をください / をお願いします — Please give me
をください is a polite request meaning "please give me [item]." Used when ordering food, shopping, or requesting things. をお願いします is slightly more polite/formal and also works for requesting a service.
Structure
[Item] を ください / お願いします
Examples
コーヒーをください。
Koohii wo kudasai.
Please give me coffee. / Coffee, please.
コーヒー (coffee) + を + ください (please give)
この書類のコピーをお願いします。
Kono shorui no kopii wo onegai shimasu.
Please make a copy of this document.
を + お願いします (please [do this for me])
もう少し時間をください。
Mou sukoshi jikan wo kudasai.
Please give me a little more time.
時間 (time) + をください (politely asking for time)
• ください alone after a te-form = "please do": 食べてください (please eat). • Detail: をください = "please give me [thing]." Politeness hierarchy: をくれ (blunt, very casual) < をください (polite) < をいただけますか (very polite request). • In restaurants: 〜をひとつください (one of __, please).
Commonly confused with
The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones をください is tested against.
vs てください
てください requests an ACTION (attaches to a verb te-form); をください requests an OBJECT (a noun) — 'please give me X'.
vs をお願いします
More polite/formal than をください; also used to request a SERVICE or task, not just a physical item.
vs がほしい
がほしい states your own desire ('I want X'); をください directly requests it from the listener ('please give me X').
More expressions
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