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［ます］+ 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'.
  • こちらのサービスを使(つか)うにはインターネットでお申込(もうしこ)みください。
    To use this service, please register via the internet.
  • こちらのスリッパをお使(つか)いください。
    Please use these slippers over here.
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).
  • 後(うし)ろの扉(とびら)をお閉(し)めください。
    Please close the door behind you.
  • どうぞ、こちらにお掛(か)けください。
    Go ahead, please sit right here.
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.

Examples

  • 少(すこ)しお待(ま)ちください。

    Please wait just a minute.

    • どうぞお召(め)し上(あ)がりください。

      Please go ahead and eat.

      • しばらくお休(やす)みください。

        Please take a short break.

        • どうぞ、お掛(か)けください。

          Please, have a seat.

          • 明日(あした)までにお支払(しはら)いください。

            Please complete the payment by tomorrow.

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            お～ください – Grammar Discussion

            Most Recent Replies (14 in total)

            • bokudake

              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

              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

              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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