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（か）？
Verb［て］+ 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）？

Levels of politeness

Details

  • Register

    Standard

  • 使用域

    一般

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?
  • 私(わたし)に漢字(かんじ)を教(おし)えてくれない？
    Would you not teach me kanji? (Would you please teach me kanji?)
  • 道(みち)を調(しら)べてもらえない？
    Could I get you to look up the way?
In both of these constructions. か (the question particle) may be omitted. However, they do sound slightly more polite when か is used.
  • 今日(きょう)だけ自転車(じてんしゃ)を貸(か)してくれないか？
    Just for today, would you not let me borrow your bike?
  • テレビを点(つ)けてもらえないか。
    Could I get you to turn the TV on for me, please?
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

--:--

    お茶(ちゃ)を入(い)れてくれない？

    Won't you make some tea for me?

    うちでも働(はたら)いてくれない？（働(はたら)く）

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

    まつさに先生(せんせい)：「みしまさん、ちょっとにったさんを手伝(てつだ)ってあげてくれない？」

    Matsusani-sensei: 'Mishima-san, won't you help Nitta a bit (on my behalf)?'

    こっちに醤油(しょうゆ)を取(と)ってもらえない？（取(と)る）

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

    ヘアドライヤーを貸(か)してもらえない？朝(あさ)だけ。

    Could I get you to lend me your hairdryer? Only for the morning.

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てくれない・てもらえない – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (15 in total)

  • 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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