質問: What is the polite equivalent of つかわないで ください ? (tsukawanaide kudasai) Can we write つかいませんで ください ?
回答: > > What is the polite equivalent of つかわないでください ? > > > It would depend on how polite you want to make it sound as there are different levels of politeness in Japanese as in any other languages. 「[使]{つか}わないでください。」 is already "***casually polite***" as stated in the coment above. That is because 「ください」 is attached, which is sort of like using "please" in English. The verb 「使う」, however, is just "plain" and contains no nuance of politeness within itself, which is why 「使わないでください。」 can only sound ***casually*** polite. In order to take the politeness one step further, you could use the honorific verb phrase「お[使]{つか}いになる」 instead of the plain 「使う」 and form the sentence: 「**お使い**にならないでください。」 In informal situations, that would be pretty polite. In order to make it more formal, you could use the Sino-loanword 「[使用]{しよう}」 and say: 「**ご使用**にならないでください。」 (Notice the お-to-ご honorific change.) Advanced learners would know that even that sentence would lack the elegance on the native-level formal and honorific speech. I know this would be too much for beginners to remember, but that super-polite sentence would look something like: 「ご[使用]{しよう}にならないようお[願]{ねが}い[申]{もう}し[上]{あ}げます。」 > > Can we write つかいませんでください ? > > > No, we cannot. The ます-form of a verb cannot be placed in front of ください.