[verb-て] ください — please do X
There's one tiny grammatical move that opens up a huge amount of everyday Japanese: turning a verb into its て-form and adding ください. The result means 'please do X'. Today we won't try to teach the full て-form rules (those are a B-level conversation). Instead, learn a handful of the most common ones as set phrases and the pattern noun を ください for 'please give me X'.
noun を ください — please give me X
If all you want is a thing, you don't need a verb at all. Pattern: [noun] を ください. みず を ください。 = 'Water, please.' コーヒー を ください。 = 'A coffee, please.' メニュー を ください。 = 'The menu, please.' This is the single most useful phrase for cafés, restaurants, shops, and asking a friend to pass the salt. The を is the object particle (we'll meet it properly soon).
From ます-form to て-form
Every -ます verb has a て-form. The full rules depend on the verb's last syllable, so for now, learn these as fixed pairs: たべます (eat) → たべて. みます (look) → みて. きます (come / wear) → きて. よみます (read) → よんで. ききます (listen) → きいて. かきます (write) → かいて. いきます (go) → いって. します (do) → して. The て (or で after some sounds) is what matters.
[て-form] ください — please do X
Stick ください after the て-form. みて ください。 = 'Please look.' きいて ください。 = 'Please listen.' よんで ください。 = 'Please read.' まって ください。 = 'Please wait.' もう いちど いって ください。 = 'Please say it once more.' Your A1 toolkit really is just memorizing 8–10 of these as phrases. The grammar will click later.
Softening with すみません
Add すみません ('excuse me' / 'sorry') in front of a request and it lands much more naturally — especially with strangers. すみません、みず を ください。 = 'Excuse me, water please.' すみません、もう いちど いって ください。 = 'Sorry, could you say that one more time?' In Japan, すみません is also how you flag down a server in a restaurant — louder than a discreet wave.
More forceful, less forceful
ください is polite-neutral — perfectly fine for cafés, classrooms, and most service settings. The plain casual version is ~て alone (まって。 = 'wait!') — use only with close friends. The extra-polite version replaces ください with ください ませんか (literally 'won't you please?') for a softer feel: みず を いただけ ませんか is even more polite still, but save that for later.
