くださる is the 尊敬語 (honorific) of くれる — the verb for a superior giving something to you or your side, or doing something for you. This is its paradigm reference: every form in one table, with the two irregularities isolated. The astonishing fact hiding in this paradigm is that its imperative is the everyday word ください — meaning the ください you have said since your first Japanese lesson is literally a conjugated form of this honorific verb. The usage story (direction of the gift, くださる vs いただく framing) is developed on the くださる: Honorific Give page; here we drill the conjugation.
The class it belongs to
くださる is a member of the five ラ行 special honorific verbs (いらっしゃる, おっしゃる, なさる, くださる, ござる) treated together on the -aru honorifics overview. All five are 五段 verbs that break the pattern in the ます-stem, taking an irregular -い- (くださいます) where a normal -る verb would take -り- (×くださります). くださる then adds a second irregularity the others share to varying degrees: a shortened imperative, ください, in place of the 五段-regular ×くだされ.
The full paradigm
| Form (Japanese term) | くださる | Reading | Regular? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dictionary (辞書形) | くださる | kudasaru | — |
| Polite (ます形) | くださいます | kudasaimasu | irregular -い- |
| Polite past | くださいました | kudasaimashita | irregular -い- |
| Polite negative | くださいません | kudasaimasen | irregular -い- |
| Negative (ない形) | くださらない | kudasaranai | regular 五段 |
| Past negative | くださらなかった | kudasaranakatta | regular 五段 |
| Past (た形) | くださった | kudasatta | regular 五段 (促音便) |
| te-form (て形) | くださって | kudasatte | regular 五段 (促音便) |
| Conditional (仮定形・ば) | くだされば | kudasareba | regular 五段 |
| Imperative (命令形) | ください | kudasai | irregular (truncated) |
| Polite imperative | くださいませ | kudasaimase | formal / service |
くださいます — the polite form, not ×くださります
The polite form is くださいます. A regular 五段 built on くださ‑ would give ×くださります, and that is the single most common conjugation slip English learners make with this verb. The り becomes い before ます — the class signature.
先生はいつも丁寧に説明してくださいます。
sensei wa itsumo teinei ni setsumei shite kudasaimasu
The teacher always explains things to me carefully. (polite くださいます)
こちらの用紙にご記入くださいますか。
kochira no yōshi ni go-kinyū kudasaimasu ka
Would you fill in this form for me? (polite くださいます + question)
The te-form, past, and negative are regular 五段
Because くださ‑ ends in -る, the te-form and past take the ordinary 促音便: くださって and くださった. The negative stem is the regular くださら〜. These are the forms of everyday gratitude — "you did X for me," "you didn't do X for me."
部長がわざわざ空港まで迎えに来てくださった。
buchō ga wazawaza kūkō made mukae ni kite kudasatta
The department head came all the way to the airport to pick me up. (past くださった)
お忙しいところ、来てくださってありがとうございます。
o-isogashii tokoro, kite kudasatte arigatō gozaimasu
Thank you for coming despite being so busy. (te-form くださって)
誰も詳しく説明してくださらなかったので、少し困りました。
daremo kuwashiku setsumei shite kudasaranakatta node, sukoshi komarimashita
Nobody explained it to me in detail, so I was a bit stuck. (past negative くださらなかった)
そう言ってくだされば、すぐに対応したのに。
sō itte kudasareba, sugu ni taiō shita noni
If you'd told me that, I'd have dealt with it right away. (conditional くだされば)
The imperative is ください — the second irregularity
Here is the paradigm's payoff. The imperative of くださる is the truncated ください, not the 五段-regular ×くだされ. That ください is the one you already know from 待ってください ("please wait") and 本をください ("please give me a book"): a softened command meaning "(honorably) give me." So the ubiquitous 〜てください request pattern is, structurally, this verb's imperative attached to a te-form.
ここに住所を書いてください。
koko ni jūsho o kaite kudasai
Please write your address here. (〜てください = the imperative of くださる)
何かあれば、いつでも連絡してくださいね。
nanika areba, itsudemo renraku shite kudasai ne
If anything comes up, contact me anytime, okay? (〜てください, softened with ね)
The old 五段-regular imperative くだされ does exist — but it is (archaic), alive today only in period dramas and set phrases (お許しくだされ, "forgive me," from a samurai's mouth). In any modern sentence, the imperative is ください.
どうかお許しくだされ。
dōka o-yurushi kudasare
Please, I beg your forgiveness. (archaic くだされ — heard only in period dramas)
The polite imperative くださいませ
Service Japanese has one more slot: くださいませ, the elevated imperative you hear from staff — ご覧くださいませ ("please take a look"), お待ちくださいませ. It is (formal / service register), softer and more polished than plain ください.
どうぞごゆっくりご覧くださいませ。
dōzo go-yukkuri go-ran kudasaimase
Please take your time and have a look. (くださいませ — shop / service register)
Direction is fixed: the gift flows toward you
The paradigm can't police this, so hold it separately: くださる's honored subject is always the giver, and the gift must flow toward you or your in-group. Giving to a superior flows outward and takes さしあげる instead. The whole directional system — あげる／くれる／もらう and their keigo forms — is mapped on the giving-and-receiving keigo table.
田中先生が貸してくださった本を、まだ読み終えていません。
Tanaka-sensei ga kashite kudasatta hon o, mada yomioete imasen
I still haven't finished the book Professor Tanaka lent me. (past くださった in a relative clause)
Common mistakes
Mistake 1 — the regularized ます-stem ×くださります. The headline error of the whole class.
❌ 先生が推薦状を書いてくださりました。
Wrong ます-stem — the honorific takes the irregular -い-: くださいました, not ×くださりました.
✅ 先生が推薦状を書いてくださいました。
sensei ga suisenjō o kaite kudasaimashita
The teacher wrote me a letter of recommendation.
Mistake 2 — the 五段-regular imperative ×くだされ in modern speech. くだされ is archaic; the living imperative is ください.
❌ ここにサインをしてくだされ。
Archaic — ×くだされ is period-drama Japanese. The modern imperative is the truncated ください.
✅ ここにサインをしてください。
koko ni sain o shite kudasai
Please sign here.
Mistake 3 — using くれ (the blunt imperative of くれる) to a superior. For an honored giver, the whole verb climbs to くださる, and its imperative is ください, never くれ.
❌ 先生、この漢字の読み方を教えてくれ。
Far too blunt — 〜てくれ is the plain, rough imperative of くれる. To a teacher, use the honorific くださる's imperative: 〜てください.
✅ 先生、この漢字の読み方を教えてください。
sensei, kono kanji no yomikata o oshiete kudasai
Teacher, please tell me how to read this kanji.
Mistake 4 — using くださる for an outward gift. The arrow must point at you or your side; giving to a superior is さしあげる.
❌ 私が社長にお土産をくださいました。
Wrong direction — you giving to the president flows outward, away from you; use さしあげました.
✅ 私が社長にお土産をさしあげました。
watashi ga shachō ni o-miyage o sashiagemashita
I gave the president a souvenir.
Key takeaways
- くださる is the honorific of くれる and conjugates as a 五段 verb with two exceptions.
- Exception one: the ます-stem is the irregular くださいます (never ×くださります).
- Exception two: the imperative is the truncated ください (never ×くだされ, which is archaic) — the very ください in 〜てください.
- The in-between forms — くださった, くださって, くださらない, くだされば — are all regular 五段.
- Direction is fixed: the gift flows toward you; outward giving to a superior is さしあげる (giving-receiving keigo table).
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Start learning Japanese→Related Topics
- The -aru Honorifics: Special 〜います StemsN3 — Five honorific verbs end in -る — いらっしゃる・おっしゃる・くださる・なさる・ござる — and share one quirk: before ます (and in the imperative) the り-row stem softens to -い-, giving いらっしゃいます, not ×いらっしゃります.
- Giving & Receiving Keigo: あげる／くれる／もらうN3 — The register-and-direction grid for the giving/receiving verbs — あげる→さしあげる, くれる→くださる, もらう→いただく／頂戴する — with the くださる ラ行 irregularity, the て-form benefactive grid, and the request ladder that grows out of it.
- Suppletive 尊敬語 Verbs: TableN3 — The special respectful verbs that replace the plain verb wholesale — いらっしゃる, 召し上がる, ご覧になる, おっしゃる, なさる, くださる, ご存じだ — with their plain bases, their irregular 〜います polite forms, and why you must never re-honorify them with お〜になる.