Verbs: to have and to request

Hello everyone,

(1) What's the difference between these three sentences:
-... ittadake masuka
-... o onegai shimasu
-... o kudasai

and (2) What's the difference between ''imasu'' and ''irrasaai masu''?

Examples would be great, too.

Thank you very much!

... itadake masuka?

It means like 'Could I have ...?'

'itadaku' means 'receive..', 'take...' or 'get it for me in a polite form. Regular verb is like 'morau' or 'toru', etc.

'masu-ka' is a question form of 'masu' by adding 'ka' in the end.

By this word coming in the end, 'itada-ku' transformed into 'itada-ke'. Verbs always change in this way when it is a question form. Note that all the verbs (maybe some exceptions) end with 'u' in the original (regular) form and this changes to some others like 'a', 'e', 'i', 'o', something just like this example.


... o onegai shimasu

'onegai' is a noun, meaning '(I) begging for'. It consits of 'o' and 'negai'. 'o' is usually added on top of nouns to make it polite. 'sake' can be 'o-sake' to make it soft tune, for instance. 'negai' is 'hope' and it is from the verb of 'negau' that means (I) hope. You can take 'onegai-shimasu(suru)' as one verb.

'shimasu' consists of two words. 'shi' is the transform of 'suru'. 'suru turns into 'shi' by 'masu' coming in the end of the sentence. This 'massu' is the same as the 'masu of the above 'masu-ka'. 'masu' is like a sort of 'auxiliary verb' such as English 'do' or 'shall', etc.

'o' can be wriiten in 'wo' to make it clear that it is 'particle' to make the word coming in front an objective. 'juice wo onegai simasu' means I would like to have a cup of juice.

... o kudasai
'o' here is the same as above. 'kudasai' is the transformation of 'kudasaru'. 'kudasaru' means (somebody) gives to me (something) in a polite form. In this context 'somebody' is someone hornable and elder than you or the others. Even if the somebody is not elder or hornable, by using this, it cen be polite to anybody. 'kudasai' is a transformation for imperative form. The regular verb for 'give me' is 'kureru' and the imperative form is 'kure'. At izakaya, don't shout 'beer wo kure!. Instead, you should say politely 'beer wo kudasai'.


... the difference between ''i masu'' and ''irrashai masu''

'imasu' consists of two words. 'iru' and 'masu'. 'iru' means 'exist', or 'being here/there. 'iru' can stand alone as a meaning. 'masu' is like 'do' as mentioned above. By adding 'masu', the meaning becomes softer and polite and 'ru' is eliminated because meaningwise, it sounds duplicate with 'masu'.

'irrashai' is from the verb of 'irrassharu' meaning 'you hornable are being here' rather than 'hei, you are at here' (LOL). By 'masu' being added in the end, 'irrassha-ru' transforms into 'irrasha-i'

(In my answer I am going to use "wo" for the particle. This is the same as the indivudal "o" you have in your sentences.)

(1) To ask for coffee in a coffee shop, for example, you could say:

(a) Koohii wo itadakemasu ka. (Could I have coffee, please?)
(b) Koohii wo onegaishimasu. (I would like to ask for coffee = I would like to have coffee.)
(c) Koohii wo kudasai. (Please give me coffee.)

The verb in (a) is "itadakimasu (polite form)" or "itadaku" (in dictionary form), meaning to "receive, accept humbly." (This verb itself is "humble" expression.) "itadaKEmasu" is the "can..." form, so by turning it into a question by adding "ka," it is asking "Could I have coffee?"

The verb in (b) is "onegaishimasu (polite form)" or "onegaisuru" (in dictionary form), meaning "to ask (for something), to plead (for something)." So "I ask for coffee."

The verb in (c) is "kudasarimasu (polite form)" or "kudasaru" (in dictionary form), meaning "(someone higher) gives me (something)." "Kudasai" is the imperative form, so "koohii wo kudasai" means "Please give me coffee.)


(2) "imasu" (polite form) or "iru" (dictionary form) means "(someone) is there," and "irasshimasu" is the respectful expression for that verb.

- Kyoshitsu ni seito ga 3-nin imasu. (There are three students in the classroom.)
- Kyoshitsu ni eigo no sensei ga irasshaimasu. (English teacher is in the classroom.)

Thank you both a lot! :D
Much clearer now