〜お願いします／お願い申し上げます: Humble Requests (Meaning + Examples)
Making a polite request
Use 〜お願いします right after the thing you're asking for — often a ご+action noun — to formally request it be done.
やったんからのメールです。こちらの書類をご確認お願いします。
やったんからの メールです。こちらの しょるいを ごかくにん おねがいします。
This is an email from Yattan: 'Please confirm this document.'
ご確認 (noun) + お願いします = 'please confirm'.
モチからのお知らせ：ご理解のほどお願い申し上げます。
モチからの おしらせ：ごりかいのほど おねがい もうしあげます。
A notice from Mochi: 'We humbly ask for your understanding.'
〜のほど softens the request further; 申し上げます is more formal than します.
Attaching the pattern
〜お願いします follows a ご/お + verb-stem noun directly, or a plain noun with 〜のほど for extra softness and formality.
| Attaches to | Pattern | Example |
|---|---|---|
| ご + verbal noun | ご+N + お願いします | ご確認お願いします |
| Noun + のほど | N + のほど + お願いします | ご協力のほどお願いします |
| More formal variant | 〜のほど + お願い申し上げます | ご理解のほどお願い申し上げます |
やったんとモチより、今後ともよろしくお願いいたします。
やったんと モチより、こんごとも よろしく おねがい いたします。
From Yattan and Mochi: we appreciate your continued support.
お願いいたします is an even more humble variant of お願いします.
Don't confuse with a plain request
A plain request like 確認してください ("please confirm") is direct and fine between equals or to juniors. 〜お願いします and especially 〜のほどお願い申し上げます are reserved for formal, often written contexts — customer service, business correspondence, official announcements — where softness and humility matter more than directness.
The short version
- 〜お願いします／お願い申し上げます = a humble, formal way to request something.
- Attaches to: ご/お + verbal noun, or Noun + のほど, before お願いします/申し上げます.
- Nuance/register: formal, common in business writing and official notices.
- Don't confuse with: plain 〜てください, which is more direct and less deferential.
Practice it
Choose お願いします/お願い申し上げます when the sentence makes a formal, humble request.
＿＿＿に入れるのに最もよいものを選びなさい。
こちらの書類をご確認＿＿＿。
Where 〜お願いします／お願い申し上げます fits
Shaky on this? Get these solid first
- 〜てください · N5 — 〜てください is the standard way to politely ask someone to do something ('please do…'). Learn the formation, the negative 〜ないでください, softer variations, and see clear examples.
More N2 grammar to explore
Keep going with related patterns at the same level:
- 〜ねばならない — 〜ねばならない is the formal, literary way to say 'must / have to,' built from the negative conditional 〜ねば ('if not') + ならない ('won't do'). Common in writing, speeches, and rules.
- 〜ぶりに — 〜ぶりに attaches to a period of time to mean 'for the first time in [that period]' — 3年ぶりに (for the first time in 3 years). It marks a gap since the last occurrence, often with a nostalgic or relieved feel.
- どうやら — どうやら is an adverb meaning 'it seems' or 'apparently' — a guess based on what you've observed, usually paired with らしい or ようだ at the end of the sentence: どうやら〜らしい ('it seems that...').
- ふたたび — ふたたび (再び) is a formal, literary adverb meaning 'again' or 'once more' — used for repeated events with emotional or significant weight, contrasting with the everyday また.
- 〜反面 — 〜反面 contrasts two aspects of the same subject, meaning 'while' or 'on the other hand' — 給料は高い反面、忙しい ('the pay is good, but on the other hand it's busy'). Unlike が, both sides describe the same thing.
- 果たして — 果たして is an adverb with two uses: with a plain statement it means 'sure enough, as expected'; paired with か/かどうか it means 'I wonder if it will really...' — questioning whether something will truly happen.