Konnichiwa Hello!
Have you ever heard phrases like “Onegaishimasu” and “Kudasai”?
Both could be translated “please” in English.
Today I was asked by a student if “Onegaishimasu” and “Kudasai” are same and interchangeable.
Answer is “Yes” and “No”. hahaha
I found a great webpage where the author summarized the difference between “onegaishimasu” and “kudasai”. (Thank you the author for the great content!!)
If you are comfortable reading Japanese, please visit this webpage.
Just in case English is easier for you to understand, I summarized in English as well.
Case1 : When you want a glass of beer at a restaurant, you want to say “Beer please!”
○「ビール、ください。Bi-ru, kudasai」
○「ビール、お願いします Bi-ru, onegaishimasu」
(Bi-ru = beer)
Case２: When you want to request non-smoking seats at a restaurant, you want to say “Non-smoking please”.
×「禁煙席、ください。 Kitsuenseki kudasai」
○「禁煙席、お願いします Kitsuenseki onegaishimasu」
(Kitsuen seki =non-smoking seats)
Case 3 : When you want a check at a restaurant, you want to say “Check please”
. ×「お会計、ください。 Okaikei kudasai」
○「お会計、お願いします okaikei onegaishimasu」
(Okaikei=check, the bill at restaurants)
Case 4: When you couldn’t understand what Japanese person said, you want to say “One more time please”
×「もう一度、ください mou ichido kudasai」
○「もう一度、お願いします mou ichido onegaishimasu」
(mou ichido=one more time)
① Onegaishimasu can be used in the two occasions (for items and service)
“Kudasai” is used for the occasion when you want an item like beer in this case. (See the example sentence 1)
“Onegaishimasu” is used for two occasions BOTH for items and for services.
When you want an item like beer, you can say “ビールください bi-ru kudasai” and ”ビール、おねがいします bi-ru onegaishimasu”. (Both are correct)
When you want a service like “to fill up beer in a glass and bring it to us”, you would say ”ビール、おねがいします bi-ru onegaishimasu”. (But you can still say “ビールください bi-ru kudasai” because you want the item beer as well.)
As another example of wanting service (instead of wanting an item), you would say “禁煙席、おねがいします Kitsuen seki onegaishimasu”. In this case, you don’t need the actual non-smoking seats to take home with you. (hahaha) You would like to receive a service, which is “to sit in non smorking seats and enjoy the meals.”
② When you make a request, you use te-form +kudasai ALWAYS. (not onegaishimasu)
If you want to say, “Please take a picture”, 写真をとってください is correct and 写真をとっておねがいします is incorrect.
③ “Kudasai” can NOT to be used as is. “Kudasai” always needs a noun as a object.
“Kudasai”‘s dictionary form is “kureru”.
“Kureru” always needs an object word （目的語）like
“Mom gave a watch to me＝おかあさんは、（わたしに）うでどうけいを くれました”.
So that means “Kudasai” needs an object word as well. It can not be used as is.
On the other hand, “onegaishimasu” can be used as is.
These two words (kudasai and onegaishimasu) can be used like this conversation below.
客 「すみません、ビールとワインをください」
店員 「ビールとワインですね。ただいま、お持ちします」
客 「はい、お願いします」
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Hope it helps.
Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.
Jaa mata ne.
Misen
