Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 7: 8/18

~て + くれないWon't you?, Will you?, Could you?, Can you?, Would you?

These expressions are used with a rising intonation

Structure

Verb[て]+ くれない ()
Verb[て]+ もらえない ()

Could you not
Verb[ないで]+ くれない ()
Verb[ないで]+ もらえない ()

Levels of politeness

Details

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    Standard

About てくれない・てもらえない

When used in the negative, てくれない (coming from てくれる), and てもらえない (coming from てもらえる), are similar to the negative question form of じゃないか. They express the following:

てくれない - Would you not do (A) for me?

てもらえない - Could I not have you do (A) for me?

In both of these constructions. (the question particle) may be omitted. However, they do sound slightly more polite when is used.

Let's examine the following list, for a scale of the level of politeness.

てくれ, てくれる, てもらえる, てくれない (か), てもらえない (か)

Caution

Despite the above list, てくれ may be considered a bit rude, and should be avoided in most situations.

Examples

--:--

    スマホ使(つか)わせてくれないか

    Won't you let me use your phone?

    (ちゃ)()れてくれない

    Won't you make some tea for me?

    うちでも(はたら)いてくれない

    Won't you work at my place (for me) too?

    こっちに醤油(しょうゆ)()ってもらえない

    Won't you pass (take) the soy sauce (for me)?

    (こめ)()いておいてくれない

    Won't you cook some rice (in advance) for me?

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      てくれない・てもらえない – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (15 in total)

      • Pushindawood

        Pushindawood

        won’t you?
        will you?
        could you?
        can you?
        would you?

        Structure
        Verb[ ] + くれない (か)
        Verb[ ] + もらえない (か)

        Could you not
        Verb[ないで] + くれない (か) ?
        Verb[ないで] + もらえない (か) ?

        These expressions are used with a rising intonation

        [Arranged from least polite to the most polite: てくれ(rude male speech)→て→くれる→もらえる→くれない(か)→もらえない(か)]
        [differences are negligible between the last four]

      • Kuromaku

        Kuromaku

        So, there is no difference which one to use between the two? Purely from grammar point of view.

        Verb[ ] + くれない (か)
        Verb[ ] + もらえない (か)

        (politeness levels aside in this case)

      • DonChanHype

        DonChanHype

        This is covered in Genki II (in second edition at the very least) on Page 102 alongside てくれませんか and ていただけませんか? Could you add that reference to the reading list please?

      • mrnoone

        mrnoone

        @Kuromaku
        Hey and sorry for extremely long answer time

      • DonChanHype

        DonChanHype

        Awesome! Should it also be in the Genki 2 grammar path now?

      • Pushindawood

        Pushindawood

        @DonChanHype Added! Cheers.

      • siditious

        siditious

        The site is marking answers omitting the か as incorrect, which seems odd for short form with an explicit question mark.

      • dom1911

        dom1911

        Maybe I am missing some fundamental understanding of the て form and how it interacts with ないbut can somebody explain why this sentence 夜遅くに電話しないでくれない? cannot be 夜遅くに電話しなくてくれない?

      • mrnoone

        mrnoone

        We love you too

      • FredKore

        FredKore

        @mrnoone beat me to it!
        Well, that’s a much more complete explanation, so I’ll just offer a couple more sample sentences for comparison.

        These are polite commands:
        電話してください。-- Please make a call.
        電話しないでください。-- Please don’t make a call.

        These are conjugations:
        電話して出かけます。-- I’ll make a call and [then] I’ll go out.
        電話しなくて出かけます。-- I won’t make a call and [then] I’ll go out.

        And relevant links:
        Verb -[て] | Japanese Grammar SRS
        てください | Japanese Grammar SRS

      • dom1911

        dom1911

        Thanks so much, love this community

      • Superpnut

        Superpnut

        I’m wondering if someone can explain to me why this grammar point works.
        Because it’s based off of てくれる てくれない・てもらえない | Japanese Grammar SRS ,right?
        Which just kind of means to receive unless I’m mistaken.
        And ない just means pretty much no, once again unless I’m mistaken.
        So how does “Receive” + “no” = won’t you?

        Is there a reason why those two things together makes that?
        Am I just dumb for not seeing it?
        What is it?

        Also, the rising intonation part…that just means you raise your pitch at the end right?

      • winningtofu

        winningtofu

        In a casual request can you not use とく? Specifically, I’m doing reviews atm and it won’t accept 炊いといてくれない? Am I misspelling something or is it too rude to use even in a casual setting?!

      • bilowik

        bilowik

        For applying this to negated verbs, why is it ないでくれ~ and not なくてくれ~? I’ve seen this ないで used over なくて in another grammar point but it was clear that it was more of a “with” nuance, but I haven’t been able to discern why this is the case here.

      • Fuga

        Fuga

        Hey @bilowik !

        The ないで used in ないでくれない and ないでもらえない is ないで that is used when making a request. なくて would not work here since it doesn’t have the nuance of request.

        I hope this clears it up!

      • allanw

        allanw

        In the resources section for this grammar point, there’s a reference to Tobira on page 282. I had a look and couldn’t seem to find any matching grammar points on that page - can you confirm? Thanks!

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