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using ぜひ

letslearn

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11 Sep 2013
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Hi guys,
Can you use ぜひ as "preferably"?

As examples, do the following convey the same meaning in Japanese as in English?

1:申請がもう終われるのでぜひ速く返事してください.. ........as applications are closing soon, please reply preferably quickly.

2:メールでぜひ返事してください........please reply, preferably by email.

I hope that makes sense.

よろしくお願いします。
 
using ぜひ

No, it doesn't have the sense of "preferably" (which implies an alternative).

It is more like "without fail" or "absolutely".

It is a nicer way of expressing fervency than 絶対(に), I suppose would be one way of looking at it.

In English translations I think you could probably most often just leave it untranslated without doing any real harm.
 
Thanks Mikesan,
Oh I see it is always better to be more polite . If in example 2: they had a choice between normal mail, fax or email to send but the receiver preferred email, what could they use to express preferences?
 
できれば, できたら or よかったら

申請がもうすぐ終わるので
 
Thanks Guys,
How's this sound?
As applications are closing soon, Please reply by email.

申請がもうすぐすぐ終わるので,メールでできれば返事してください.

ありがとうございました。
 
How's this?
I'm trying to say.... Because the deadline for applications are this Friday at 5pm please reply by email.

申請の締切りは今週の金曜日午後五時ですから、メールでできれば返事してください.
 
The first half of the sentence is perfect. It's more natural to put できれば at the beginning of the main clause. Furthermore, there are some more polite expressions, such like できればメールでお願いします。 or できればメールで連絡いただければありがたいのですが.
 
Thanks toritoribesan,

That second you showed sounded seriously polite! When do you use that type of language? or is it quite normal or used only in certain situations?


申請の締切りは今週の金曜日午後五時ですから、できればメールで返事してください.

Also while I'm here, its a bit off topic but I was wondering how universal is どのぐらい。 As a "how long" Question? e.g. どのぐらい日本語を勉強していますか。How long have you been studying Japanese?

thanks
 
Those expressions are quite commonly used.
I would use できればメールでお願いします。 for polite, but not too stiff situation, since できればメールで返事してください sounds intrusive.


どのぐらい日本語を勉強していますか can mean "How long do you study Japanese every day/week/month?" You can use いつから日本語を勉強していますか to avoid being misunderstood.
 
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