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I'm curious as to why these two verbs use their い-stem, instead of う like ます does after the い-stem and くれる/あげる/おく do after the て form. (I know the two are aru special class verbs.) Does this have to do with 有り/なり using い by default back then, or is it more about roundabout formal speech?

Eiríkr Útlendi
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user48723
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  • I don’t quite understand your question but are these related by any chance?: [Why does くださる have an irregular infinitive form (ください)?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/42921/43676), [Proper form of なさる - なさります or なさいます](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/32700/43676) – aguijonazo Nov 14 '21 at 07:19
  • Phrased differently, the questions would be: if all other auxiliaries and conjugations use the 終止形 by default, why do くださる and なさる use the 連用形 exclusively? – user48723 Nov 14 '21 at 12:34
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    They don't use 連用形 exclusively. If you read one of the links above, you should know なさい and ください are "command" forms (albeit irregular ones). – aguijonazo Nov 14 '21 at 22:05

1 Answers1

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As pointed out in the comment section, くださる and なさる are irregular verbs in Japanese. The regular imperative form くだされ/なされ somehow changed to ください/なさい long ago, making them look identical to the pre-masu form.

The れ version still exists, but sounds fairly old. You can hear samurai and old sage say 見なされ or 見てくだされ in fictional works.

See also: Proper form of なさる - なさります or なさいます

naruto
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