Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 7: 3/18

～てもらうTo get someone to do, To have someone do

Structure

Verb［て］+ もらう

Politeness Levels

Details

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    Polite

  • Rare Kanji

    貰う

About てもらう

Being slightly more direct than てくれる, てもらう removes the meaning of 'to bestow' (to the speaker), and focuses on the meaning of 'to receive' (from the giver). With てもらう, に will mark the person that 'did something' for the subject, while が (or は) will highlight the receiver themselves.

In English, this grammar structure is regularly translated as 'to have (someone) do (A) for you', or 'to get (someone) to do (A) for you'. Literally, it means 'to receive the action of (A)'.

てもらう is also regularly used when receiving a service from someone, as てくれる would imply that the action was a favor.

Examples

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    私(わたし)は母(はは)に宿題(しゅくだい)をしてもらった。

    I had my mom do my homework (for me).

    クリスマスに犬(いぬ)を買(か)ってもらうかもしれない。

    I might have (someone) buy me a dog for Christmas.

    （誰(だれ)かに）この仕事(しごと)を手伝(てつだ)ってもらう。

    I will get someone to help with this work.

    ユカは誰(だれ)かに手伝(てつだ)ってもらったかもしれない。

    Yuka might have gotten someone to help her.

    まず掃除(そうじ)をしてもらうと思(おも)う。

    First I think I will have you clean (for me).

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      てもらう – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (27 in total)

      • casual

        casual

        Well, the meaning, as in events that objectively happened, are the same: the doctor looked at/consulted the speaker about the headache.

        Just the nuance of the speaker’s attitude is different.

        With (A)にしてもらった the speaker is talking more about a service that’s expected to be preformed, about some sort of obligation. The doctors are expected to treat everyone equally, and you also pay for the service through taxes or insurance, this kind of idea.

        With (A)がしてくれた the speaker is talking more about something done out of kindness of the heart, regardless of any obligations. The doctor was very kind to look at the issue in detail, he didn’t just stop at a perfunctory check, but actually tried to help.
        It’s also just a generally kinder way to phrase it when both ways of thinking are possible.

        Sometimes either construction can apply to a given situation, sometimes one of the constructions doesn’t make a lot of sense.

        For example, you would not seriously s...

      • torpedotaiyaki

        torpedotaiyaki

        <...
      • Fuga

        Fuga

        Hey @torpedotaiyaki !

        持っていっていただけます does not work here since this is the conjugation of the intransitive verb いただける. This means that 持っていっていただけます has the nuance of ‘would be able to take’ and unlike 持っていっていただいて, it does not have the nuance of ‘Have them take…(for me)’.

        Due to the difference in nuance, using 持っていっていただけます would make the Japanese sentence as unnatural as saying ‘It looks like it might rain, so they will be able to take an umbrella’ in English.

        I hope this helps!

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