The nuances of ください
Yet another lesson picked up while surfing the internet.
「ください」 is a special conjugation of 「くださる」, which is the honorific form of 「くれる」. We are going over 「ください」 here because it has a slight difference in meaning from the normal 「くれる」 and the honorific 「くださる」. 「ください」 is different from 「くれる」 in the following fashion:
（１） それをください。- Please give me that.
（２） それをくれる？- Can you give me that?
As you can see 「ください」 is a direct request for something while 「くれる」 is used as a question asking for someone to give something. However, it is similar to 「くれる」 in that you can make a request for an action by simply attaching it to the te-form of the verb.
（１） 漢字で書いてください。- Please write it in kanji.
（２） ゆっくり話してください。- Please speak slowly.
The rules for negative requests are same as the rules for 「くれる」 as well.
（１） 落書きを書かないでください。- Please don’t write graffiti.
（２） ここにこないでください。- Please don’t come here.
In casual speech, it is often common to simply drop the 「ください」 part.
日本語で話して。- Please speak in Japanese.
消しゴムを貸して。- Please lend me the eraser.
遠い所に行かないで。- Please don’t go to a far place.
For those who want to sound particularly commanding and manly, it is also possible to use 「くれる」 with the 「る」 removed.
日本語で話してくれ。- Speak in Japanese.
消しゴムを貸してくれ。- Lend me the eraser.
遠い所に行かないでくれ。- Don’t go to a far place.
Because 「ください」 like the masu-form must always come at the end sentence or a subordinate clause, you cannot use it to directly modify a noun. For example, the following is not possible with 「ください」.
（１） お父さんがくれた時計が壊れた。- The clock that father gave broke.
Of course, since direct quotes is merely repeating something someone said in verbatim, you can put practically anything in a direct quote.
（１） 「それをください」とお父さんが言った。- Father said, “Please give me that.”
these two lessons seem to cover some important stuff that can be used in general conversation. On top of that the examples given in japanese are fun to try to translate because they are sentences and uses that we don’t generally encounter in class.
I hope somebody reads this other than Atsushi! lol
