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There is an exercise problem in my workbook:

木村さん：明日は奈良を案内しますよ。
張さん：ありがとうございます。

Four options are provided (I only list the two that I find confusing):

1.張さんは木村さんに奈良を案内してもらいます。
4.木村さんは張さんに奈良を案内してくれます。

and one is asked to choose the one that has the same meaning as the dialogue. The answer given is the 1st one, but I chose the 4th one and still don't know why it's wrong.

ajsmart
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Mathis
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2 Answers2

1

Four options are provided (I only list the two that I find confusing):

1.張さんは木村さんに奈良を案内してもらいます。

This one is OK.

4.木村さんは張さんに奈良を案内してくれます。

This is wonky, should be あげます on the end.

The answer given is the 1st one, but I chose the 4th one and still don't know why it's wrong.

くれます doesn't work here because くれる contains the speaker's gratitude/emotion, so if you use くれます it's always something done by someone for you or yours. Note that 4. isn't grammatically wrong at all, it just doesn't fit the situation.

In the following situation it would work: I don't want to show Chou-san around Nara, and Kimura offers to do it for me, so I say to someone "木村さんは張さんに奈良を案内してくれます。" The reason it's wrong here is that it just doesn't fit the meaning required.

Community
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    So, くれる can't be used to express the idea that a person (he/she) does something for another person (he/she), but あげる can. くれる can only be used in a situation where a person in a more remote relation does something for another person in a closer relation. Is my understanding right? – Mathis Mar 09 '20 at 09:28
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    Yes, くれる sounds strange in 4 but あげる is OK in those neutral cases. –  Mar 09 '20 at 09:29
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    くれる is fine too, and which between くれる and やる is appropriate depends on which between 張 and 木村 is closer to the speaker. If the former is, it's くれる. – user4092 Mar 09 '20 at 14:03
  • @user4092 - Thank you for your insight. What part of the answer I posted do you disagree with? –  Mar 09 '20 at 21:51
  • #4 doesn't seem wrong either in this situation. You can use くれる just because you appreciate the fact that Kimura does something regardless of relationship between other people. – user4092 Mar 10 '20 at 13:03
  • @user4092 - Thank you for commenting. If there is an issue with the answer I posted then please tell me what it is. –  Mar 10 '20 at 13:08
  • What's problematic is that OP's workbook is not reasonable and OP's question doesn't make sense because his choice is not wrong in the first place. #4 is synonymous to #1. When you can say #1, you can say #4 as well, but you can't necessarily use やる or あげる because it indicates a different positional relationship. (In other words, you can use them from an objective stand point.) – user4092 Mar 11 '20 at 12:09
  • @user4092 - if there is an issue with the answer I have posted then please post under my answer. If there is an issue with the question then post under the question, not my answer. I've given the best answer I can think of and so far you haven't pointed out what's wrong with my answer, but only what you think is wrong with the question. My answer says that 4 is correct and might be preferred under some circumstances. –  Mar 11 '20 at 12:36
  • I hesitated because I was late, but you're right. – user4092 Mar 11 '20 at 23:30
  • I thought I pointed out, but I'll do again. First, you said #4 is wonky but it's not. Second, あげる doesn't necessarily work. Third, you said "if you use くれます it's always something done by someone for you or yours" but it's not as you understand. – user4092 Mar 11 '20 at 23:53
  • Thank you that is more clear. I'll try asking some other people what they think about this question. –  Mar 11 '20 at 23:54
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    @user4092 - I asked one native speaker about this, she said that my answer was correct. I'll try to find some more people to ask. –  Mar 12 '20 at 06:49
  • It would help if you show my post when you ask them. – user4092 Mar 12 '20 at 21:15
  • @user4092 I just sent her a link to this discussion and asked her what she thought about it. –  Mar 12 '20 at 23:04
  • Thanks............... – user4092 Mar 13 '20 at 09:26
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When #1 is correct, #4 is correct too. So, the question in your workbook doesn't make sense.

When you can say 張さんは木村さんに案内してもらう, you psycologically perceive Chen closer to you than Kimura in your perspective. In this regard, 木村さんは張さんを案内してくれる means the same situation with a different subject.

user4092
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  • I posted my own question about this problem. https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/74978/concensus-on-%e3%82%84%e3%82%8a%e3%82%82%e3%82%89%e3%81%84%e5%8b%95%e8%a9%9e?noredirect=1&lq=1 – user4092 Mar 13 '20 at 09:28