Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 7: 2/18

～てくれるTo do something for someone (usually you)

Receiver's point of view

Structure

Verb［て］+ くれる
Verb［ないで］+ くれる

Politeness Levels

Details

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    Polite

  • Rare Kanji

    呉れる

About てくれる

The verb 呉(く)れる in Japanese, is very similar to 与(あた)える (to bestow). The primary difference is that 呉(く)れる (primarily written in hiragana) means to 'bestow to the speaker' (or someone in the speakers inner circle).

In this way, てくれる is the opposite of てあげる, which conveys that someone (usually the speaker) gives (an action) to another person that is outside of their inner circle. てくれる is commonly translated as 'would you do (A) for me', as a question, or 'someone did (A) for me', as a statement.

When asking for a favor, てくれる can be shortened to てくれ. However, this is very casual, and should not be used with strangers (or anyone that you do not know well). As an English equivalent, てくれ sounds similar to phrases like 'would ya do (A)', or 'could ya do (A)?'

Fun Fact

てくれる is one of the most casual ways to ask for a favor, with てもらう being slightly more polite. ていただく (the humble speech variation of てくれる) is even more polite than either of these!

  • 遊園地(ゆうえんち)に連(つ)れて行(い)ってくれる。
    Someone will take me to the amusement park. (They are taking me for my benefit)
  • 遊園地(ゆうえんち)に連(つ)れて行(い)ってもらう。
    Someone is taking me to the amusement park. (I am having someone take me)
  • 遊園地(ゆうえんち)に連(つ)れて行(い)って頂(いただ)く。
    Someone is taking me to the amusement park. (I am being bestowed the act of being taken)

Examples

--:--

    あのグラスをここに持(も)ってきてくれる？

    Would you bring me that glass?

    この漢字(かんじ)の意味(いみ)を教(おし)えてくれますか。

    Would you teach me the meaning of this kanji? (for me)

    私(わたし)を愛(あい)してくれますか。

    Will you love me? (do me the favor of)

    ママが書(か)きやすいペンをかってくれた。

    My mom bought a pen that is easy to write with. (For me)

    喋(しゃべ)らないで黙(だま)って行(い)ってくれますか。

    Could you not talk, shut up and go? (for me)

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      てくれる – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (35 in total)

      • Scyamntic

        Scyamntic

        I believe the crux is that, もらう can’t be used to make a request of someone.

        I think the only time you’d see もらえない/もらえません would be in it’s usage as “to receive” e.g

        卒業証書をもらいませんか
        “Aren’t you going to receive your diploma?”

        卒業証書をもらいない
        “I won’t receive my diploma”

        Edited to reflect corrections from below

        In your sentence you are making a request for someone else to take action on your behalf so it would be best to use くれる

        If you wanted to use もらう:

        • 食べる前に弟にテーブルの上を綺麗にしてもらう
          • “I’ll get my younger brother to clean the top of the table before we eat”

        And then you might go and ask your younger brother:

        • 食べる前にテーブルの上を綺麗にしてくれませんか？
          • “Before eating, couldn’t you please clean the top of the table?”

        And for completeness:

        • 弟にテーブルの上を綺麗にしてもらった
          • “I got my younger brother to clean the top of the ...
      • nekoyama

        nekoyama

        No. You can make requests with 〜もらえないか、
        〜もらえないだろうか、〜いただけないでしょうか and so on.

        That would be もらいませんか

      • Scyamntic

        Scyamntic

        Interesting, you can request to receive? I mean, I know it makes sense in english (“give me”) but at first glance that would seem too demanding for as polite as Japanese tends to be, so I thought that might the nuance.

        Thanks for correcting that misconception and the conjugations. I’ve updated my post

        But it does still seem wrong to to ask for house work using もらえる

        What’s the nuance then? Is it:

        • just more polite than ーてくれる
        • it is best used to request acceptance for the imposition of your will (e.g 私のお願いを聞いてもらえますか?)

        The latter there seems to track in my mind

        綺麗にしてくれますーPlease clean it (for me)
        綺麗にしてもらえますーPlease accept cleaning it/Please accept (my) cleaning of it (?)

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