Please do: てください

～てください ~te kudasai Please do

Te-form + ください (kudasai) is a polite request: 座ってください, "Please sit down." You will hear it, and use it, all day in class.

Level: JLPT N5, beginner
Type: The te-form
English links: imperatives, polite requests

What it means

The te-form is a verb form that ends in て or で. Put ください after it, and you have a polite request. 見てください, "Please look." 座ってください, "Please sit down."

It is the classroom pattern. Teachers use it for almost every instruction: open your books, listen, repeat, write your name. Learn it early and you can run a class in simple Japanese.

It is polite, but it is still a request that expects action. To your principal, a softer question is better, and you will learn those later. To say "please don't", use the not form + でください: 走らないでください.

Making the te-form is the hard part. Group 2 and the irregular verbs are easy. Group 1 changes by the last sound of the verb. The table below shows each pattern.

How to build it

Pattern	How it works
Group 2: drop る, add て (食べる → 食べてください) taberu → tabete kudasai	Easy. The stem stays the same.
Group 1: う・つ・る → って, む・ぶ・ぬ → んで (待つ → 待って, 読む → 読んで) matsu → matte, yomu → yonde	帰る and 入る are Group 1: 帰って, 入って.
Group 1: く → いて, ぐ → いで, す → して (書く → 書いて, 泳ぐ → 泳いで, 話す → 話して) kaku → kaite, oyogu → oyoide, hanasu → hanashite	One exception: 行く → 行って (itte).
Irregular: する → して, 来る → 来て suru → shite, kuru → kite	Only two. Learn them by heart.

Examples

座ってください。 suwatte kudasai. Please sit down.
教科書を開いてください。 kyoukasho o hiraite kudasai. Please open your textbooks.
ここに名前を書いてください。 koko ni namae o kaite kudasai. Please write your name here.
もう一度言ってください。 mou ichido itte kudasai. Please say that again.
ちょっと待ってください。 chotto matte kudasai. Please wait a moment.

How English says it

English uses the imperative: the base verb with no subject. "Sit down." "Open your books." Add "please" to make it softer.

But "please" does not make everything polite in English. For a real favour, English turns the request into a question: "Could you open the window, please?" A bare "Please open the window" can sound like an order.

Why it can make English hard

Many students treat "please" as the English for ください, and use "Please + verb" for every request. To a boss or a stranger, it can sound bossy.
Some students add a subject or "to", because an English sentence without a subject feels wrong: "Please you sit", "Please to open".
English requests with "Could you...?" look like questions about ability. Students may answer "Yes, I can" and not move.

Mistakes you will hear

Please you sit down. Please sit down. English imperatives have no subject.
Please to open the window. Please open the window. After "please", use the base verb. No "to".
Please lend me your pen. Could you lend me your pen, please? Grammatical, but to a teacher it sounds like an order. A question is softer.

In the classroom

Play "Simon says" with classroom verbs. Then play it again in Japanese with てください. Students are surprised that you know it, and you both practise.
Show a politeness ladder on the board: "Open the window." "Please open the window." "Could you open the window, please?" Students pick a step for a friend, a teacher and a stranger.
Keep a list of the てください phrases you hear from Japanese teachers. They are the best way to learn the te-form rules in context.

Practice

Try each one, then open it to check.

1. Make a polite request: 読む

Answer: 読んでください

Group 1 verbs that end in む change to んで.
2. Make a polite request: 来る

Answer: 来てください (kite kudasai)

来る is irregular. Its te-form is 来て.
3. Fill the gap: ちょっと待＿ください。 (Please wait a moment.)

Answer: って

Group 1 verbs that end in つ change to って.
4. A student writes "Please you open the window." Fix it.

Answer: Please open the window.

English imperatives have no subject.
5. Translate: ゆっくり話してください。

Answer: Please speak slowly. (or: Could you speak more slowly, please?)

話す ends in す, so the te-form is 話して.