quick orders (コーヒーください), the て never drops.
なさい commands down a height that must already exist — parent to child, teacher to class, exam paper to student; てください requests without claiming rank, so a clerk can say it to a customer where なさい would insult.
Politeness upgrade of the same instruction — お待ちください outranks 待ってください yet stays a directive; it owns announcements and counter service, adding ceremony rather than softness, while a genuinely soft ask switches to ていただけますか.
Opposite
- ないでくださいplain-antonym
Polarity twins of one request frame — てください asks the listener to act, ないでください to refrain; the negative joins with で, never て (×なくてください), which is the frame's one formation trap.
Lookalikes
Same benefactive family, different speech act — てください requests a not-yet act, てくれる／てくださった reports a favor already done; since ください is くださる's imperative, learners misread polite statements as requests.