Kana: おねがい
English: a wish
Common Japanese: onegai
Audio (sounds like): negai / ねがい
I thought おねがい meant please. though the only difference is the お before 願い which without the お would mean wish? I don’t know… I just thought I would bring it up and see if I can get some clarity from someone who might know.
お願い literally means “a sincere wish”. The usage is almost like “[I have] a sincere wish that […]” so it is commonly elaborated as “please” in English.
In addition, the English “please” literally only means “cause to feel happy” and is also just a elaboration of “if you please” or “if it pleases you to do this”. So in theory, お願い and “please” are not the same. But in elaborated usage, they are sort of interchangeably similar.
お願い literally means “a sincere wish”. The usage is almost like “[I have] a sincere wish that […]” so it is commonly elaborated as “please” in English.
In addition, the English “please” literally only means “cause to feel happy” and is also just the elaboration of “if you please” or “if it pleases you to do this”. So in theory, お願い and “please” are not the same. But in elaborated usage, they are sort of interchangeably similar.
Thank you for responding to my confusion daydaywong. So since English doesn’t really have one word that could be used to more or less meet closely with the meaning of お願い can be used in similar circumstances? Like asking a waiter to bring the check, or asking your friend if they could help you with something. I hope my words here are properly conveying the general idea.
I was also linked to japanese.about.com today which also mentions another word that would be linked to the English “please”, ください, which would be used "after the particle “o” を, for example when ordering food… " and “When asking something that involves an action, along with the verb in the -te form, like: “ちょっと待ってください” (Chotto matte kudasai - Please, wait.).”
Again, 下さい (ください) does not literally mean “please” but actually means “[you] give [me]” in honorific form. The following is how the conjugation works:
くれる is the plain form meaning “[you] give [me]”
下さる is the honorific form having the nuance of “[with honor, you] give [me]”
下さい is the masu stem (unlike other plain v5r verbs in which る becomes り, honorific v5r verbs change る to い for masu stem)
下さいます is the polite form (add ます to masu stem)
下さいませ is the polite request form (change す to せ)
下さい is the colloquial form (change back to masu stem)
So in your example of 「ちょっと待ってください」, it literally means “wait a little [so it is like that you give me a honor]” but it just elaborates as “wait a little please” for common usage.
After all, 下さる is just a verb (although honorific). Regular grammar still applies. A te-form verb can go before it. And as a transitive verb, it can go after an object with を particle (usually omitted for conversation though). But you will never use 下さい by itself.
In the case of お願い, it’s very common to use it standalone like お願い (nominal form) or お願いします (polite form) when responding to someone else who asks if you want something.
Thank you very much for the explanations. I’ll have to make sure to try them in conversation when I can to solidify them into memory.