Thursday, February 9, 2017

Verbs for Giving and Receiving

There are a few different words in Japanese used to express the action of giving and receiving. Genki does a good job of explaining this with its illustration, but I'll try my best here.

あげる is used when the giving action is going outward from yourself. So, I give you something, I give him something, I give them something. It's also used when one person gives something to another, i.e., Pam gives something to Sue.

くれる is used when the giving action is coming inward, towards you. So, you give me something, somebody gives me something.

With both verbs, the giver is the topic/subject of the sentence, marked with は or が. The recipient is marked with the particle に.

私は誕生日にカナト君にお菓子をあげた。
I gave Kanato some candy for his birthday.

アヤトは毎年ライトに髪留めをあげるよ。
Ayato gives Laito a new hair clip every year.

リーさんは昨日学校でりんごをくれた。
Lee-san gave me an apple at school yesterday.

母はクリスマスに新しい毛布をくれました。
My mom gave me a new blanket for Christmas.

Notice that in those last two sentences, the person being given to (I, or me) is not explicitly stated, but rather implied. I could add a に to each one, but it's not strictly necessary.

The verb もらう is used to say "Someone received X", and the recipient is always the topic/subject of the sentence, marked with は or が. The giver is marked with に or から.

スバルは大学から手紙をもらった。
Subaru received a letter from the college.

シュウは箱にかわいい子猫をもらった。
Shuu received a cute kitten in the box.

私はおじさんに古い車をもらいました。
I received an old car from my uncle.

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