「あげる」「くれる」and「もらう」（Giving/Receiving)

 

Japanese has 2 verbs(あげる/くれる) for giving. The choice between the pair depends on the direction of the transaction.

 

Giver is a person who gives a thing or favor/ Recipient is a person who receives a thing or favor

Note:[やる], which has the same meaning as [あげる], is used in more casual conversations.

	Subject/topic	Particle(subject marker)		Particle marks a target or a source
Giving	Giver（can include me)	は/が	Recipient（excluding me)	に	あげる
	Giver（exclude me)	は/が	Recipient（can include me)	に	くれる
Receiving	Recipient（can include me)	は/が	Giver（can include me)	に/から	もらう

 

 

あげる, くれる, and もらう as Verbs

Here are more examples.

Giver（can include me) → Recipient（excluding me)
Giver	Particle	Direct object	Particle marks direct object	Recipient	Particle	verb	English
わたし	は/が	プレゼント	を	ともだち	に	あげました	I gave a present to my friend

  

Giver（exclude me) →Recipient（can include me)
Giver	Particle	Direct object	Particle marks direct object	Recipient	Particle	verb	English
ともだち	は/が	プレゼント	を	わたし	に	くれました	My friend gave me a present

 

Recipient（can include me) ← Giver（can include me)
Recipient	Particle	Direct object	Particle marks direct object	Giver	Particle	verb	English
ともだち	は/が	プレゼント	を	わたし	に/から	もらいました	My friend received a present from me

 

てあげる,てくれる, and てもらう 

as Helping Verbs

Helping verbs alone cannot make a sentence, but you can give various contexts to sentences by combining verbs with helping verbs. The conjugation is simple. You can use the Te-from and just attach helping verbs. 

Giver（can include me) → Recipient（excluding me)
Giver	Particle	Direct object	Particle marks direct object	Recipient	Particle	verb	Helping verb	English
わたし	は/が	にほんご	を	ともだち	に	おしえて	あげました	I (generously) taught Japanese to my friend

  

Giver（exclude me) → Recipient（can include me)
Giver	Particle	Direct object	Particle marks direct object	Recipient	Particle	verb	Helping verb	English
ともだち	は/が	えいご	を	わたし	に	おしえて	くれました	My friend (generously) taught me English

 

Recipient（can include me) ← Giver（can include me)
Recipient	Particle	Direct object	Particle	Giver	Particle	verb	Helping verb	English
わたし	は/が	しゅくだい	を	ともだち	に	てつだって	もらいました	I got my friend to help homework

 

 ※Two てくれる　and てもらう　

 differences when explaining the situation rather than requesting

〇かれ　が　えいご　を　おしえて　くれました（He did Voluntary and it was grateful)　

〇かれ　に　えいご　を　おしえて　もらいました（He did after my request and it was grateful）

Both あげる and くれる mean “to give” in English, but you have to choose the proper one depending on contexts. Let’s take a family as an example for a social community. In Japanese, you have to change the wording based on the circles. As for between Mr. A and Mr. B, you always use あげる.

 

Exercises

Genki 2 

Genki 2 workbbok