Dictionary / Japanese / Please
How to Say "Please" in Japanese
お願いします
onegai shimasu
Literally: I make a request
お願い
request
します
I do
Polite or casual
To ask for a thing, put it before をください (o kudasai): 水をください, water, please. To ask someone to do something, use the te form with ください: 待ってください, please wait. お願いします works in both cases and is the safe choice when ordering or asking for a service.
The mistake to avoid. Japanese has no single word for please that you can drop into any sentence, the way you can in English. The request is built into the end of the sentence instead, with お願いします or ください. Adding お願いします in the middle of a sentence does not work.
In context
コーヒーをお願いします。
Kōhī o onegai shimasu.
A coffee, please.
水をください。
Mizu o kudasai.
Water, please.
ちょっと待ってください。
Chotto matte kudasai.
Please wait a moment.