How to say [Can you buy this for me?] in polite Japanese


Usually I always said [注文してくれてできませんか」 When I ask someone to buy some item for
me. But I always wonder if that sentence is right.

Especially if the one I ask is my 社長. So I wonder how to ask for something in
keigo (more polite) way.




That sentence is incorrect. A te-form and できる cannot be combined that way. The
correct sentence is 注文してくれませんか. You don't need a potential form here. If the
listener is your president, the honorific version of くれる is くださる, so you can
say 注文してくださいませんか.

Note: くださる is an irregular verb, and its masu-form is usually くださ **い** ます.
くださ **り** ます is also used but is highly stilted and pompous.

Alternatively, you can use the potential form of いただく (the humble version of
もらう) and say 注文していただけませんか.




That sentence is incorrect. A te-form and できる cannot be combined that way. The
correct sentence is 注文してくれませんか. You don't need a potential form here. If the
listener is your president, the honorific version of くれる is くださる, so you can
say 注文してくださいませんか.

Note: くださる is an irregular verb, and its masu-form is usually くださ **い** ます.
くださ **り** ます is also used but is highly stilted and pompous.

Alternatively, you can use the potential form of いただく (the humble version of
もらう) and say 注文していただけませんか.

