Requests, permissions and prohibitions – Japanese N5 grammar
Meaning, explanation and example sentences with translations.
〜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
- ここに名前を書いてください。Please write your name here.A typical request at an office or a reception desk.
- もう少し待ってください。Please wait a little longer.もう少し softens the request.
〜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
- ここで写真をとってもいいですか。May I take photographs here?A request for permission, not for a favor.
- 疲れたら、休んでもいいですよ。If you are tired, you may rest.Granting permission. よ signals that this is new information for the listener.
〜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.
- 授業中に話してはいけません。You must not talk during the lesson.Said by someone whose position outranks the listener’s.
〜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
- 明日までに出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.
- 薬を毎日飲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.
〜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
- 明日は来なくてもいいです。You do not have to come tomorrow.Lifting an obligation, not forbidding the visit.
- 全部食べなくてもいいですよ。You do not have to finish everything.Reassuring a guest at the table.
〜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.
- 窓を開けないでください。Please do not open the window.An ordinary request between fellow passengers.
〜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.
Where this comes from
Everything above comes from the free part of the Kaname app and has passed its content review.
- Kaname: Japanese GrammarJLPT practice: N5 N4 N3 N2 N1
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