# Could you take a picture of me / us?



## Chinoise

Hello,

Could someone tell me if I am saying this right? I know only the very basic Japanese, but I don't want to sound rude or demanding either.

My attempt:

Shashin wo dotte kudasai, ii desuka?

And then afterwards:

Arigato gozaimashita.

Thanks for your help!


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## kuuzoku

Hello, I think I can help you out on this one. 

写真を撮っていただけますか？

Shashin o totte itadakemasu ka? 

More polite.


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## saharuna

Chinoise said:


> Hello,
> 
> Could someone tell me if I am saying this right? I know only the very basic Japanese, but I don't want to sound rude or demanding either.
> 
> My attempt:
> 
> Shashin wo dotte kudasai, ii desuka?
> 
> And then afterwards:
> 
> Arigato gozaimashita.
> 
> Thanks for your help!


 
Hello, Chinoise!

I think, generally on a trip,we wouldn't say something like "Shashin o totte kudasai, ii desuka?" 

It seems a little bit demanding for someone we ask to take our picture.

Arigato gozaimashita.is right!!

I hope it helps!


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## Chinoise

Arigato Gozaimashita kuuzoku and saharuna!

Just out of curiosity, what would the tone of voice be like if translated into English?

I thought "Shashin o totte kudasai, ii desuka" would translate into something like "Is it OK to take a picture of me/us, please?" But I guess it's not.

Thanks again for your help!


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## saharuna

Hello,Chinoise



Chinoise said:


> Just out of curiosity, what would the tone of voice be like if translated into English?


Sorry, I'm not sure how can I help about it. 



Chinoise said:


> I thought "Shashin o totte kudasai, ii desuka" would translate into something like "Is it OK to take a picture of me/us, please?" But I guess it's not.
> Thanks again for your help!


I think the meaning in English is exactly right,but actually it would be a little unnatural to express the asking in Japanese. 
As kuuzoku said,It's more natural to use " 写真を撮っていただけますか？" "Shashin o totte itadakemasu ka? "
By the way,I'm somewhat worrying about that you can understand my poor English,or not.!?


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## Chinoise

Saharuna, your English is great! I have absolutely NO trouble understanding you at all.

What I meant by tone of voice is the level of politeness, for instance, in English, there are different ways of saying the same thing:

Take a picture for me. (abrupt and rude if said to strangers)
Will you take a picture for me? (not as abrupt but still kind of rude)
Will you take a picture for me, please? 
/Can you take a picture for me? (same level of politeness)
Could you take a picture for me, please? (Polite)

My question earlier was to know where the level of politeness stands, with "Shashin wo dotte kudasai, ii desuka" (besides the issue of being unnatural) and "写真を撮っていただけますか".

Thank you for helping me to understand!


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## sneeka2

_"Shashin wo totte kudasai, ii desuka"_ (BTW, note _*t*_otte ) means "Take a picture please, is that okay?", including the slightly foreign brokenness. _"Shashin wo totteitadakemasuka?"_ roughly translates as "Can I ask of you to take a picture?"

_itadakemasuka_ has the grammatical meaning of asking if it's possible to receive a favor.

_itadaku_ = to receive something from somebody else
_itadakeru_ = the possibility of receiving
_itadakemasuka_ = polite (_masu_) question form for the possibility of receiving

Hence it's really hard to appropriately translate this into English. Just, _"totte kudasai"_ is the direct "command" to "take a picture!" Even if you add a "please" and _"ii desuka,"_ it's a bit too direct to use on strangers. Maybe "Dude, take a picture, 'k?" comes close, but the culture is too different to appropriately match the tone in a translation.


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## saharuna

Chinoise said:


> Saharuna, your English is great! I have absolutely NO trouble understanding you at all.


 
Thanks Chinoise!



Chinoise said:


> What I meant by tone of voice is the level of politeness, for instance, in English, there are different ways of saying the same thing:
> 
> Take a picture for me. (abrupt and rude if said to strangers)
> Will you take a picture for me? (not as abrupt but still kind of rude)
> Will you take a picture for me, please?
> /Can you take a picture for me? (same level of politeness)
> Could you take a picture for me, please? (Polite)
> 
> My question earlier was to know where the level of politeness stands, with "Shashin wo dotte kudasai, ii desuka" (besides the issue of being unnatural) and "写真を撮っていただけますか".
> 
> Thank you for helping me to understand!


 
This time, I can understand very well what you meant about it,furthermore the same can be said for Japanese.
I'm even very interesting in your examples. 

Now, here are sneeka2's full and particular explanations for you!


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## Chinoise

I see, now I understand.

Thank you all very much!  Domo arigato gozaimashita!


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