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I've noticed that there seems to be different usage for 下さい and ください. Is this purely a personal preferences or is there an actual difference their usage?

This was actually a question the Japanese people at my work had a discussion about, but couldn't come to a consensus.

hippietrail
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Mark Hosang
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5 Answers5

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There is a usage difference when writing.

  • "下さい" is supposed to used when you request an item (Please give me the apple)

  • "ください" is supposed to used when you ask to do something (Please help/teach me, etc..)

YOU
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    Do you have any references for this? I've never seen anything in writing of teaching literature to suggest that is the case. – Jeremy Cade May 31 '11 at 23:44
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    There was a educational quiz program on TV for that, since most of people don't care to choose correct form. – YOU May 31 '11 at 23:52
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    My wife says this sounds right, but I'm going to ask my co-workers just to double-check. (they didn't have an answer before, but saying this may jog their memory) – Mark Hosang Jun 01 '11 at 00:26
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    References 下さい。 – makdad Jun 01 '11 at 00:35
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    http://www.koho.or.jp/useful/qa/hyouki/hyouki06.html seems you were right YOU. – Mark Hosang Jun 01 '11 at 01:19
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    To make sure, this is not about the correctness but the matter of style and tendency. Some people just like to state everything as a rule, but it is completely acceptable to write ください in a request for an item. Writing 下さい in asking someone to do something is not rare but may look slightly old-fashioned. – Tsuyoshi Ito Jun 02 '11 at 14:10
  • @Tsuyoshi Ito, yeah, sure, same idea here too. I think I missed "supposed to" on the first sentence on "下さい". – YOU Jun 02 '11 at 14:14
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    @ito: Well there is something to be said about what the correct grammar usage AND what is really used by natives. Referring to YOU's reference to this question popping up on a Japanese quiz show just goes to show that most Japanese don't know this rule. – Mark Hosang Jun 04 '11 at 06:36
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    @ito: As an addition that might help people remember, most (if not all) verbs, when acting as a helper verb, get written in hiragana and don't use their kanji. like ~teMiru and ~teOku – Mark Hosang Jun 04 '11 at 06:39
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    @Mark: “Well there is something to be said about what the correct grammar usage AND what is really used by natives.” You are talking about something different. I consider that ください and 下さい are interchangeable as long as _correctness_ is concerned. Compare this with, say, 切る (to cut) and 着る (to wear), which are not interchangeable at the level of correctness. Some native speakers may consider neither pair as interchangeable at the level of correctness, but I guess that most people consider the former interchangeable and the latter not interchangeable as long as correctness is concerned. – Tsuyoshi Ito Jun 08 '11 at 01:20
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    @ito: Well that is a slippery slope Ito, cause what is actually in use by natives today, may become correct usage in the future. However, there are alot of learners of language who want/need to learn correct Japanese first before they learn how natives use the language. This question, actually popped up for discussion at my company during training, and yet while everyone agreed it probably doesn't matter, there was a feeling that there was a subtle difference, even amongst the japanese. – Mark Hosang Jun 08 '11 at 01:26
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    @Mark: I have never said that there is no difference between ください and 下さい. I am saying that they are interchangeable _as long as correctness is concerned_. – Tsuyoshi Ito Jun 08 '11 at 01:30
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    They are not interchangble. However, in general, whenever something can be written in kanji, it is also correct to write it in hiragana. It does not go vice versa. So, the main verb `下さい` can be also written as `ください`, whereas it is not correct to write the auxiliary verb `ください` as `下さい`. –  Oct 23 '11 at 16:17
  • @sawa Btw is writing the auxiliary verb `ください` as `下さい` considered "correct but rarely used", or "incorrect and rarely used"? – Pacerier May 12 '12 at 13:47
  • @Pacerier Incorrect but sometimes seen. –  May 13 '12 at 00:10
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I'm surprised that none of the answers so far have touched on the actual source of the distinction.

The rule is: ください when it attaches to the te form of a verb, and 下さい otherwise. That's why 下さい is used in requesting an item, because it's not being used after the te form of a verb (それを下さい). The same goes for other verbs that attach to the te form... the general rule is to write it in kana even if you would write it in kanji if it were standing alone. For instance, if you were to say "I'm getting bored of my job", the preferred way to write it is 仕事に飽きてきている, not 飽きて来ている.

In practice, this rule is often ignored and ください and 下さい are completely interchangeable. In fact, I've seen one page of a manga that was written entirely in kana except for 下さい, despite it being used with the te form.

Kef Schecter
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  • @KefSchecter Btw, do you happen to remember which manga was it? – Pacerier May 12 '12 at 13:49
  • Sorry, I didn't see this question until now. It was Sazae-san: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/b/b7/Sazae-san_rocks.jpg I don't know what the deal with this version of Sazae-san is; maybe it was intended to teach Japanese? – Kef Schecter Oct 05 '12 at 23:38
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Almost purely personal preference. Also, more Chinese characters gives a more formal feeling to a document. This has been compared to the way we use Latin/Greek for formal ("salutations") and Anglo-Saxon for less formal ("hello"). This is easier to see when sino-Japanese words are over native Japanese ones, but the rule I think still applies.

Nate Glenn
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7

Personal preference, but if it's a written communication, I always use the kanji to imply formality if I am making a request of a superior/customer/etc.

In the exact opposite way, I use hiragana to subordinates or coworkers to imply familiarity and a casual "よろしくね" attitude.

makdad
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5

In my company (Japanese company, I am the only foreigner), our policy is to always use "ください" for emails, even though we often have to write very formally.

So I would say it is more a matter of personal choice and consistency rather than a different level of formality.

Nicolas Raoul
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    Do you mean to always use "ください" for the auxiliary verb "ください", or the verb "下さい", or both ? – Pacerier May 12 '12 at 13:50