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ろ seems to be a common imperative conjugation of verbs.

なさい seems to act in a similar way (maybe not so demanding) but it is also described as an imperative form:

なさい【為さい】

expression

do ... (usually written in kana) (imperative form often used after the -masu stem of a verb) (see also: なさる)

Whats the difference between ろ and なさい?

For instance we can have 食べろ and 食べなさい - how do they differ?

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Mou某
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  • ろ is only the imperative conjugation of ichidan verbs, you should probably just refer to the imperative form to cover all verbs. (なさい is such an imperative form conjugation of the honorific verb なさる). –  Aug 16 '16 at 04:36
  • Related: http://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/4839/5010 – naruto Aug 16 '16 at 09:46

1 Answers1

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ろ is slightly more rude, it's like "eat" (negative) while なさい is more neutral and just requests someone neutrally to do something (though it shouldn't be used in polite speech still!)

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