GrammarJLPT N5
→ do something for someone
Someone Does Something for Me / Us (as a Favor)
JLPT N5Auxiliary verbNeutral
～てくれる is used when someone else performs an action that benefits the speaker (or someone in the speaker's in-group). It combines the て-form of a verb with くれる, which inherently carries the meaning of giving toward the speaker. Unlike ～てもらう, which frames the sentence from the receiver's perspective ('I have someone do something'), ～てくれる frames the sentence from the giver's perspective, emphasizing that the other person kindly did the action. It naturally conveys gratitude, appreciation, or at least acknowledgment that the action was a favor. The subject of the sentence is the person who performs the action, and the beneficiary (often the speaker) can be marked with に but is frequently omitted when it is obvious. The more polite/honorific version is ～てくださる, used when the person performing the favor is of higher social status. ～てくれる is one of the three core giving-and-receiving auxiliary verbs in Japanese (along with ～てあげる and ～てもらう), and mastering the distinctions between them is essential for natural Japanese.
Functions
#1 Expressing gratitude for someone's action
Structure
Person が/は + Verb (て-form) + くれる
友だちが 宿題を 手伝ってくれた。
Here てくれた (past tense of てくれる) shows that the friend performed the action of helping, and the speaker is the beneficiary. By choosing てくれた instead of simply saying 手伝った, the speaker conveys a sense of appreciation — the friend did something nice for them. The beneficiary (私に) is omitted because it is clearly the speaker.My friend helped me with my homework (and I'm grateful).
Structures
- General pattern
- Verb (て-form) + くれる
Common mistakes
A common mistake is confusing ～てくれる with ～てもらう. Both express receiving a favor, but ～てくれる takes the giver as the subject (友だちが教えてくれた), while ～てもらう takes the receiver as the subject (私は友だちに教えてもらった). Mixing up the particles が and に in these patterns leads to ungrammatical sentences. Another frequent error is using ～てくれる when the speaker is the one doing the favor for someone else — in that case, ～てあげる should be used instead, since くれる always implies movement of the favor toward the speaker or the speaker's in-group. Learners also sometimes forget that ～てくれる inherently carries a nuance of gratitude; using it in contexts where no appreciation is felt can sound unnatural. Finally, in formal situations, learners should upgrade to ～てくださる rather than using ～てくれる with superiors, as the latter can sound too casual.
Related
～てもらう～てあげる～てくださるくれるもらうあげる