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Requests, permissions and prohibitions – Japanese N5 grammar

〜てください, 〜てもいいです, 〜てはいけません – seven ways to ask, to permit and to forbid, from the most polite down.

〜てください · please do…

a polite request to do something

The standard request in everyday conversation. Polite, but not deferential — toward a superior or a customer it can be too direct, and then longer expressions are used instead.

te-form + ください

Examples

  • ここに名前なまえを書かいてください。Please write your name here.A typical request at an office or a reception desk.
  • もう少すこし待まってください。Please wait a little longer.もう少し softens the request.
  • この文ぶんを読よんで下ください。Please read this sentence.下さい is read ください: an auxiliary request to perform an action. The course uses ください as its default spelling; official documents prefer kana.

〜てもいいです · may…, it is all right to…

permission — this is allowed

Grants permission or, as a question, asks for it. Literally it says “even if you do it, it is fine” — hence the shade of allowing rather than encouraging.

te-form + もいいです; as a question: 〜てもいいですか

Examples

  • ここで写真しゃしんをとってもいいですか。May I take photographs here?A request for permission, not for a favor.
  • 疲つかれたら、休やすんでもいいですよ。If you are tired, you may rest.Granting permission. よ signals that this is new information for the listener.
  • ここに座すわっても良いいですか。May I sit here?良い is read いい here. This asks permission, just as the spelling てもいい does.
  • この部屋へやで休やすんでもよいです。You may rest in this room.てもよい grants permission. よい sounds more formal than everyday いい; it does not turn this permission into advice.
  • 窓まどを開あけても良よいですか。May I open the window?良い is read よい here. The permission question sounds slightly more formal than てもいいですか.
  • ここで待まっても好いいですか。May I wait here?好い is read いい here. This is a dictionary spelling variant in a permission question; the basic course spelling is てもいい.
  • ここで写真しゃしんを撮とっても好よいですか。May I take photographs here?好い is read よい here. This is a dictionary spelling variant of てもよい, still expressing a request for permission.

〜てはいけません · you must not…

a prohibition based on a rule or on authority

A prohibition spoken from the position of someone entitled to impose it: a regulation, a teacher, a set of rules. Between equals it sounds too commanding.

te-form + はいけません

Examples

  • ここでたばこを吸すってはいけません。Smoking is not allowed here.A prohibition following from the rules of the place.
  • 授業中じゅぎょうちゅうに話はなしてはいけません。You must not talk during the lesson.Said by someone whose position outranks the listener’s.
  • ここで写真しゃしんを撮とっては行いけません。You must not take photos here.ては行けません is read てはいけません. Here it expresses a prohibition, not an inability to go. Kana is the course default.

〜なければなりません · one has to…, I must…

an obligation that admits no exception

Expresses a necessity imposed from outside: by a rule, a deadline or circumstances. Literally “if I do not do it, it will not do” — hence the double negative in its construction.

nai-form without い + ければなりません (書かない → 書かなければなりません)

Examples

  • 明日あしたまでに出ださなければなりません。I have to hand it in by tomorrow.The necessity comes from the deadline, not from wanting to.
  • 薬くすりを毎日まいにち飲のまなければなりません。I have to take the medicine every day.A doctor’s instruction treated as an obligation.
  • 学校がっこうでは制服せいふくを着きなければ成なりません。You must wear a uniform at school.なければ成りません is read なければなりません. Here it expresses an obligation, not a change of state. Kana is the course default.

〜なくてもいいです · there is no need to…, you may leave it undone

no necessity — skipping it harms nobody

Lifts an obligation. It is not a prohibition: it says only that nobody requires it. This is the exact opposite of なければなりません.

nai-form without い + くてもいいです (来ない → 来なくてもいいです)

Examples

  • 明日あしたは来こなくてもいいです。You do not have to come tomorrow.Lifting an obligation, not forbidding the visit.
  • 全部ぜんぶ食たべなくてもいいですよ。You do not have to finish everything.Reassuring a guest at the table.
  • 今日きょうは急いそがなくても良いいです。You do not have to hurry today.良い is read いい here. なくても良い means that an action may be left undone; it does not forbid doing it. The basic course spelling is なくてもいい.

〜ないでください · please do not do that

a request to refrain from doing something

Gentler than てはいけません: it is a request, not an appeal to a rule. That is why it can be used toward someone we hold no advantage over.

nai-form + でください

Examples

  • ここに車くるまをとめないでください。Please do not park here.A request, though in practice it works as a prohibition.
  • 窓まどを開あけないでください。Please do not open the window.An ordinary request between fellow passengers.
  • この機械きかいに触さわらないで下ください。Please do not touch this machine.下さい is read ください. In ないで下さい it makes a request not to do something; it does not ask for an object. The basic course spelling is ないでください.

〜をおねがいします · I would like…, … please

a polite request for a thing or for a favor

Asks for a thing or a service rather than for a particular action — which is why it follows a noun and not a verb. The basic phrase in a shop, a restaurant and a taxi.

noun + をおねがいします

Examples

  • コーヒーをおねがいします。A coffee, please.Ordering at a café.
  • 駅えきまでおねがいします。To the station, please.In a taxi; after まで the particle を no longer comes in.
  • 窓側まどがわの席せきをお願ねがいします。A window seat, please.お願いします is おねがいします written with 願. Here it politely requests a window seat.

Where this comes from

Everything above comes from the free part of the Kaname app and has passed its content review.

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