Japanese Grammar: Asking Permission

Japanese Grammar: How to ask permission in Japanese – Review Notes

Today we will learn how to ask permission in Japanese using て-form (te-form) plus 〜もいいですか (mo ii desu ka).

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★　Today we will learn how to ask permission in Japanese using て-form (te-form) plus 〜もいいですか (mo ii desu ka). This Japanese phrase is similar to the English expression “May I~?”

★　First, make the て-form (te-form) of the verb. If you do not know how to do this, please check out our other lesson here.

★　Then, add〜もいいですか (mo ii desu ka)

★　Te-form Example 1: 座る (suwaru – “to sit”) changes to 座って (suwatte)

★　Example 2: 開ける (akeru – “to open”) changes to 開けて (akete)

★　Example 3: 借りる (kariru – “to borrow”) changes to 借りて (karite)

★　隣に座ってもいいですか。(Tonari ni suwatte mo ii desu ka?) – “May I sit next to you?”

★　窓を開けてもいいですか。(Mado o akete mo ii desu ka?) – “May I open the window?”

★　傘を借りてもいいですか。(Kasa o karite mo ii desu ka?) – “May I borrow an umbrella?”

★　In casual Japanese, you can omit most of the particles in the sentence.

★　To make the question we learned today more casual, you can just use the て-form (te-form) plus いい (ii) with a rising intonation.

★　隣、座っていい？(Tonari, suwatte ii?) – “Can I sit next to you?” (very casual)

★　窓、開けていい？(Mado, akete ii?) – “Can I open the window?” (very casual)

★　傘、借りていい？(Kasa, karite ii?) – “Can I borrow an umbrella?” (very casual)

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Formal Japanese:

★　The expressions we learned today are meant to be used in situations where you are close to the person you are speaking to.

★　In more formal situations, you should use this more formal expression:

★　て-form plus 〜もよろしいでしょうか (mo yoroshii deshou ka)

ここに座ってもよろしいでしょうか。

Koko ni suwatte mo yoroshii deshou ka?

Would it be alright if I were to sit here?

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Conclusion:

Today we learned how to ask permission to do something in Japanese! If you have any questions, leave a comment below!

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