Giving & Reciving - Beginner Lessons 103 - 107

[Pete171]

Hey I have some questions regarding Beginner Lessons #103 - #107 and it would be great if anyone would be able to help me. Below I have written two basic sentences which I have based on the grammar points from lessons 105 and 107 respectively:

Watashi wa kare ni hon o moratta.
I recieved a book from him.

Kare wa watashi ni hon o kureta.
He gave me a book.

Assuming I have correctly understood what those lessons have taught me, am I right in thinking that both sentences express exactly the same thing, just with a different nuance (either "I recieved from him a..." or "He gave me..."), and that either structure would work fine when wanting to say you recieved something from somebody?

Any help would be great. Thanks guys and girls.

[jkid]

....either structure would work fine when wanting to say you recieved something from somebody?

I believe so. As you stated the nuance is different depending on which verb you choose to use. Also keep in mind that (from what I understand) Morau expresses that the speaker, receives something from someone who has a lower status than them.

[Psy]

Those two sentences express the same general idea, but the nuances differ. My understanding is that morau expresses a favor (hinting that what will be/was done may have been asked for) whereas kureru contains no such nuance. You've already illustrated the difference between being given and receiving, so I needn't repeat that. Neither of the verbs are impolite, per se, but they do express that the listener is of equal (or perhaps lower) social status. For polite situations itadaku and kudasaru are the verbs to be using.

That's my take anyways.