"Please say your name."
Translation:あなたの名前を言ってください。
28 Comments
Saying "anata" a lot is offensive to Japanese people, you're better off refering to people using their title or real name (surname of course).
Or are you just supposed to say namae wo ite kudasai without the anata no, is that what you're suggesting?
But... Isn't it appropriate if you (as in this sentence) demonstrably don't know their name?
Since you're asking them directly here, you would skip "anata" altogether as both parties would know whose name you're referring to.
Ah, ok, I guess that still makes sense. Just need to really make the effort to wrap my head around high-context languages...
お名前を教えて下さい, would be the standard polite version, if you are asking for someone's name for the 1st time. 言って下さい, could probably only be used if you didnt hear it the 1st time or just forgot after a long conversation. Otherwise, for ~ 言ってください, you can probably use it only if you are in a position of authority, e.g. teacher, policeman, doctor, medical emergency or security personel asking a member of public, which could be misinterpreted as rude under normal circumstances when in fact you didnt plan to
1306
"お名前" is what I learned to use in my very first Japanese lesson many years ago.
I thought that when using 言い you have to use と instead of を, can someone please explain?
To is for quoting Wo is direct object
Example:
Namae to iite Please say "name" Namae wo iite Please say your name
Kare ni namae to iwaremashita He said "name" to me Kare ni name wo iwaremashita He said his name to me
