Learn how くださる, てくださる, and ください work in Japanese respectful language.

Japanese Directional Verbs: Kudasaru and Respectful Giving

~5 min read

When we need to indicate that the movement of an object or action is towards or away from ourselves, we’ll use directional verbs.

Directional verbs split neatly into two groups (ウチ・ソト), based on where the subject belongs:

1) In-group subject (speaker / speaker’s group)

○ あげる

○ もらう

2) Out-group subject (they / their group)

○ くれる

Since Group 1 (あげる・もらう) refers to ourselves (or our in group), we cannot make these two verbs respectful.

But Group 2 (くれる), which refers to another person, can be upgraded to respectful language.

Note: the direction verbs in Group 1 belong to humble language and will be covered later.

Kudasaru (くださるくださる) The Only Respectul Directional Verb

When you use くれる, it indicates two big things:

○ the movement of an object or action is initiated by an out-group (they / their group)

○ this movement is done toward us / our in-group, so we receive the benefit

When that out-group member warrants respect, we can convert the plain くれる ( P^-1 ) using the replacing form 下さるくださる ( P⁺¹ ).*

○ くれる → くださる

* The plain form くれる is not often written with the kanji 呉れるくれる. The respectful form 下さるくださる, however, is common both with and without kanji.

Getting Down to Get Up

The kanji for 下さるくださる carries the sense of “down.”

That “down” nuance matches the respectful social framing:

○ the direction is from a higher-status out-group member down towards lower-status you (or your in-group)

Most of us will be familiar with the command form of 下さるくださる:

○ ください (“please”)

The kanji implication helps explain why this is used for polite requests: it frames the request as something the other person (higher) might kindly do “downward” toward you.

Kudasaru’s Three Layers of Meaning

Whenever you encounter くださる, it carries:

○ 1. The core meaning of plain くれる (“to give”)

○ 2. Raising of the referent (the out-group is lifted—look at you up there being respected…)

○ 3. Benefit directed to me / my in-group (it’s all for me, me, me…well, us.)

Kudasaru With An Object

In this example, くださる:

○ keeps the core meaning of くれる (“to give”)

○ raises the out-group member (the section chief)

○ implies the giving is to my benefit

As is common with respectful language, くださる is used together with the polite ending ~ます.

Kudasaru With An Action

Again, くださる:

○ 1. keeps the core meaning of くれる, indicating the direction of the writing is from an out-group member towards me.

○ 2. raises the out-group member (the section chief)

○ 3. implies the giving is to my benefit (“did it for me”)

Just like with 〜てくれる, both actions are performed by the out-group:

○ the out-group member wrote the letter

○ and the out-group member did it toward my side, to my benefit

This “direction of benefit” can be used strategically to make requests, as it implies, “Hey, could you do this as a favour, for me?

More Respect With お／ご〜くださる

The last major patterns are:

○ お〜V〜くださる — Native Verb / 和語わご

○ ご〜V〜くださる — Sino-Japanese Verb / 漢語かんご

This pattern is used with verbs and is even more respectful than 〜てくださる. It feels like you’re raising the out-group that little bit higher. In highly formal ( F⁺¹ ) contexts, the Sino-Japanese pattern is common because these words tend to carry a higher register.

The “V” in these patterns is a verb in its honorific stem. This is formed in the same way as in other respectful adding-form patterns.

Native Verb / 和語わご

Plain verb → masu form → remove masu

Example:

○ 書くかく → 書きますかきます → 書きかき

Sino-Japanese Verb / 漢語かんご

Plain verb → remove する *

Example:

○ 説明するせつめいする → 説明せつめい

* Sino-Japanese verbs are, in fact, nouns with the dummy verb する (“to do”).

As directional verb constructions, they have three layers:

○ 1. the plain meaning in the verb stem

○ 2. raising the out-group member

○ 3. benefit directed to the speaker’s side