As to giving/receiving verbs, we have already learned “Ageru/Agemasu” and “Morau/Moraimasu” in the section 7. Now we are learning another giving/receiving verb, which is “Kureru/Kuremasu”. In fact, there is one thing that “Kureru” is different from “Ageru” and “Morau”.
1. Watashi wa Satou-san ni Chokore’eto o Agemasu. (I will give Sato-san a chocolate.)
2. Watashi wa Satou-san ni Chokore’eto o Moraimashita. (I received a chocolate from Sato-san.)
3. Satou-san wa Watashi ni Chokore’eto o Kuremashita. (Sato-san gave me a chocolate.)
Look at the subjects of 1, 2, and 3. For the verbs “Ageru” and “Morau”, the subjects are “Watashi” which means “I” in English. On the other, for “Kureru”, the subject is “Satou-san” which is not “Watashi”. At the beginning of second language learning, it is better to use sentences whose subject is “Watashi (I)” because “Subject Watashi” increases authenticity for the learner. Since the verb “Kureru” takes a subject that is not Watashi but other people, it should be learned in a little later stage than “Ageru” and “Morau”. Note that there may be a person who say “Watashi wa Kuremasu” in some region. But this is not standard Japanese. When you give something to someone, you need to say “Watashi wa Daredare ni Naninani o Agemasu” (Daredare= someone, Naninani= something).
The followings are examples of sentences using “Kureru/Kuremasu”
4. Satou-san wa Watashi ni Hon o Kuremashita. (Sato-san gave me a book.)
5. Suzuki-san wa Watashi ni Ringo o Kuremashita. (Suzuki-san gave me an apple.)
In 1 through 5, “<person> ni <object> o” is used in common. Put in your mind this so that you can use giving/receiving verbs. But do not think the words order is always “<person> ni <object> o”. Sometimes Japanese say “<object> o <person> ni”.
4′. Satou-san wa Hon o Watashi ni Kuremashita. (Sato-san gave a book to me.)
5′. Suzuki-san wa Ringo o Watashi ni Kuremashita. (Suzuki-san gave an apple to me.)
Change of words order is likely, because not words order but function of particles is decisive for the meaning of a sentence in Japanese.
This post was written with reference to the exercise A1 on Section24 of “Minna no Nihongo (2nd Edition)” published by “3A Corporation”
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