Japanese/English words

[Chesco8691]

Please explain the difference between the Japanese words for "please"
onegai shimasu and kudasai
Also the word for small/little chisaii and Sukoshi
Thank you
Malcolm Chestney

[ericf]

onegaishimasu is derived from the verb negau - to beg.
kudasai is the polite imperative form of kudasaru, which is the honorific form of kureru - to give.

Don't worry about all the polite/imperative/etc forms just yet, the main point is that the root meanings are different; to beg & to give.

In many situations they can be used interchangeably though I believe onegaishimasu is slightly more polite. However there are situations where only onegaishimasu can be used: when asking for a service or (on the phone for example) asking for a person. And there are situations where only kudasai should be used: when the request involves an action (please sit/stand/listen/etc.) I very much doubt I get this right every time!


chiisai is small as you've said. Specifically it's to do with the size of an object; a small car/child/boat.
sukoshi is also small but this time it's a small amount of something (an uncountable thing); a small amount of butter/salt/time. (You wouldn't say a "a small salt" in English ;-) ) Compare with sukunai, which is small number of countable objects.

In summary:
chiisai - describing size of one object.
sukoshi - amount of an uncountable object.
sukunai - amount/number of countable objects.

[community.japanese]

Chesco8691-san, eric-san,
kon'nichiwa

Thank you very much for the brilliant explanation, eric-san!

"Onegai shimasu" and "kudasai" can be both translated as "please" in English.
"Onegai shimasu" is used whenever you ask a favour to someone, while "kudasai" means more "please give me...."
This is the biggest difference between them, and that's also the reason why you can even use both in one situation, like
"...o kudasai. onegai shimasu" or "...te kudasai. onegai shimasu".
("Would you give me..., please? Thank you" or "would you please......? Thank you")
In some cases, "onegai shimasu" part can also be translated as "thank you" in English, but I doubt "kudasai" part could.

As to small and littel, eric-san's explanation is perfect No need for me to add anything

Natsuko(奈津子),
Team JapanesePod101.com