～なさい

How it works

～なさい is the imperative of the honorific verb なさる, which is why it feels softer than the bare imperative 食べろ. Attach it to the ます-stem: 食べなさい, 行きなさい, しなさい, 来なさい (きなさい). The politeness is only on the surface: the speaker is clearly the one in charge. Typical users are parents, teachers, coaches, and the written instructions of tests, textbooks and forms, where it is the neutral default.

• ます-stem + なさい: 早く寝なさい
• Clipped spoken form: ます-stem + な: 早く寝な, 気をつけな — warm and informal, still downward. The stem is what tells it apart from the prohibitive: 寝な “go to sleep” vs 寝るな “don’t sleep”
• No negative form exists: parents say 食べないで or 食べちゃだめ, tests say 書いてはいけません, and the rough prohibitive is 食べるな

Register ladder from strong to gentle: 食べろ (rough, mostly male) → 食べなさい (firm, downward) → 食べて (casual request) → 食べてください (polite request) → 食べていただけますか (deferential). Some everyday phrases contain なさい but are frozen greetings, not orders: おやすみなさい, お帰りなさい, ごめんなさい.

Examples

• 早く寝なさい。（はやく ねなさい）— Go to bed now.
• 次の質問に答えなさい。（つぎ の しつもん に こたえなさい）— Answer the following questions.
• 野菜も食べなさい。（やさい も たべなさい）— Eat your vegetables too.
• 静かにしなさい。（しずか に しなさい）— Be quiet.
• 宿題をしてから遊びなさい。（しゅくだい を して から あそびなさい）— Do your homework before you play.
• ここに名前を書きなさい。（ここ に なまえ を かきなさい）— Write your name here.

Compare with

～てください

The all-purpose polite request, safe with anyone: 名前を書いてください. 名前を書きなさい says the same thing but from a position of authority; on an exam paper it is normal, in an email to a colleague it is insulting.

食べろ ・ ～な

The bare imperative (食べろ, 行け, 待て) and the prohibitive (食べるな, 行くな) are blunt and mostly male, used in anger, sport, emergencies and signs like 入るな. なさい is the calmer, more parental option.

～ほうがいい

寝たほうがいい is advice: the listener decides. 寝なさい is a command: the listener is expected to obey.

Traps for Spanish, English and French speakers

• Spanish usted commands (coma, venga) and French vous imperatives (mangez, venez) are polite, so learners treat ～なさい as the polite imperative and tell a teacher ✗ 先生、これを見なさい. なさい goes downward only; to anyone who is not your child or student use ✓ これを見てください.
• Spanish no comas and French ne mange pas tempt a negative ✗ 食べないなさい. なさい has no negative: parents say ✓ 食べないで or 食べちゃだめ, tests say ✓ 書いてはいけません, and the rough prohibitive is 食べるな.
• Learners who hear a parent say 早く寝な copy it onto the dictionary form, ✗ 早く寝るな, which is the prohibitive “don’t go to bed”: the opposite order. The clipped command is ます-stem + な (✓ 早く寝な, ✓ 気をつけな); dictionary form + な always forbids (寝るな, 行くな).
• おやすみなさい, お帰りなさい and ごめんなさい contain なさい but are frozen greetings, not orders, so do not read お帰りなさい as “go home!”. The irregular verbs are しなさい and 来なさい read きなさい, never ✗ すなさい or ✗ こなさい.