How to say [Can you buy this for me?] in polite Japanese

Question

Usually I always said [注文してくれてできませんか」 When I ask someone to buy some item for me. But I always wonder if that sentence is right.

Especially if the one I ask is my 社長. So I wonder how to ask for something in keigo (more polite) way.

Answer 1

That sentence is incorrect. A te-form and できる cannot be combined that way. The correct sentence is 注文してくれませんか. You don't need a potential form here. If the listener is your president, the honorific version of くれる is くださる, so you can say 注文してくださいませんか.

_{Note: くださる is an irregular verb, and its masu-form is usually くださいます. くださります is also used but is highly stilted and pompous.}

Alternatively, you can use the potential form of いただく (the humble version of もらう) and say 注文していただけませんか.