Lesson 7: Requests, Reservations & Staying

[verb]-te kudasai. — “Please [do].”

This is the frame for asking a person to do something — and here is the most important thing about it: it is a list, not a machine. Exactly six requests exist in this course, memorized whole. Real Japanese can build this shape from any verb; you deliberately can’t, because six covers everything a traveler actually asks of a stranger, and everything else routes through X onegaishimasu (Lesson 5) or the permission frame below.

Matte kudasai.

matte kudasai — please wait. Lesson 6’s machimasu in request clothes. The taxi about to pull away, the group about to walk off, the elevator door.

Misete kudasai.

misete kudasai — please show me. The thing behind the glass, the photo on their phone, the room before you take it.

Tomete kudasai.

tomete kudasai — please stop. The taxi request. (Its cousin tomarimasu from Lesson 6 is the bus stopping; this is you asking the driver to stop.)

Kite kudasai.

kite kudasai — please come. Something’s wrong in the room, the vending machine ate your coins — lead a staff member to the problem instead of describing it.

Itte kudasai.

itte kudasai — please say it. Point at a word on a menu or a sign and ask to hear it — the spoken half of Lesson 2’s harvester move.

Kaite kudasai.

kaite kudasai — an old friend. You’ve deployed this since Lesson 1 as a repair chunk; now you can see the family it belongs to. That’s all six — there is no seventh.

Koko de tomete kudasai.

Lesson 4’s koko + Lesson 6’s de + tonight’s request: the complete “right here is fine.”

Ano kaban o misete kudasai.

And with an object: ano (Lesson 2) picks it out, o hands it to the verb. Works for any of the six that can take a thing.

___, ii desu ka. — “Is ___ okay? / May I ___?”

The universal permission machine: name the thing — or just point at it — and add ii desu ka. English insists on a verb (“may I sit here, may I use this, may I pay by card”); Japanese politeness happily does without one. The point supplies the verb.

Kaado, ii desu ka.

Recognize it? Lesson 3 handed you this as an unanalyzed chunk. It was this frame all along — you’ve been using frame grammar since the konbini. (Don’t confuse it with Lesson 5’s X ga ii desu, which states a preference. Same ii, opposite direction: ga ii desu chooses; , ii desu ka asks.)

Koko, ii desu ka.

The café chair, the train seat, the spot at the counter. Touch it, ask, wait for douzo.

Kore, ii desu ka.

The umbrella by the door, the outlet under the counter, the sample on the tray. Whatever English verb you were reaching for — leave it home. Point.

Kaado o tsukaimasu.

tsukaimasu — use. When you’re announcing rather than asking, the verb comes out of hiding. (But “may I use this?” stays verbless: Kore, ii desu ka.)

Ashita, ii desu ka.

The slot takes times as happily as things. Shop’s closed today, the table’s full tonight — propose the alternative yourself.

Toire, ii desu ka.

Lesson 4 found the toilet; this borrows it — the polite ask in a small shop or café. The yes you’ll hear is hai, douzo; anything hesitant that isn’t douzo, take as a no and let it go.

Now put the set to work:

Kyou wa kinyoubi desu.

Lesson 2’s plain old X wa Y desu, wearing a calendar.

Yasumi wa itsu desu ka.

yasumi — day off / closed day — with Lesson 6’s itsu earning its keep. Museums, ramen shops, that one bakery: ask before crossing town.

Nichiyoubi wa yasumi desu.

The answer you’ll get back — one day-name to catch, and you drilled all seven a minute ago.

Asa, ikimasu.

asa — morning. Lesson 6’s move, unchanged: the time word up front carries the when.

Hiru, gohan o tabemasu.

hiru — midday. Say those two nouns together and you’ve accidentally invented hiru-gohan — which is exactly the Japanese word for lunch.

Yoru, kaerimasu.

yoru — night. Tell your host this and the front door stays friendly.

Ashita no ban, resutoran ni ikimasu.

ban — evening — the ban hiding inside konbanwa. And note the move: parts of the day stack onto days with Lesson 2’s no — ashita no ban, kinyoubi no yoru, ashita no asa. That little no is about to build you a reservation.

Kono shuu, ikimasu.

shuu — week — with Lesson 2’s kono. (Natives usually fuse the two into one word; kono shuu is understood everywhere and stays inside your grammar.)

Ashita, nani o shimasu ka.

shimasu — do, the all-purpose verb — dropped straight into Lesson 6’s question machinery. This is how you ask about plans (never -tai desu ka — Lesson 5’s rule stands).

Yoyaku o shimasu.

yoyaku — reservation. A noun + o shimasu = doing the noun. Announce this at the desk and they’ll reach for the book.

Yoyaku ga arimasu.

And once it’s made: Lesson 4’s arimasu — have — does the check-in. Booking = yoyaku o shimasu; having booked = yoyaku ga arimasu.

Pasupooto o misemasu.

misemasu — show — the parent verb of misete kudasai, in plain clothes. Hotels must see the passport; hand it over before they ask and check-in speeds up.

The crown jewel of this lesson: a dated, timed, sized reservation, and every atom in it is recycled — a day from today, no from Lesson 2, futari from Lesson 5, onegaishimasu from Lesson 1. Swap the day, the part of day, the headcount; the shape never changes. Works at the door, works on the phone.

Koko, ii desu ka.

The seat-taking reflex. Hand on the chair, eyebrows up, say it — then douzo means yes.

Kore, ii desu ka.

The all-purpose permission ask. Point first; never mind the missing verb — the finger is the verb.