Meaning & usage
なさい expresses a polite but firm command, often used by teachers, parents, or supervisors to tell someone to do something. It attaches to the masu-stem of a verb, as in 食べなさい, 読みなさい, and しなさい, with 来る becoming 来なさい. It sounds more direct and authoritative than てください, so it is unsuitable for requests to superiors and is common in instructions, classrooms, and parenting.
Example sentences 5
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１語をかっこに入れなさい。
Put a word in parentheses.
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フランス語を話すのは止めなさい。
Stop speaking French.
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ためになるような本を読みなさい。
Read the kind of books that are useful to you.
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車に注意しなさい。
Look out for the car.
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明日の朝まで待ちなさい。
Wait until tomorrow morning.
In past JLPT papers
This came up in 5 past exam questions.
And 1 more test.
