Requesting formally: đề nghị / yêu cầu + person + verb

English "ask" has several Vietnamese words, and these two are the formal ones. Yêu cầu means "require" or "demand": someone in charge tells someone else to do something. Đề nghị means "propose" or "request": between equals it suggests something, and on a notice it's a firm but polite "please". It's softer than yêu cầu. Both use the same order as bảo (tell): the person asking, then the verb, then the person asked, then what they should do.

Công ty yêu cầu nhân viên đi làm đúng giờ. The company requires staff to be on time. Tôi đề nghị chúng ta họp lại vào thứ hai. I suggest we meet again on Monday.

You'll meet both at work, at school, in emails and on notices. A notice can start with one, with no person in front: Đề nghị giữ trật tự. Please keep quiet.

In everyday talk, use the plain words instead: hỏi to ask a question, nhờ to ask a favour, xin to ask for something politely, and bảo or, in Saigon, kêu to tell someone to do something. Saying yêu cầu to a friend sounds like an order from the boss.