Question
I was on an exchange program to Japan and was staying with a host family. They were very nice, but their seven-year-old son was a handful.
We were watching TV in the living room when the boy suddenly came over and started pulling my hair. I thought it was a one-off incident and was going to ignore it, but he continued pulling it harder.
I was getting annoyed and wanted to say “Stop it” but I don’t know what’s the Japanese word for it.
Answer by Professional Japanese Teacher
やめて（ください）
Yamete (kudasai)
Please stop (what you are doing).
The Japanese word やめる yameru means “to stop or discontinue an action”. In the above phrase, we change the original dictionary form to te kudasai form to make it into a request. Kudasai means “please”.
You can also drop the kudasai and just say yamete to ask him to quit. You may also consider providing the reason so that he can readily comply. You can say 痛(いた)いから Itai kara (because it’s painful).
Kara means “because” and the reason is stated before kara.
