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JLPT N4Honorific Language

ていただけませんか— Could You Please (Very Polite Request)

A very polite request asking someone (often of higher status) to do something for the speaker. It is one of the most polite everyday ways to make a request.

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A short lesson: the pattern, its sentence anatomy, a quick quiz and a sentence to build.

Pro lessonUNIT 71 · HONORIFIC LANGUAGE

Structure · 形

[Verb te-form] + いただけませんか

Examples · 例文

  • もう一度説明していただけませんか。

    Mou ichido setsumei shite itadakemasen ka.

    Could you please explain it one more time?

    説明して + いただけませんか = very polite request

  • こちらにサインしていただけますか。

    Kochira ni sain shite itadakemasu ka?

    Could you please sign here?

    いただけますか = polite, slightly softer than the negative ませんか form

  • 駅までの道を教えていただけませんか。

    Eki made no michi o oshiete itadakemasen ka.

    Could you please tell me the way to the station?

    教えて + いただけませんか = very polite request (e.g., to a stranger)

Usage notes · 注意

  • Politeness scale: てください → てもらえますか → てもらえませんか → ていただけますか → ていただけませんか (most polite).
  • いただく is the humble (謙譲語) form of もらう — you humble yourself while receiving the favor.

Commonly confused with

The JLPT rarely asks whether you recognise a pattern — it asks which of several similar patterns fits. These are the ones ていただけませんか is tested against.

vsてください

てください is a polite instruction/request but can sound like a directive; ていただけませんか is a softer, more deferential appeal ('would it be possible for you to...').

vsてもらえませんか

Same structure with もらう instead of the humble いただく — polite, but a step less formal/deferential than the いただけませんか version.

More honorific language

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