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

  • 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 speaker's 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!


Antonyms



Vocab Coverage

All Bunpro Vocab that appears on this item.

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()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)

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        • [DBJG] A Dictionary of Basic Japanese Grammar

          Page 216

        • Genki II 1st Edition

          Page 34 & 74

        • Genki II 2nd Edition

          Page 56 & 100

        • Genki II 3rd Edition

          Page 96

        • Tae Kim's Japanese Grammar Guide

          Page 172

        • みんなの日本語 I

          Page 152 [CH 24]

        • みんなの日本語 II

          Page 114 [CH 43]

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      てくれる – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (36 in total)

      • 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 (?)

      • skrtbhtngr

        skrtbhtngr

        It is written in the Fun Fact that “ていただく (the humble speech variation of てくれる)”. But isn’t that a variation of “てもらう”?

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