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Lesson Transcript

Hi everybody! [Hiroko] here. Welcome to Ask a Teacher, where I’ll answer some of your most common [Japanese] questions.
The question for this lesson is...Why can’t you say 私は、息子に自転車を買ってくれた( Watashi wa, musuko ni jitensha o katte kureta.)？ to mean “I bought my son a bicycle?”
The meaning of くれる (kureru) has the image of something being lowered down to be given to someone. Therefore, くれる (kureru) is used when someone is giving me, or a close person to me, something, and you want to show appreciation to them. So, the subject of the verb くれる (kureru) cannot be 私 (watashi).
So, in this case, you can’t say 私は、息子に自転車を買ってくれた (Watashi wa, musuko ni jitensha o katte kureta.), instead, you need to say, 私は、息子に自転車を買ってあげた. (Watashi wa, musuko ni jitensha o katte ageta.)
Let’s go through some examples so you can learn how to use くれる (kureru) correctly.
A basic example is,
友人が私に誕生日プレゼントをくれました。(Yūjin ga watashi ni tanjōbi purezento o kuremashita.)
meaning “My friend gave me a birthday present.” You useくれる (kureru) because your friend is the giver, and わたし (watashi) is the receiver. So, it’s natural to humbly use くれる (kureru) and show your appreciation to the giver..
Next is...
友人が（私の）弟に誕生日プレゼントをくれました。(Yūjin ga (watashi no) otōto ni tanjōbi purezento o kuremashita.)
meaning “My friend gave a birthday present to my brother.” In this case, your friend is the one who gave the present to your brother. Since the giver is not a family member, and your brother is a family member, it is appropriate to humbly use くれる (kureru) and show your appreciation to the giver.
The last example is,
父が（私の）息子に誕生日プレゼントをくれました。(Chichi ga (watashi no) musuko ni tanjōbi purezento o kuremashita.)
meaning “My father gave a birthday present to my son.” In this case, both the giver and the receiver are your family members. But you can use くれる (kureru) to show your appreciate to your father as the giver from the same point of view as your son, because you feel your son is closer than your father.
Both the giver and the receiver can be your family members in sentences using くれる (kureru), but please note that the giver or the subject of the sentence using くれる (kureru) can never be わたし (watashi).
How was this lesson? Pretty interesting, right?
Do you have any more questions? Leave them in the comments below and I’ll try to answer them!
またね！[mata ne!] See you!

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