There are two ways to say "please do X" politely in Japanese, and confusing them is one of the most visible learner tells. The everyday one is 〜てください (待ってください, "please wait"). The elevated one — the phrasing on train announcements, shop signs, and service-desk scripts — is the honorific request frame お＋ます-stem＋ください: お待ちください. It is not just a fancier spelling of the te-form version; it is a different construction, built on the honorific verb くださる, and it treats the listener's compliance as an elevated favor. Learn to build it and to choose between the two, and every instruction you give lands at the right level of formality.
How it's built: お + ます-stem + ください
Take a verb, put it in its ます-stem (連用形 — the stem left when you strip ます), and wrap it in お〜ください:
- 待つ → 待ち → お待ちください ("please wait")
- 掛ける → 掛け → お掛けください ("please have a seat")
- 書く → 書き → お書きください ("please write")
- 座る → 座り → お座りください ("please sit")
- 入る → 入り → お入りください ("please come in")
少々お待ちください。
shōshō o-machi kudasai
Please wait a moment.
どうぞこちらにお掛けください。
dōzo kochira ni o-kake kudasai
Please have a seat over here.
こちらにお名前をお書きください。
kochira ni o-namae o o-kaki kudasai
Please write your name here.
That last example has two お's, and both are correct: お名前 is the honorific noun ("your name"), and お書きください is the request frame — they attach to different words, so it is not double keigo.
The Sino-noun variant: ご + 漢語 + ください
Verbs made from a Sino-Japanese noun + する (確認する, 注意する, 利用する) don't use the ます-stem し. Instead you take the noun and prefix ご: ご確認ください, ご注意ください, ご利用ください. This ご〜ください pattern is the backbone of formal signage and instructions.
お手数ですが、内容をご確認ください。
o-tesū desu ga, naiyō o go-kakunin kudasai
Sorry to trouble you, but please check the contents.
足元にご注意ください。
ashimoto ni go-chūi kudasai
Please watch your step.
ご自由にお取りください。
go-jiyū ni o-tori kudasai
Please help yourself / take one freely.
The choice of お vs ご mostly tracks the old native-vs-Sino split (native ます-stem verbs take お; Sino nouns take ご), but a stubborn handful of common Sino nouns take お by convention — お電話ください ("please call"), お返事ください, お食事. There is no logical shortcut; these are memorized exceptions, and お電話ください is the one you'll hear daily.
ご不明な点がございましたら、お電話ください。
go-fumei na ten ga gozaimashitara, o-denwa kudasai
If anything is unclear, please give us a call.
Special-honorific verbs opt out
The frame does not apply to verbs that already own a suppletive honorific. You cannot say ×お見ください or ×お食べください; those verbs bring their own request forms:
| Verb | NOT お〜ください | Correct request form |
|---|---|---|
| 見る (see) | ×お見ください | ご覧ください |
| 食べる／飲む (eat/drink) | ×お食べください | 召し上がってください / お召し上がりください |
| 来る (come) | ×お来ください | お越しください / おいでください |
| する (do) | ×おしください | なさってください |
Notice too that ご覧ください and お越しください follow the same お／ご 〜 ください skeleton — they are just built on irregular honorific stems (ご覧, お越し) rather than a plain ます-stem. And お召し上がりください is technically double keigo (召し上がる is already honorific) but is entrenched and accepted.
どうぞこちらの資料をご覧ください。
dōzo kochira no shiryō o goran kudasai
Please take a look at these materials.
またのお越しをお待ちしております。ぜひお越しください。
mata no o-koshi o o-machi shite orimasu. zehi o-koshi kudasai
We look forward to your next visit. Please do come again.
There's also a length constraint worth knowing: the frame wants a ます-stem of at least two morae. One-mora stems (見 from 見る, し from する, 寝 from 寝る) sound clipped and are avoided — which is exactly why those verbs lean on special forms (ご覧ください, なさってください) instead.
Choosing お〜ください vs 〜てください
Both are polite requests, so why two? Because they elevate different things. Plain 〜てください is neutral courtesy — a plain request with a polite tail. お〜ください elevates the act itself, treating the listener's compliance as an honored favor. That makes it the register of announcements, signage, and customer service (接客), while 〜てください is the everyday level for friends, classmates, and equals.
| 〜てください | お〜ください | |
|---|---|---|
| register | neutral polite | elevated / service |
| elevates | nothing special | the act you're asking for |
| typical setting | peers, teacher-to-student | signs, announcements, staff-to-customer |
| "please wait" | 待ってください | お待ちください |
間もなく電車が参ります。黄色い線の内側までお下がりください。
mamonaku densha ga mairimasu. kiiroi sen no uchigawa made o-sagari kudasai
The train will arrive shortly. Please step back behind the yellow line.
準備ができ次第、お呼びしますので、少々お待ちください。
junbi ga deki shidai, o-yobi shimasu node, shōshō o-machi kudasai
We'll call you as soon as we're ready, so please wait a moment.
Because it grew out of the honorific くださる (see くださる), お〜ください carries that verb's "please grant me the favor" flavor — which is precisely why it fits the deferential world of customer-facing service language.
Saying "please don't": the honorific has no negative
Here is a gap that surprises learners: お〜ください has no natural negative. There is no ×お待ちにならないでください signage; the frame simply doesn't invert. So how do polite signs say "no photography," "please don't smoke"? They flip to a positive request built on a verb that already means "refrain / hold back": ご遠慮（えんりょ）ください ("please refrain") or お控（ひか）えください ("please refrain / hold off"). The thing you shouldn't do becomes the object; the frame stays positive.
館内での撮影はご遠慮ください。
kannai de no satsuei wa go-enryo kudasai
Please refrain from taking photos inside the building.
車内での通話はお控えください。
shanai de no tsūwa wa o-hikae kudasai
Please refrain from phone calls inside the train car.
Note the pair one more time: 遠慮 is a Sino noun (→ ご遠慮), 控える is a native verb (→ お控え) — the same お／ご split, live in the wild. For the neutral-register negative request ("please don't…"), Japanese does have 〜ないでください, which lives with the plain te-form requests.
Common mistakes
Inserting て into the frame. This is the number-one error: fusing the two request shapes into ×お待ってください. The honorific frame takes the bare ます-stem — no て.
❌ 少々お待ってください。
Wrong — you can't put て inside the お〜ください frame; the stem is お待ち, not お待って.
✅ 少々お待ちください。
shōshō o-machi kudasai
Please wait a moment.
Forcing お〜ください onto a special-honorific verb. Verbs with suppletive forms opt out.
❌ どうぞケーキをお食べください。
Wrong — 食べる has a special honorific; use 召し上がってください (or お召し上がりください).
✅ どうぞケーキを召し上がってください。
dōzo kēki o meshiagatte kudasai
Please, help yourself to some cake.
Mismatching お and ご. Sino nouns generally take ご; native ます-stem verbs take お. ×お確認ください and ×ご待ちください both jar.
❌ 内容をお確認ください。
Mismatch — 確認 is a Sino noun, so it takes ご: ご確認ください.
✅ 内容をご確認ください。
naiyō o go-kakunin kudasai
Please check the contents.
Aiming a one-mora stem at the frame. ×お見ください sounds clipped and wrong; the verb has ご覧ください anyway.
❌ こちらの画面をお見ください。
Wrong — 見る's stem is one mora and it has a special form; use ご覧ください.
✅ こちらの画面をご覧ください。
kochira no gamen o goran kudasai
Please look at this screen.
Key takeaways
- The honorific request is お＋ます-stem＋ください (お待ちください, お書きください) — built on くださる, not on the te-form.
- Sino-noun (する) verbs use ご＋noun＋ください (ご確認ください, ご利用ください); a few Sino nouns irregularly take お (お電話ください).
- Verbs with special honorifics opt out: ご覧ください, 召し上がってください / お召し上がりください, お越しください, なさってください — not ×お見ください / ×お食べください.
- It is the request twin of お〜になる, and it elevates the act itself, making it the register of signs, announcements, and service.
- The classic error is inserting て (×お待ってください) — the frame takes the bare ます-stem, so it is お待ちください.
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Start learning Japanese→Related Topics
- くださる: Honorific Give (to Me)N3 — くださる is the honorific of くれる — a superior giving something to you or doing something for you — with the irregular polite form くださいます; seeing that plain 〜てください is literally its imperative unlocks the whole request ladder.
- お〜になる: The Regular Honorific PatternN3 — The productive sonkeigo template お + ます-stem + になる — how to build a respectful verb for almost anything, when the ます-stem resists it, and why the special forms always take precedence.
- 接客: Customer-Service LanguageN2 — 接客 keigo is a scripted register — the customer is maximally elevated, staff maximally humbled — delivered through a compact set of memorized formulas, which is also why over-applying its patterns breeds バイト敬語.