nihongo wo benkyou shitai

日本語：	[subject] は [recipient] に [verb (base 6)] くれる
English:	Someone does something for you...

First off, the title to this entry isn't particularly accurate, but as I can't think of a better one, it'll have to do. The reason that it isn't accurate has already been mentioned when talking about くれる as well as ーてあげる and あげる and stems from the fact that くれる is used to indicate that something is being given in your direction. Whilst this obviously means given to you, it can also mean that something is given to someone close to you. Likewise with ーてくれる in that this means that some action is performed for you or someone close to you.

Now, I've recently been talking to Matt about this and we've had a bit of a problem understanding when you actually use this conjugation. However, thanks to a Japanese friend, it appears that there are some guidelines. Maybe an example will help.

マットくんがビールを買った。

How would you translate this into English? Odds-on you came up with Matt bought [me] some beer. A nice, straightforward statement of fact. But if we do this:

マットくんがビールを買ってくれた。

Then we would translate this as Matt bought [me] some beer and I appreciate it. I've seen some textbooks translate this as "as a favour", but I think my Japanese friend's explanation is better ('cos it sounds nicer!) Yes, it would seem that てくれる can be used to add a positive emotional context into a statement of fact showing that you somehow benefited from the action.

English:	My boss lent me his Aston Martin DBS
Jenglish:	[boss][Aston Martin DBS][lent + appreciation]
日本語：	上司がアストンマティーンデーベーエスを貸してくれた。

English:	I was sent a signed photo of Manami Honjou.
Jenglish:	[Honjou][Manami][signed][photo][sent + appreciation]
日本語：	本上まなみのサインの写真を送ってくれた。

The theory seems sound. インターネットに調べよう！

Example 1:

Well, most people know I'm a geek so let's not disappoint. Taken from this web site it appears to be about an interview with Bill Gates.

日本語：	ゲイツ氏はXboxやWindows Liveを含む、マイクロソフトが他社を追い上げようとしているいくつかの分野について語ってくれた
Jenglish:	[Gates][Mr] [SM] [Xbox] [Windows Live] [OM] [include] [Microsoft] [TM] [other company] [OM] [put pressure on (volitional - be about to)] [a few] [PM] [fields] [about] [spoke + favour]

Well, there were a lot of guesses here. For example 分野 can be translated as 'division' or 'branch' as well as 'field' or 'sphere'. Originally I went for division as it seemed to make sense when talking about a large company, but I swapped over to 'field' in the end as it seemed a better fit. Also the 追い上げようとして threw me for about 20 minutes. The よう indicated it's a volitional (covered soon!) which translated 追い上げよう as 'let's put pressure on' - it just didn't make sense. Quite by accident I found that you can use volitional form with とする to mean 'about to...'. The マイクロソフトが confused me as I couldn't find a convenient place to put this in my translation. In despair I read my blog entry on が and wondered if I could be looking at a relative clause here.

やっと、僕の訳文は「Mr. Gates kindly spoke about a few of the fields that Microsoft are about to put pressure on other companies to include in Xbox and Windows Live.」

Example 2:

Well, I've never thought about the idea of Japanese cheerleaders (honest!), but I found an example (of the grammar point and the cheerleaders) here.

日本語：	セレモニーでのパフォーマンス、そしてジュニアクリニックを2回おこない、クリニックにはたくさんの子供達が参加してくりました！
Jenglish:	[ceremony][LP][PP][performance][and then][junior][clinic][IM][2 times][conduct][clinic][DP][TM][lot][PM][children][SM][particiption][did]

This was easier than I thought, though that doesn't mean that I got it right! I've had to play with it a bit to make it more natural. There was a performance at the ceremony followed by two junior clinics. A lot of children participated in the clinics.

またね・・・