【Japanese Language】Are ”Onegaishimasuおねがいします” and “Kudasaiください” same?

2024年9月27日2025年3月28日

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)

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 3 : When you want someone to take a picture of you, you can say “shashin wo totte kudasai.”

(“totte” is a te-form of verb “take” )(The dictionary form of “take” is “toru”.)

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 When you want items like beer, both “onegaishimasu” and “kudasai” can be used.

When you want an item like beer, you can say “ビール（を）ください bi-ru (wo) kudasai” and ”ビール（を）おねがいします bi-ru (wo) onegaishimasu”. (Both are correct)

	①items (beer)	②service (non-smoking seats=kitsuenseki)	③requesting an action. (te-form of verb)	④Can it be used as it? (yes please)
onegaishimasu おねがいします	bi-ru wo onegaishimasu (correct)	kitsuenseki wo onegaishimasu (correct)	kaite onegaishimasu. (incorrect)	hai onegaishimasu. (correct)
kurasai ください	bi-ru wo kudasai (correct)	kitsuenseki wo kudasai (incorrect)	kaite kudasai. (correct)	hai kudasai (incorrect)

② When you want a type of service (non-smoking seats), “onegaishimasu” can be used.

As an 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”(non-smoking seats please). 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 smoking seats and enjoy the meals.” When you want a type of service, you will use “onegaishimasu”, not “kudasai”.

RIGHT 　〇	kitsuenseki (wo) onegaishimasu.
WRONG　×	kitsuenseki (wo) kudasai.

③When you request some action, “kudasai” can be used followed by “te-form” of verbs.

If you want to say, “Please take a picture”, “写真をとってください shashinwo totte kudasai” is correct and “写真をとっておねがいします shashin wo totte onegaishimasu” is incorrect.

(“totte” is a te-form of verb “take”. The dictionary form of “take” is toru.)

RIGHT 　〇	shashin wo totte kudasai
WRONG　×	shashin wo totte onegaishimasu

④When you want to say “yes please”, “onegaishimasu” can be used.

③ “Kudasai” can NOT to be used as is. “Kudasai” always needs a noun as a object.

When you want to say “yes please”, you can say “hai onegaishimasu”. “Onegaishimasu” can be used as is while “kudasai” can not be used as is. (The phrase “Kudasai” requires nouns or te-form of verbs.)

RIGHT 　〇	hai onegaishimasu.
WRONG　×	hai kudasai.

These two words (kudasai and onegaishimasu) can be used like this conversation below.

客Customer

「すみません、コーヒーとケーキをください」

(sumimasen, ko-hi- to ke-ki wo kudasai.)

(Excuse me, coffee and cake please)
FYI, “ko-hi- to ke-ki wo onegaishimasu.” is perfectly fine as well.