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

  • Register

    Polite

  • Rare Kanji

    呉れる

About てくれる

The verb ()れる in Japanese, is very similar to (あた)える (to bestow). The primary difference is that ()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.

  • おばあちゃんいつも美味(おい)(はん)(つく)てくれる

    Grandma always makes delicious food for us!

    • 友達(ともだち)旅行(りょこう)から(かえ)てくる土産(みやげ)()()てくれる

      When my friend comes back from vacation, they bring me souvenirs.

      • パパ、電気(でんき)()てくれる

        Dad, can you turn the lights off for me?

        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)?'

        • (ねが)から(いそ)でくれ

          I'm begging you, could ya hurry it up (for me)?

          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)()()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)()()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)()()(いただ)

                Someone is taking me to the amusement park. (I am being bestowed the act of being taken)

                Antonyms


                Examples

                --:--

                  あのグラスここ()ってきてくれる

                  Would you bring me that glass?

                  この漢字(かんじ)意味(いみ)(おし)えてくれますか

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

                  (わたし)(あい)してくれますか

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

                  ママ()やすいペンかってくれた

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

                  (しゃべ)ないで(だま)って()ってくれますか

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

                • Get more example sentences!

                  Premium users get access to 12 example sentences on all Grammar Points.

                Self-Study Sentences

                Study your own way!

                Add sentences and study them alongside Bunpro sentences.

                てくれる – Grammar Discussion

                Most Recent Replies (35 in total)

                • Jake

                  Jake

                  Do something for someone (usually you)

                  Structure

                  • Verb[] + くれる

                  View on Bunpro

                • seanblue

                  seanblue

                  Why is there blue? I’ve never seen that before.

                • deltacat3

                  deltacat3

                  Its a link directed to a grammar point that has appeared before it’s lesson.
                  To help avoid confusion if you are following the Bunpro lessons order.

                  I believe its only a temporary fix, until new sentences are created or changed,
                  to only include grammar that has been introduced. ^_^!

                • seanblue

                  seanblue

                  That’s… bizarre. Especially since I already know that grammar point.

                • deltacat3

                  deltacat3

                  Ikr, it showed up for me before and after I got to that lesson. I guess it doesn’t
                  do a check to see if the user has completed said lesson and hide itself.

                • Aythreuk

                  Aythreuk

                • Pushindawood

                  Pushindawood

                  @Aythreuk Hey! Thank you for letting us know about this! I have updated the sentence to use the correct verb in the hint. We will get new audio recorded for this sentence soon. Cheers!

                • CrisH

                  CrisH

                  I have a couple of questions about the example sentences here…hopefully they’re not stupid ones!
                  In スーパーに行ったら、牛乳を買ってきてくれる? I can’t tell what きて is doing. Does it turn “buy some milk for me” into a sort of “buy-bring some some milk to me” hybrid?
                  And in サンタさん、何を持って来てくれたの? I’m not certain why the の is necessary. Is it because the sentence is grammatically something like “Santa-brought-me-thing (サンタさん…持って来てくれたの) is what (何を)” so without the の it would be something like “Santa brought me is what”?

                • Pushindawood

                  Pushindawood

                  @CrisH

                  There’s no such thing!

                  Let’s focus on 来る for your first question. くる always describes something that is coming towards the speaker or who the speaker is talking about. Therefore, words like 買ってくる (buy and come) and 持ってくる (hold and come) describe things that are being bought and brought and things that are being held and brought respectively towards the speaker. Changing くる to the polite command form, “きて,” makes 牛乳を買ってきて mean “(go and) buy milk and come (back).” Add くれる to make it a request and you have 牛乳を買ってきてくれる, “would you (go and) buy milk and come (back for me)?”

                  の is just abbreviated のです. It makes the question more inquisitive as the speaker is expecting that the listener will provide an explanation or more details about what is be...

                • CrisH

                  CrisH

                  Thanks for that - very helpful
                  So, say if you were at work and called your partner to ask them to get milk for the household, presumably you wouldn’t use that then? But you might if you were at home and called them? Could you say 牛乳を買って帰ってくれるか。 Do you need a question marker for these requests? Although that does sound like an odd thing to specify, I’ll admit!

                • Pushindawood

                  Pushindawood

                  @CrisH

                  That’s right! Since your partner is not coming towards you, but towards home.

                  This is OK. However, it is better to omit か or use the polite ますか at the end. Using か with the plain form (dictionary form) of the verb can sound a bit rude. Since you are talking with your partner (significant other), this would be acceptable, but still sound a bit rough/masculine. Cheers!

                • CrisH

                  CrisH

                  Cool, thanks. I keep meaning to try and default to the polite forms!

                • Ambo100

                  Ambo100

                  image.png740×216 41.6 KB

                  DBJG listed twice. ...

                • mrnoone

                  mrnoone

                  Hey

                  The double has been removed, and resources has been listed alphabetically!

                  Cheers!

                • Ambo100

                  Ambo100

                  I noticed there is also a third resource with no link (just a checkbox)

                • wjomlex

                  wjomlex

                  I’m a bit confused by

                  サンタさん、何なにを もってきてくれた の?[持もってくる]

                  It says “receiver’s point of view”, but it’s not the receiver who’s asking this, right? Otherwise I’d expect the sentence to be “What did Santa bring for me?”

                • larrydeluca

                  larrydeluca

                  Can someone clarify the difference between もらうand くれる? As I understand it both are from the view of the receiver, both are within your UCHI group, and もらう carries an additional inflection of pleasure or gratitude.

                  BunPro has no readings or grammar points liked to てくれる。 Obviously I’m going to hit Tae Kim again, but the online resources I find all cover
                  different aspects of the elephant without describing the elephant itself, as it were.

                  ありがとう!

                • matt_in_mito

                  matt_in_mito

                  Simply, もらう means ‘to receive’ and くれる means ‘to give’.
                  田中さんは本をもらった - Mr. Tanaka received a book.
                  田中さんは本をくれた - Mr. Tanaka gave a book (to me or to my uchi)
                  I shared a video a long time ago that makes this grammar point super easy to understand. Have a look here.

                • Eloeri

                  Eloeri

                • matt_in_mito

                  matt_in_mito

                  The sentence ending particle か works like a question mark. So generally you wouldn’t have a か and a question mark in the same sentence, you would simply have a 。.
                  公園に行きますか。
                  公園に行く?
                  So the presence of a question mark in the example sentence indicates whether you should have か.

                Got questions about てくれる? Join us to discuss, ask, and learn together!

                Join the Discussion