Sunday, January 24, 2010

Expressions of request or polite command

C. If you replace kudasai with kudasaimasen ka, you will sound more polite.
Cashing a check, making a cash card, etc. are usual services for a bank to offer. However, teaching how to use a machine is an extra one, so Lwin says, "Kono kikai ga tsukaitai n desu ga, oshiete kudasaimasen ka." "I'd like to use this machine. Would you please tell me how to use it?" in the third line, Dialogue 7-3.

D. When you ask your customer to push the button, "Kono botan o oshite kudasai." is not appropriate, because this sentence sounds a little rude. Instead, you should say :
Kono botan o ooshi kudasai.
This sentence sounds more formal than "Oshite kudasai." or "Oshite kudasaimasen ka." Ooshi in the above sentence is obtained by dropping –masu from oshimasu(the polite form of osu "push") and adding o- to it. When the masu part is taken out of a verb ending in -masu, the remaining part will be called the verb base in this textbook.

* Table of the form of the verbs *
Non-polite form -Masu form Verb base O-verb base
ireru
yameru
toru
yomu iremasu
yamemasu
torimasu
yomimasu ire
yame
tori
yomi oire
oyame
otori
oyomi

Examples
1. Rajio o okiki kudasai.
"Will you listen to the radio?"
2. Motto yukkuri ohanashi kudasai.
"Could you speak more slowly?"
3. Kore o omochi kudasai.
"Will you take this one with you?"
O { verb base { kudasai is often used by clerks, salesmen, etc. in situations such as in a bank, a department store or a ceremony. Note that there are some verbs which don't have o { verb base { kudasai : miru, kuru, suru, etc.

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