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Lesson 83: Three Levels of Command

[Video Link]

Today we're going to talk about ways of making commands and requests in Japanese.

You'll probably know some of these already, but I think we're going to go a little bit deeper to some things you may not have realized.

We're going to go from the least commanding and intense towards the most, so we'll start off with one that we all know, which is the te-form.

Some sources will tell you that the te-form on its own is a command or request form.

That's only half true. It's the abbreviation of a command or request.

If we say "chotto matte" (wait a little), this is an abbreviation of "chotto matte kudasai" (wait a little please) and probably because of this it's the one that's least likely to be offensive, although it's still casual.

Now, sometimes you'll hear people saying not "chotto matte" but "chotto mattete". What's going on here?

Essentially what they're saying is "Wait a little bit and I'll be back".

The implication is that the waiting period will end fairly shortly.

And what this actually is is a contraction of "chotto matte ite".

As we know "matte iru" means "exist in a state of waiting", "be waiting", in English.

So "chotto mattete" is actually taking this "matte iru" and putting it into te-form, so that what you're being asked or instructed to do is exist in a state of waiting.

And the implication of this is, just exist for a little bit in a state of waiting.

And of course this doesn't have to be waiting, it can be anything, but the implication is, just do it for a bit, just exist in that state for a short time.

If we don't say "chotto" (and we don't necessarily) there's nothing to indicate a short time, but that is always the implication of telling someone with the te-form to exist in a particular state.

The other thing to know about the te-form which is used to tell or ask someone to do something is that, as we know, the equivalent negative adjective of any verb is made by simply attaching the helper adjective "nai" to the a-stem.

And the helper adjective "nai" actually is unusual in that it has two te-forms.

It has the regular te-form, which is formed just like any other te-form, by attaching -te to the ku-stem, so that's "nakute", but it also has the irregular te-form "naide".

And when attached to a verb this is only used in two kinds of circumstance.

One is when we say "do B without doing A", so "hanasanaide aruku" means "walk without talking".

The other is when we're making that te-formed command or request.

And again it's short for "naide kudasai".

So if we say "nakanaide" (don't cry), that's using this secondary, specialized te-form of "nai", which is specifically there for making negative commands or requests, as well as for the one other usage that we discussed.

And sometimes in anime you'll hear someone scream, when a monster is approaching her, "konaide!" (don't come).

In English we'd probably say "Keep away!" In Japanese we say "Konaide!"

Now, next up in our hierarchy of commands is "nasai".

"Nasai" is attached to the i-stem of verbs, and when you attach "nasai" to the i-stem of a verb, you make it into a command.

So, "okinasai" is "get up / wake up"; "ochitsukinasai" (calm down, settle down), we're attaching "nasai" to the i-stem of "ochitsuku", which means "calm down" or "settle down" and turning it into a command.

"Nasai" is the sort of command given by parents to children, teachers to a class, that sort of thing.

It's not offensive if it's given by someone who's entitled to give it.

So, for example, in the anime "Kari-gurashi no Arietti", Arietty's father says "nenasai".

That's the i-stem, which of course with ichidan verbs we make by simply removing the -ru, of "neru" (sleep, or go to bed) plus "nasai".

Something that can be confusing here is that there is an abbreviation of "nasai" which can be confused with a different abbreviation meaning the opposite.

And that abbreviation is "na".

When we attach "na" to the i-stem of a verb, then we're actually abbreviating "nasai".

So if we say "junbi shina", we're saying "junbi shinasai" (get ready, get prepared) : "junbi suru", i-stem of "suru", "shi" + "nasai" or "na".

Now, that in itself isn't particularly confusing.

What can confuse people is that if we say, for example, "baka-ni suru na" (don't make fun of me, of her); "sore-wo taberu na" (don't eat that! [could be poison]).

This means the opposite!

We're using "na" for both a command to do something and a command not to do something.

So how do we tell the two apart? Fortunately, it's very easy.

If the "na" is attached to the i-stem, then it's an abbreviation of "nasai".

It always is.

If it's not attached to the i-stem but attached to the entire logical clause as in "sore-wo taberu na", then it is not an abbreviation of "nasai".

It's in fact an older negative related to "nai".

So really, although they can seem confusing at first and they're probably confusing when you're told by some textbook just to learn which particular forms they stick to, it's not really confusing in practice.

One only attaches where "nasai" would attach to the i-stem, and that's the one that means "nasai"!

The other one tops off a complete logical clause with the negativizing "na".

And now we come to the real command form, "meireikei" in Japanese.

And this is formed very simply by using the bare e-stem of a godan verb or, in the case of an ichidan verb, we take off the -ru as always, and replace it with -ro.

So you might hear people say in an anime "Damare!"

That is the verb "damaru" (to be quiet, to be silent) turned into a command: "Be quiet!"

And this is really pretty forceful.

It's stronger and potentially more offensive than "urusai!" (And I made a video on "urusai" if you want to follow that up.)

It's not inherently offensive.

If someone really has the right to be giving orders, they may use it.

And people who talk rough may use it among friends or to enemies.

You may hear it a lot in shounen anime, where people do tend to talk rough.

It can also express urgency in a few cases.

One case that you'll often hear is when a character is in serious trouble and calls out "tasukete kure" which is like "tasukete kudasai" but turning it into a real order, a command.

Now, obviously someone in deep trouble isn't trying to insult or offend anyone who might help him.

So what this "kure" is doing in this case is expressing the urgency of the situation.

Yet even here, I'd have to say that I've only ever heard male characters use this "tasukete kure".

Female characters, even in the direst emergency, will tend to content themselves with "tasukete!"

And this shows how delicate the real "meireikei" command form actually is.

"Kure" is really the only irregular "meireikei" apart from the two regular irregulars, which are "suru" and "kuru".

So "kureru" (to give down / to me) becomes "kure".

And, as you see, it's a particularly touchy kind of word to use, because you're asking for a favor but you're demanding it, you're commanding someone to do a favor down to you.

Now, for completeness, I'd say that there are two other ways of commanding that are mostly used for other things but can be used as command forms as well.

One is the "no da / n da" ending which is put on the end of a complete logical clause, and I've made a video about this "no da / n da" ending, and I'll put a link to that over my head and in the information section below.

As I explain in the video, it has a wide range of uses, but one of those uses is turning something into a command.

So if we say "shukudai-wo suru no da", we're saying literally "It's that you do your homework".

This will be somewhat like the English "You're going to do your homework".

It's a command.

Also, "you ni", which as an ender would tend to be more associated with prayers and petitions and requests, can also form a command.

And the main reason I mention these is because if you come across them in your immersion and you see something that usually is doing something else looking like a command, "no da" or "you ni", then don't be puzzled by it.

In these cases, it is a command.