qǐng jīhuó yínhángkǎ.

Please activate the bank card.

Breakdown of qǐng jīhuó yínhángkǎ.

• 请qǐng: to ask (politely)
• 银行卡yínhángkǎ: bank card
• 激活jīhuó: to activate

Questions & Answers about qǐng jīhuó yínhángkǎ.

What does 请 mean here?

请 means please here. It makes the sentence a polite request or instruction.

A very common pattern in Mandarin is:

请 + verb

For example:

• 请坐 = Please sit.
• 请等一下 = Please wait a moment.
• 请填写表格 = Please fill out the form.

So 请激活银行卡 means Please activate the bank card.

Why is there no subject, like you?

In Mandarin, the subject is often omitted when it is obvious from the situation.

In this sentence, the understood subject is you. A screen, a bank employee, or a written notice does not need to say it explicitly.

So Mandarin can simply say:

请激活银行卡。

Even though in natural English we understand it as:

Please activate the bank card.

Is this sentence polite?