Translation guide
How to tell someone to stop in Japanese, depending on urgency, politeness, and context.
Telling someone to immediately stop what they are doing, such as a dangerous or unwanted action.
A rough, masculine command. Very direct and can sound aggressive. Used among close male friends or in anger.
やめろ！
Stop!
A firm command often used by parents or teachers to children. Stronger than やめて but not as rough as やめろ.
やめなさい！
Stop that!
Polite request to stop. Suitable for strangers, superiors, or when you want to be polite but firm.
やめてください。
Please stop.
Commanding a person or vehicle to stop moving, like 'halt!' or 'freeze!'.
Standard command for 'stop!' used on road signs, by police, or in military contexts. Means 'halt!' or 'freeze!'.
Casual way to tell someone to stop moving. Used in everyday speech.
ちょっと止まって。
Stop for a moment.
Polite request to stop moving. Used when asking someone to pause or halt.
ここで止まってください。
Please stop here.
Commanding someone to stop speaking, often abruptly.
Direct way to say 'shut up' or 'be quiet'. Can be rude depending on tone.
黙って！
Shut up!
Literally 'noisy', but used as an exclamation meaning 'shut up!' or 'you're too loud!'.
うるさい！
Shut up! / You're annoying!
Means 'be quiet' in a less aggressive way than 黙って. Can be used with friends or children.
静かにして。
Be quiet.
Advising or commanding someone to quit a habit or stop a continuous action.
Pattern for telling someone to stop doing a specific action. Replace 〜 with a noun or nominalized verb.
タバコを吸うのをやめて。
Stop smoking.
遅刻するのをやめてください。
Please stop being late.
Casual negative request meaning 'don't do ~'. Used to ask someone not to do something.
English 'stop!' can be translated many ways depending on what you want to stop. Using the wrong form can sound unnatural or rude. Always consider the action and relationship.
やめる (yameru) means to stop an action you are doing (transitive). 止まる (tomaru) means to stop moving (intransitive). For commands, やめて is for actions, 止まって is for movement.