Components

Point of interest: 願う, お願い and よろしくお願いします

POI
願う, お願い and よろしくお願いします  politely appreciating or requesting
290 words
The word
ねが
う, which has several meanings ranging from 'wish' to 'beg', is a versatile word used as part of many daily expressions.
よろしくお願いします and its variants
One of the most common expressions in Japanese is よろしくお
ねが
いします, or its politer equivalent, よろしくお願いいたします. These expressions are typically exchanged when first meeting someone, and in many other situations as a way of expressing thanks or appreciation for something the other person has done or will do on your behalf.
You will encounter many versions of this phrase depending on the formality and the relationships in a given situation:
  • よろしく - the simplest, most casual way to "thanks!" or "that would be great, please!" or "great to meet you!"
  • お願いします - the simplest daily form of appreciation: "I would really appreciate it (if ...)"
  • よろしくお願いします - the most common daily form of: "it's nice to meet you!" or "I would really appreciate it."
  • よろしくお願いいたします - a politer version, for example used in an introduction to a superior
Although these phrases are set expressions, they are all based on the verb
ねが
う, to request, in a form known as the affirmative humble form, which simply adds a level of politeness by putting お in front of the verb stem (願い), and adding する (or the politer version いたす) afterwards.
よろしく is simply the adjectival form of よろしい, a somewhat politer form of よい (good). So よろしく adds a flavor of doing something 'gladly' or 'delightedly'.
お願い
Another very common use of 願う is in the form お願い, which can be used as a standalone expression to ask someone to do something, or to provide a favor. For example, in casual speech:
ねえ
ねが

Oh, have a heart.
ねが
いそ
いで

Please hurry up!
Or in more polite speech:
ねが
いてもらえない

I wonder if you could do me a favor.
ひと
ねが
いてくれません

May I ask a favor of you?

Kanji used in this point of interest

ガン   ねが to request, to petition   
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キュウ   いそ to hurry   
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ブン   モン   き to listen, to hear   きこえる to be heard   
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イチ   イツ   ひと    ひと- one   
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