Quote:
Originally Posted by Nagoyankee
Now I realize that I didn't really answer your question in my last post.
くれる is a fairly difficult verb for the non-native speaker to use correctly. But I can say with confidence as a native speaker that once you get a knack of it and start using it, your Japanese will sound much more natural.
First, let me mention the exceptional usage of くれる. Unlike most other verbs, くれる is not often used by all itself but is added to another verb.
All by itself, it means "to give".
これはスミスさんがくれたペンです。 = This is the pen that Mr. Smith gave to me.
お父さん、ともこちゃんがおかしをくれたよ。 = Daddy, Tomoko-chan gave me some candies!
I'm sure that this usage is easy for anyone to learn. The problem would be the other usage.
Added to the -te form of another verb, くれる means "(to do something) for someone". It has the connotation of "going through the trouble of doing something for me".
お母さん、アイスクリーム（を）買ってくれる？ = Mom, could you buy an icecream for me?
このハンバーガー（を）食べてくれる？おなかすいてな いの。 = Can you eat this burger for me? I'm not hungry.
１０時ころに来てくれますか？ = Could you come here around 10?
NOTICE: I put the particle を in paretheses beacsue it's very often omitted in casual conversation. Also, I used the question mark becasue these are casual speech. In formally written Japanese, there is no such thing as a question mark.
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I was taught that te + kureru always meant "help do X me" or "do X for me." Now that I see what you said, it makes more sense now... I translate it as, "you can go through the trouble of relying on me every once in a while" and now I see what you're talking about. It makes sense... it's just not very apparent to me.
