やめてください
yamete kudasai
The Japanese phrase for "stop it, please" is やめてください (yamete kudasai).
やめてください is a polite request for someone to cease doing something that is bothering or hurting you. You can also use the more specific expression Sonna koto o yamete kudasai to mean "please stop that" or "please stop doing such things."
What does it mean word for word?
The word やめて is the te-form of the verb yameru, which means "to stop" or "to cease."
Which one should you use?
やめてください is the standard way to ask someone to stop a behavior. In contrast, using just やめて is an informal, blunt way to say "stop it." For an even more formal and indirect approach that sounds more soft or respectful, you can use やめてくださいませんか, which means "would you please stop it?"
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
やめてください is a polite request suitable for strangers or people you are not close with. やめて is a common informal way to say "stop" often used with friends, children or in moments of distress. やめてくださいませんか is a more formal and indirect way to ask someone to stop.
How do you pronounce it?
yamete kudasai
Did you know?
- If you are in an extreme emergency, using the polite やめてください might actually sound too calm or slow. In high-stress situations like a physical altercation, people often shout the much more aggressive and blunt やめろ (yamero).
- While やめて means 'stop it' in the sense of a behavior, if you want a car or a machine to stop moving, you would use the verb 止める (tomeru) instead. Although they sound the same, the kanji used for 'stopping an action' and 'stopping motion' are different.
- The word やめる (yameru) can also mean 'to quit' or 'to resign' from a job. If someone says 仕事をやめてください (shigoto o yamete kudasai), they aren't just asking someone to stop a specific action, but are telling them to quit their profession.
Examples in context
- 冗談はやめてください。joudan wa yamete kudasai.Please stop joking around.
- いたいです。やめてください。itai desu. yamete kudasai.It hurts. Please stop.
- そんなことはやめてください。sonna koto wa yamete kudasai.Please don't do such a thing.
Example conversation
Ren is teasing Himari during a break.
- 蓮 Renねえ、見てよ。Nē, mite yo.Hey, look at this.
- 陽葵 Himariいたずらはやめてください。Itazura wa yamete kudasai.Please stop playing tricks.
- 蓮 Renごめん、冗談だよ。Gomen, jōdan dayo.Sorry, I'm just kidding.
- 陽葵 Himariもう、本当に困ります。Mō, hontō ni komarimasu.Honestly, you're really bothering me.
