91209
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?
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-13T14:10:15.077
91192
2021-11-15T18:09:37.667
2021-11-15T18:09:37.667
5229
48723
question
etymology conjugations subsidiary-verbs auxiliaries
なさい and ください using い-stem instead of う-stem
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](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/32700/5010)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-11-15T03:37:29.503
91209
2021-11-15T03:37:29.503
5010
91192
answer