Difference between てくれる and てもらう
So there's てあげる、てくれる、and てもらう. I get the basic idea of how these are used and why, but I had a question about the last two. The book says てもらう is the recieving of a service/action and can be translated as " got..." or "persuaded...". For example: 私は友だちにしゅくだいを手伝ってもらいました。 This is translated as "I got a friend of mine to help me with my homework."

To me, to say that I got someone to do something for me, or persuaded them to do something for me, sounds a bit pushy and/or manipulative. Is it just me, or does that nuance carry over into てもらう, also? If not, is there any real difference between using てくれる and てもらう? Or are they just slightly different ways of saying the same thing? Is it more appropriate to use one over the other?

And would a better translation of the sentence above (as far as meaning goes) be something like: "I recieved help with my homework from my friend"?

Thanks! ^^

Question

Difference between てくれる and てもらう
So there's てあげる、てくれる、and てもらう. I get the basic idea of how these are used and why, but I had a question about the last two. The book says てもらう is the recieving of a service/action and can be translated as " got..." or "persuaded...". For example: 私は友だちにしゅくだいを手伝ってもらいました。 This is translated as "I got a friend of mine to help me with my homework."

To me, to say that I got someone to do something for me, or persuaded them to do something for me, sounds a bit pushy and/or manipulative. Is it just me, or does that nuance carry over into てもらう, also? If not, is there any real difference between using てくれる and てもらう? Or are they just slightly different ways of saying the same thing? Is it more appropriate to use one over the other?

And would a better translation of the sentence above (as far as meaning goes) be something like: "I recieved help with my homework from my friend"?

Thanks! ^^

Answer

The words are あげる, くれる and もらう, the （っ）て is the verb conjugation.

あげる- when you give to others (or from the giver's perspective if you're not talking about you)
くれる- when others give to you (or from the receiver's perspective if you're not talking about you)
もらう- to receive

All those words are neutral and don't carry any special nuance.

About 「私は友達に宿題を手伝ってもらいました。」 You didn't got him to do that you received that action, if you wanted to say that you made him to do so you would say 私は友達に宿題を手伝わせました。

Answers · 2

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