Give & Receive
Today I am going to cover the usage of Give (~te ageru / ~te sashi ageru) & Receive (~te itadaku / ~te morau / ~te kureru). Similar with some words, there are Polite & Inpolite way of usage. When translating back to English, there won’t be any
Very Polite
I lend you a car- Kuruma o kashite sashi agemasu
I buy you a bicycle – Jitensha o katte sashi agemasu
Polite
I lend you a car- Kuruma o kashite agemasu
I buy you a bicycle – Jitensha o katte agemasu
Impolite
I lend you a car- Kuruma o kashite yarimasu
I buy you a bicycle – Jitensha o katte yarimasu
Very Polite
He borrowed me a car – Kuruma o kashite itadakimashita
He bought me a bicycle – Jitensha o katte itadakimashita
Polite
He borrowed me a car – Kuruma o kashite moraimashita
He bought me a bicycle – Jitensha o katte moraimashita
Impolite
He borrowed me a car – Kuruma o kashite kuremashita
He bought me a bicycle – Jitensha o katte kuremashita
See, the meaning are all the same but the usage is depending on the politeness. Hope this is not too confuse ๐
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November 2nd, 2006 at 1:47 pm
That’s pretty cool!! Are there lots of concepts with different words for them representing different levels of politeness?
Omni
November 2nd, 2006 at 2:17 pm
It is a Japanese Culture on what level of politeness should be used to communicate with what type of people.
Boss / Teacher / Customers – Very Polite / Polite
New friend – Polite
Friends – Impolite
… and the list goes on.
Example (I) : Watakushi (ExtremelyPolite). Watashi (Very Polite), Boku (Polite), Ore (Very Impolite)
Example (You) : Anata (Very Polite), Kimi (Polite), Omae (Impolite)
September 12th, 2008 at 2:36 am
hey tony
i’ve a qn
He borrowed me a car
what does this mean?
i borrowed a car from him?
he borrowed a car from me?
i tink its the first 1 since
kashite agemasu means “giving” a car
kashite moraimasu would mean “receiving” a car and thus borrowing..
September 12th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
Hi Darron,
Agemasu means give and moraimasu means receive. However, when I use a verb follow by agemasu or moraimasu, the meaning will be different.
Example:
Kashite agemasu means “Lend you something”
Katte agemasu means “Buy you something”
Thanks
September 14th, 2008 at 1:39 am
so when u say kashite moraimasu or katte moraimasu
it’ll be lend me something/ buy me something??
but not sounding that rude.. am i right?
September 14th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Hi Darron, Moraimasu is not rude. Kuremasu is rude. In fact, masu form is already a polite form but when you talk to someone you are suppose to respect, then moraimasu should be used otherwise kuremasu can be used.
Hope this help.
September 14th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
The sentence itseld is not rude at all
January 30th, 2011 at 1:27 pm
I am sorry to interrupt. It is a very old post to which I am appending this. I think moraimasu is used when the subject is first person. In the use of kuremasu, the subject will be the second person or third person. I am also of the opinion kuremasu is not all that rude. Kuadasaru the base of kudasai is the polite form of give, placing the giver at a high level. Kuremasu is a more level expression. That does not make it impolite. It is the opposite of agemasu in terms of direction of transaction. Itadakimasu is different. It is taking for oneself.
July 16th, 2012 at 8:12 pm
Oh and isn’t it “jitensha” not “jidensha”?
September 25th, 2012 at 3:30 pm
Hi, what is the difference between wa and ga in a sentence?
September 25th, 2012 at 4:33 pm
Hi Rena,
Please refer here : http://nihongo.anthonet.com/difference-between-wa-and-ga/
March 4th, 2013 at 4:13 pm
I thought kuremasu and agemasu both means “to give”. Their level of politeness are about the same, but are used in different situation. Agemasu used when “I” am the one who give, and kuremasu used when “somebody else” is the one who give.
For example:
(Watashi wa John-san ni) kuruma o kashite agemashita – i lent my car to Mr.John
(John-san wa watashi ni) kuruma o kashite kuremashita – Mr.John lent his car to me
I just don’t think that kuremasu is that impolite.. But I’m not 100% sure, please correct me if I’m wrong. Yoroshiku ne! ^^
March 4th, 2013 at 5:28 pm
In your example :
(Watashi wa John-san ni) kuruma o kashite agemashita โ i lent my car to Mr.John (You are giving him)
(John-san wa watashi ni) kuruma o kashite kuremashita โ Mr.John lent his car to me (you are receiving from him)
August 9th, 2013 at 3:14 am
I think the tiers are a bit mixed up.
Very polite/ Polite
Kudasaru/ kureru= to receive (from)
Itadaku/ morau= to receive, to be given, to get
Sashiageru/ ageru= to give, to do for someone (only speaking about yourself)
Morau is usually used if someone is going to do something for you too.
“Miki-san,(place) niwa itte moraimasen ka?” Miki-san could you go there for me?
Kureru is usually just asking to do something.(usually because you can’t do it yourself)
“Terebi o keshite kuremasen ka?’
Could you shut of the TV?
The difference is clear here:
‘Omizu kudasai’*
Can you get me water please? (because you can’t get it yourself in a restaurant)
‘Omizu moratte ii desu ka?’
Would you be able to get me more water?
*kudasai is typically used when asking for something from someone you’re unfamiliar with.
June 6th, 2015 at 11:09 pm
I agree with Michelle.Ageru and Kureru both means “to give” speaker says ageru (give) and receiver says kureru (give me)
Let’s make it simple:
ใใใ = You give to someone
ใใใ = Someone gives to you
ใใใ = To receive
ใใใ ใ = polite form of ้ฃในใ or ่ฌ่ญฒ่ช form for ใใใ