In Japanese, there is more than one verb that means "to give, to bring, to receive". The choice of this verb will depend on the direction of the transaction. In this article, we will examine 3 verbs that have a significant impact on this matter.
Table of Content
Ageru and Kureru
The most common way to say the verb "to give or receive" is あげる (ageru) and くれる (kureru), but when to use each of them?
- あげる – The ageru is used when I give to you, you give to others, I give to others, someone gives to someone;
- くれる – The kureru is used when someone gives it to me, you give it to me, someone gives it to you;
We should remember that the donor is the subject of the sentence, and it is accompanied by the particles は or が. The recipient is accompanied by the particle に.
- (Donor)は/が (Recipient) に (object) を (verb ageru/kureru)
example sentences:
ねえ、朝ご飯作ってくれる？
Nee asagohan tsukutte kureru?
Hey, can you make breakfast?
昨日作ってあげたから今日は君の番だよ！
Kinou tsukutte ageta kara kyou wa kimi no ban dayo!
I already did it yesterday, so today it's your turn!
Just like any verb, they are conjugated as necessary. There is a formal way to say あげる which is 差し上げる (sashiageru) and a formal way to say くれる which is 下さる (Kudasaru).
Morau
もらう - The morau is used when you receive something from someone, from the receiver's point of view.
But how so? We can compare in English:
- Lucas gives me a book.
- I received a book from Lucas;
While in the case of kureru and ageru the (giver) gives to the (receiver), using morau we give the idea of the (receiver) receiving from (giver). In the case of morau, we invert recipient with donor.
- (Recipient)は/が(doador)に...
- (Recipient)は/が(doador) から(kara) + (object) を もらう
Example sentences:
私はケビンにお菓子をもらった。
Watashi wa Kevin ni okashi o moratta.
I got candy from Kevin.
この花は誰からもらったの？
Kono hana wa dare kara moratta no?
Who did you get these flowers from?
As we noted in the first example of くれる, we can use くれる to ask for things, while もらう is used only to say that we received something. The formal way to say もらう is 頂く(=itadaku).
Using Shite して
We use あげる, くれる, and もらう together with the verb して to say that we are receiving or giving actions. Examples:
- (し)てくれる - Someone does a favor for you
- (し)てあげる - Someone does something for someone (the speaker's point of view)
- (し)てもらう - Someone did something for you (from your point of view)
Example sentences:
鈴木さんがおごってくれた。
Suzuki-san ga ogotte kureta
Suzuki treated me.
鈴木さんにおごってもらった。
Suzuki-san ni ogotte moratta.
I was treated by Susuki.
ケビンにおごってあげた。
Kevin ni ogotte ageta.
I treated Kevin.
I hope this article has cleared your doubts about these 3 verbs. We just need to delve deeper into the language, and time will teach us.
Still have doubts? This video in English can help a little, it is all illustrative, it is not necessary to understand English to watch: