Grammar › Politeness › 〜をください
〜をください
How to ask for a thing. Name the item, mark it with を, and finish with ください — a polite, everyday "please give me…".
The short version
Nをください = "please give me N". ください is the polite request word; を marks the thing you want. Want a specific number? Slot a counter in before ください: 切手を三枚ください ("three stamps, please").
水をください — (please give me) water
N を ＋ [number · counter] ＋ ください — コーヒーを一つください
Asking for a thing
The core use: request an object, politely. It's the phrase for shops, cafés, and asking someone to send you something.
日本語でメッセージをください。
Please send me a message in Japanese. (メッセージ + を + ください)
私に電話をください。
Please give me a call. (に marks the recipient — "to me")
Watch out
🗣 In a shop, を disappears. Pointing at the menu, people just say これください or ビール二つ、お願いします — the を drops in casual, rapid speech. Among friends, ください softens further to ちょうだい ("gimme").
をください (a thing) vs てください (an action). Use をください to ask for an object — 水をください. To ask someone to do something, switch to the verb's te-form + ください: 待ってください ("please wait") — see 〜てください. For an extra-polite request, 〜をいただけますか ("might I have…?") is softer still.
Next: 〜てください — please do → · 〜方 — how to do → · All grammar
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