I'm curious as to why these two verbs use their い-stem, instead of う like ます does after the い-stem and くれる/あげる/おく do after the て form. (I know the two are aru special class verbs.) Does this have to do with 有り/なり using い by default back then, or is it more about roundabout formal speech?
Asked
Active
Viewed 239 times
3
-
I don’t quite understand your question but are these related by any chance?: Why does くださる have an irregular infinitive form (ください)?, Proper form of なさる - なさります or なさいます – aguijonazo Nov 14 '21 at 07:19
-
Phrased differently, the questions would be: if all other auxiliaries and conjugations use the 終止形 by default, why do くださる and なさる use the 連用形 exclusively? – user48723 Nov 14 '21 at 12:34
-
3They don't use 連用形 exclusively. If you read one of the links above, you should know なさい and ください are "command" forms (albeit irregular ones). – aguijonazo Nov 14 '21 at 22:05
1 Answers
4
As pointed out in the comment section, くださる and なさる are irregular verbs in Japanese. The regular imperative form くだされ/なされ somehow changed to ください/なさい long ago, making them look identical to the pre-masu form.
The れ version still exists, but sounds fairly old. You can hear samurai and old sage say 見なされ or 見てくだされ in fictional works.
See also: Proper form of なさる - なさります or なさいます
naruto
- 313,860
- 13
- 324
- 625