Говори тише, пожалуйста.

Speak more quietly, please.

Breakdown of Говори тише, пожалуйста.

• говорить: to speak
• пожалуйста: please
• тише: more quietly

Questions & Answers about Говори тише, пожалуйста.

What does each word in Говори тише, пожалуйста. correspond to in English?

Roughly, word‑for‑word:

• говори – speak / talk (informal singular imperative: “(you) speak!”)
• тише – more quietly / more softly / lower (comparative of тихий “quiet”)
• пожалуйста – please

So the overall sense is: “Speak more quietly, please.”

Why is it говори and not говорить?

Говорить is the infinitive: “to speak / to talk.”

In a command or request, Russian uses the imperative form:

• infinitive: говорить – “to speak”
• imperative (informal singular): говори – “speak!”

So говори is the form used to tell one person you know well to do something. Using the infinitive говорить here would be ungrammatical in standard Russian.

Why is it говори and not говорите?

Russian distinguishes between informal ты and formal/plural вы:

• говори – imperative for ты (one person, informal: friend, child, family)
• говорите – imperative for вы (formal or plural “you”)

So:

• To a friend: Говори тише, пожалуйста.
• To a stranger / customer / group: Говорите, пожалуйста, тише.

Same meaning, different level of formality / number.

Is говори present tense or a special form?

Говори is a special imperative form, not a present-tense form.

• Present tense ты form is: ты говоришь – “you (informal) speak / are speaking”
• Imperative ты form is: говори – “(you) speak!”

Often the imperative for ты looks like the я-form without the ending, or is built from the stem; for говорить, the imperative is listed in dictionaries as говори.

Why is there no ты in the sentence? Could I say Ты говори тише, пожалуйста?

Russian usually omits subject pronouns when they’re obvious from the verb ending or from context, especially in commands.

• Говори тише, пожалуйста. – natural, neutral
• Ты говори тише, пожалуйста. – grammatically possible, but:
  • adding ты can sound more emphatic (“You speak quieter, (not someone else)” or “You really need to speak quieter”)
  • in many everyday situations it may sound a bit sharper or more insistent

So the default form is without ты.

What exactly is тише grammatically?

Тише is the comparative degree of the adjective тихий (“quiet”).

• тихий – quiet (adjective: “a quiet voice” – тихий голос)
• тише – quieter / more quiet

In this sentence, тише is used adverbially, describing how to speak:

• говорить тихо – to speak quietly
• говорить тише – to speak more quietly / quieter

Russian often uses the comparative form (тише, громче, быстрее) as an adverb: “do it more X-ly.”

Why isn’t there a separate word for “more,” like “more quietly”?

In Russian, the idea of “more” is already built into the comparative form:

• тихий – quiet
• тише – more quiet / quieter

So:

• English: more quietly
• Russian: just тише

No extra word is needed because тише already means “more quiet(ly).”

Can I say более тихо instead of тише?

You technically can, but it sounds bookish or overly formal in this everyday context.

• говори тише – natural, conversational
• говори более тихо – grammatically correct, but unusual here; might appear in written instructions or very formal, careful speech

For simple, spoken Russian, тише is strongly preferred.

Why is it говори, not скажи? What’s the difference?

Говорить and сказать form an imperfective/perfective pair:

• говорить (imperfective) – to speak, to talk (process, ongoing action)
• сказать (perfective) – to say (one completed act)

Commands:

• говори – “keep speaking / speak (in general, as you talk now)”
• скажи – “say (it) / tell (me)” – usually one thing or one time

So:

• Говори тише, пожалуйста. – “Speak more quietly (as you talk).” – regulates the manner of an ongoing action.
• Скажи, пожалуйста, ещё раз. – “Say it again, please.” – asks for one act of saying.

For changing the way someone is talking right now, говори is the natural choice.

Is the sentence polite, rude, or neutral?

It’s neutral–polite, assuming you’re talking to someone you tutoyer (use ты with: friends, children, family).

• The bare command Говори тише. can sound:
  • just neutral in some contexts (parent to child, teacher to pupil)
  • or a bit sharp / bossy, depending on tone
• Adding пожалуйста makes it:
  • softer and more polite: Говори тише, пожалуйста.

To be polite with a stranger or an older person you don’t know well, you’d normally switch to вы:

• Говорите, пожалуйста, тише. – a polite request to one (respected) person or to several people.

Can I move пожалуйста or тише around? Does word order matter?

Several orders are possible, all grammatical; nuance is small and mostly about rhythm and emphasis:

1. Говори тише, пожалуйста.
   – Very common; neutral: “Speak more quietly, please.”

2. Пожалуйста, говори тише.
   – Also common; пожалуйста stands out a bit more (politeness felt earlier).

3. Говори, пожалуйста, тише.
   – Slight emphasis on тише at the end; sounds fine, maybe a bit more “careful.”

All three can be used in everyday speech. The first is probably the most typical in a direct but polite request.

How do you pronounce Говори тише, пожалуйста correctly?

In simplified English-style transcription:

• Говори – ga-va-REE
  
  • stress on the last syllable: го-во-РИ
• тише – TEE-she
  
  • stress on ТИ: ТИ-ше
• пожалуйста – pa-ZHAH-loo-sta
  
  • stress on ЖА: по-ЖА-лу-ста
  • ж like the s in “measure”, “vision”

Put together with natural rhythm and one main stress per word:
ГоворИ ТИше, поЖАлуста.

How is Говори тише different from just telling someone to be quiet, like “Be quiet”?

• Говори тише – “Speak more quietly.”
  
  • You’re not asking them to stop talking, only to lower their voice.
• A command like Молчи! – “Be quiet! / Shut up!”
  
  • That asks the person to stop talking completely and can sound quite harsh.
• Softer versions:
  • Помолчи, пожалуйста. – “Be quiet for a bit, please.”
  • Не говори так громко, пожалуйста. – “Don’t speak so loudly, please.”

So Говори тише, пожалуйста. is relatively mild: it regulates volume, not the fact of speaking itself.