JLPT中容易混乱的授受表达整理：あげる、くれる、もらう到底该从谁的视角来想？

One group of expressions that quietly causes trouble for many learners in JLPT grammar and reading is giving and receiving expressions.

「あげる」, 「くれる」, and 「もらう」.

The words themselves are often learned fairly early, but once they appear in test questions, learners suddenly become unsure.

You may know the meanings, but when you see the answer choices, your mind stops for a moment. Has that ever happened to you?

The reason these three are difficult is that simply memorizing “give” and “receive” is not enough.

What really matters is not losing sight of whose viewpoint the sentence is using.

Giving and receiving expressions do not only show the movement of an object or action.

They also show which side the speaker is emotionally placing the focus on.

That is why, if you get the viewpoint wrong, you may choose the wrong answer even if you roughly understand the meaning.

In this article, we will organize the JLPT expressions 「あげる」, 「くれる」, and 「もらう」 using one clear axis: “Whose viewpoint is this?”

First conclusion: Think in terms of “whose viewpoint”

Let’s start with the most important point.

• 「あげる」
  An expression that looks from the giving side

• 「くれる」
  An expression used when something comes toward the speaker’s side, or someone close to the speaker

• 「もらう」
  An expression that looks from the receiving side

If you only memorize these three by translating them into your native language, you will almost certainly become confused at some point.

What matters is the position of the viewpoint:

• Who gave it?
• Toward whom did it come?
• Who received it?

「あげる」 looks from the giving side

「あげる」 is used when A gives something to B, and the sentence is viewed from A’s side.

Example sentences

• 「私は友だちに本をあげました。」
  I gave a book to my friend.

• 「田中さんは妹にお菓子をあげました。」
  Tanaka gave sweets to his younger sister.

What you should notice here is that the person who gives something often becomes the subject.

In other words, the camera is facing the giving side.

A common JLPT mistake

A common mistake is to use 「あげる」 whenever something moves toward another person.

However, when something comes toward the speaker, the correct expression may be 「くれる」 instead of 「あげる」.

In other words, the direction of movement alone is not enough.

You also have to look at the relationship to the speaker.

「くれる」 comes toward the speaker’s side

「くれる」 is used when someone gives something to the speaker, or to someone close to the speaker.

Example sentences

• 「友だちが私に本をくれました。」
  My friend gave me a book.

• 「先生が弟にアドバイスをくれました。」
  The teacher gave my younger brother advice.

The important point here is that the receiver is the speaker, or someone the speaker feels psychologically close to.

Many learners want to say:

「友だちが私に本をあげました。」

But in Japanese, you use 「くれる」 here.

That is because the action is coming toward the speaker’s side.

A common JLPT mistake

「くれる」 is not simply “give.”

It contains the feeling that something comes toward “our side” or “my side.”

If you process it only through translation, you may easily become confused in sentences such as:

• 「私にくれた」
  gave it to me

• 「母にくれた」
  gave it to my mother

• 「弟にくれた」
  gave it to my younger brother

Especially in reading and grammar questions, if you cannot identify who is close to the speaker, the answer choices quickly become unclear.

「もらう」 looks from the receiving side

「もらう」 is used when the receiver is the subject.

Example sentences

• 「私は友だちに本をもらいました。」
  I received a book from my friend.

• 「妹は先生に花をもらいました。」
  My younger sister received flowers from the teacher.

In this expression, the viewpoint is on the person who received something.

So even if the event itself is the same, the camera position is different from 「あげる」 and 「くれる」.

Compare these sentences

• 「私は友だちに本をあげました。」
  I gave a book to my friend.

• 「友だちが私に本をくれました。」
  My friend gave me a book.

• 「私は友だちに本をもらいました。」
  I received a book from my friend.

The people and the book may be the same, but the verb changes depending on where the viewpoint is.

Once you can organize this, giving and receiving expressions become much easier to understand.

Thinking with arrows makes it easier

If giving and receiving expressions confuse you, try drawing arrows in your mind.

「あげる」

A → B

Look from A’s side.

「くれる」

A → me / my side

Something comes toward my side.

「もらう」

A → B

Look from B’s side.

In other words, you should think about both the direction of the arrow and where the camera is.

If you memorize these two things together, you will be less likely to waver when choosing an answer.

Action-based giving and receiving is even more confusing

On the JLPT, giving and receiving expressions often appear not only with objects, but also with actions.

• 「教えてあげる」
  to teach someone for their benefit

• 「教えてくれる」
  someone teaches me or someone on my side

• 「教えてもらう」
  to receive someone’s teaching

When the expression is used with an action, it becomes even harder to see who did something for whom.

But the way of thinking is the same.

Example sentences

• 「私は友だちに日本語を教えてあげました。」
  I taught Japanese to my friend.

• 「友だちが私に日本語を教えてくれました。」
  My friend taught me Japanese.

• 「私は友だちに日本語を教えてもらいました。」
  I had my friend teach me Japanese.

Here again, the choice depends on viewpoint.

• 「あげる」 focuses on the side that does the action for someone
• 「くれる」 means someone does something for my side
• 「もらう」 means I receive the action from someone

JLPT questions often target subject changes

In giving and receiving expression questions, the JLPT often changes the subject or standpoint slightly.

Because the meanings look similar, all the choices may seem correct when you are in a hurry.

But in reality, some choices have the wrong viewpoint.

For example:

• 「私は先生に本をくれました。」
  This is unnatural because 「私」 is the subject, but 「くれる」 means something comes toward the speaker’s side.

• 「先生は私に本をあげました。」
  This sounds unnatural in ordinary Japanese when the speaker is the receiver.

• 「私は先生に本をもらいました。」
  I received a book from the teacher.

• 「先生は私に本をくれました。」
  The teacher gave me a book.

When choices like these are lined up, learners who only follow word order easily become confused.

What you need here is not only vocabulary knowledge, but a fixed viewpoint.

Ask yourself:

• Who is the subject?
• Which way does the arrow point?
• Is the action coming toward the speaker’s side?

Just checking these three points will make many questions look much clearer.

When “someone close to the speaker” appears, the difficulty increases

One thing that makes giving and receiving expressions even more difficult is when the receiver is not 「私」, but someone close to the speaker.

For example, when a family member or someone close appears, 「くれる」 may be used.

Example sentence

• 「先生が弟に本をくれました。」
  The teacher gave my younger brother a book.

This sentence is natural because the younger brother is viewed as someone close to the speaker.

If you simply think, “It is not me, so 「くれる」 cannot be used,” you may misunderstand the sentence.

In other words, the receiver of 「くれる」 is not always the speaker.

If the speaker sees that person as being on the inside, 「くれる」 can work.

This sense is very important not only in short grammar questions, but also in reading passages and dialogues.

When in doubt, ask “Whose side is this sentence happy for?”

When you are confused by giving and receiving expressions, it helps to ask:

“Whose side is this sentence standing on?”

• If you want to describe the action from the giving side
  → 「あげる」

• If there is a feeling that someone did something for my side
  → 「くれる」

• If you want to describe it from the receiving side
  → 「もらう」

For some learners, thinking in terms of “the happy direction” makes the idea suddenly clear.

This is especially useful for 「くれる」, because it is not only about direction. It also contains the feeling that someone did something for “us” or “me.”

At N3 and N2, viewpoint is stronger than meaning

In N3 and N2 grammar, many expressions have similar meanings.

Giving and receiving expressions are tricky because, if you look only at meaning, they all seem to be about “giving” and “receiving.”

That is why these methods eventually reach their limit:

• memorizing only translations
• memorizing only words
• choosing by feeling

What makes you strong in the actual test is the ability to mechanically check:

“Whose viewpoint is this sentence using?”

Once you can fix the viewpoint, giving and receiving expressions can actually become a reliable scoring area.

如果想整理原因和理由表达，也可以参考「JLPT中容易混淆的原因・理由表达总结」。

如果想整理限定表达的区别，也可以参考「JLPT中容易混淆的限定表达总结」。

Summary: If you do not lose the viewpoint, giving and receiving expressions are not scary

People who struggle with 「あげる」, 「くれる」, and 「もらう」 usually do not lack knowledge of their meanings.

In many cases, the problem is simply that the viewpoint is still unclear.

When you see a giving and receiving expression, the first thing to think about is this:

“From whose standpoint is this sentence being viewed?”

Once that is clear, the verb you should choose becomes much easier to see.

On the other hand, if you leave this point vague, you will keep getting stuck in the same place no matter how many questions you solve.

With RJT, you can study confusing grammar points like these not only by meaning, but also by viewpoint and usage.

Instead of simply answering one question and moving on, you can learn to see why that answer is correct. When that happens, your grammar becomes much more stable.

Giving and receiving expressions are not mainly about memorization. They are about organization.

“Whose viewpoint is it?”

First, build this one clear axis firmly in your mind.

JLPT中容易混淆的授受表达总结：「あげる」「くれる」「もらう」要从谁的视角来理解？

在JLPT语法和阅读中，有一类表达看起来不起眼，却让很多学习者感到困扰，那就是授受表达。

「あげる」「くれる」「もらう」。

这些词本身在学习日语的早期就会学到，可是一到题目里，很多人就突然开始犹豫。

明明知道意思，可是一看到选项，脑子就停住了。你有没有过这样的经历？

这三个表达之所以难，是因为只记住“给”和“得到”这样的意思并不够。

真正重要的是，不能弄错“从谁的立场来看”。

授受表达不仅表示物品或行为的移动。

它还同时表示说话人把心理上的重点放在哪一边。

所以，如果视角错了，即使大概知道意思，也可能选错答案。

这篇文章将用“谁的视角”这一条主线，整理JLPT中容易混淆的「あげる」「くれる」「もらう」。

先看结论：用“谁的视角”来思考

先抓住最重要的一点。

• 「あげる」
  从给予的一方来看

• 「くれる」
  某物或某个行为来到说话人这一边，或来到和说话人关系近的一边

• 「もらう」
  从接受的一方来看

如果只是把这三个表达从日语翻译成母语来记，几乎一定会在某个阶段混乱。

重要的是视角的位置：

• 谁给了？
• 给到谁这边来了？
• 谁收到了？

「あげる」是从给予的一方来看

「あげる」用于A给B某物时，从A这一方来表达。

例句

• 「私は友だちに本をあげました。」
  我给了朋友一本书。

• 「田中さんは妹にお菓子をあげました。」
  田中给了妹妹点心。

这里需要注意的是，“给的人”容易成为主语。

也就是说，镜头对准的是给予的一方。

JLPT中容易出错的地方

学习者常见的错误是，只要东西“给到了别人那里”，就全部用「あげる」。

但是，如果这个动作是朝说话人这边来的，有时就不是「あげる」，而是「くれる」。

也就是说，只看移动方向是不够的。

还必须看它和说话人的距离关系。

「くれる」是来到说话人这一边

「くれる」用于某人把某物给说话人，或给与说话人关系亲近的人。

例句

• 「友だちが私に本をくれました。」
  朋友给了我一本书。

• 「先生が弟にアドバイスをくれました。」
  老师给了我弟弟建议。

这里重要的是，接受的一方是说话人本人，或者是说话人在心理上觉得亲近的人。

很多学习者想说：

「友だちが私に本をあげました。」

但是在日语中，这里要用「くれる」。

因为这个动作是朝说话人这一边来的。

JLPT中容易出错的地方

「くれる」不只是简单的 give。

它里面带有“给到我这边来”的感觉。

如果没有这种感觉，只靠翻译处理，就容易在下面这样的句子中迷惑：

• 「私にくれた」
  给了我

• 「母にくれた」
  给了我母亲

• 「弟にくれた」
  给了我弟弟

特别是在阅读和语法题中，如果看不出谁是和说话人关系近的人，选项就会一下子变得模糊。

「もらう」是从接受的一方来看

「もらう」是把接受的一方作为主语来表达。

例句

• 「私は友だちに本をもらいました。」
  我从朋友那里得到了一本书。

• 「妹は先生に花をもらいました。」
  妹妹从老师那里得到了花。

这个表达中，视角在“收到的人”这一边。

也就是说，即使事情本身相同，和「あげる」「くれる」相比，镜头的位置不同。

对比一下

• 「私は友だちに本をあげました。」
  我给了朋友一本书。

• 「友だちが私に本をくれました。」
  朋友给了我一本书。

• 「私は友だちに本をもらいました。」
  我从朋友那里得到了一本书。

出现的人物和书可以相同，但视角在哪里，动词就会改变。

能把这一点整理清楚后，授受表达会一下子变得容易理解。

先用“箭头”来思考，就不容易混乱

如果你不擅长授受表达，可以试着在脑中画箭头。

「あげる」

A → B

从A这一方来看。

「くれる」

A → 我・我这一边

朝我这一边来。

「もらう」

A → B

从B这一方来看。

也就是说，要把“箭头的方向”和“镜头在哪一边”放在一起思考。

如果把这两点一起记住，遇到选项时就不容易动摇。

变成行为的授受后，更容易混乱

在JLPT中，不仅会出现物品的授受，也经常出现行为的授受。

• 「教えてあげる」
  教给别人，为别人做“教”这个行为

• 「教えてくれる」
  别人教我，或教我这一边的人

• 「教えてもらう」
  请别人教，得到别人教

变成这种形式后，“谁为了谁做了什么”会更不容易看清。

但是，思考方法是一样的。

例句

• 「私は友だちに日本語を教えてあげました。」
  我教了朋友日语。

• 「友だちが私に日本語を教えてくれました。」
  朋友教了我日语。

• 「私は友だちに日本語を教えてもらいました。」
  我请朋友教了我日语。

这里也是由视角的不同来决定。

• 「あげる」表示做行为的一方
• 「くれる」表示对我这一边做了某个行为
• 「もらう」表示我接受了别人做的行为

JLPT中常考的是“主语的替换”

授受表达题中特别常见的，是把主语或立场稍微替换一下的选项。

因为意思看起来相近，考试时一着急，可能每个选项都像是对的。

但实际上，其中会混入“视角错了”的选项。

例如：

• 「私は先生に本をくれました。」
  这句话不自然，因为主语是「私」，但「くれる」表示动作来到说话人这一边。

• 「先生は私に本をあげました。」
  在普通日语中，如果说话人是接受者，这句话不自然。

• 「私は先生に本をもらいました。」
  我从老师那里得到了一本书。

• 「先生は私に本をくれました。」
  老师给了我一本书。

像这样的选项排在一起时，只追语序的人很容易混乱。

这里需要的不是单纯的词汇量，而是固定视角。

请确认下面三点：

• 主语是谁？
• 箭头朝哪边？
• 是不是朝说话人这一边来？

只要抓住这三点，很多题目就会看起来清楚得多。

出现“和说话人亲近的人”时，难度会提高

让授受表达更难的一点是，接受者不是「私」，而是和说话人关系近的人。

例如，家人或身边的人出现时，有时会使用「くれる」。

例句

• 「先生が弟に本をくれました。」
  老师给了我弟弟一本书。

这句话很自然，是因为弟弟被看作是和说话人亲近的人。

如果简单地认为“不是我，所以不能用「くれる」”，就容易误解。

也就是说，「くれる」的接受者不一定必须是说话人本人。

只要说话人把对方看作自己这一边的人，「くれる」就可以成立。

这种感觉不仅在短文语法题中重要，在阅读和会话文中也非常重要。

犹豫时，想一想“这句话站在哪一边”

如果遇到授受表达实在犹豫，可以思考：

“这句话是站在哪一方来说的？”

• 想从给予的一方来表达
  → 「あげる」

• 有“对我这边做了某事”的感觉
  → 「くれる」

• 想从接受的一方来表达
  → 「もらう」

有时候，把它理解成“开心的方向”，有些学习者会突然明白。

特别是「くれる」，它不只是单纯的方向，还包含“对我这边做了某事”的感觉。

N3/N2中，比起“意思”，用“视角”来记更有用

N3和N2语法中，会出现很多意思相近的表达。

授受表达麻烦的地方在于，如果只看意思，它们都像是“给”和“得到”。

所以，下面这些方法最终会遇到瓶颈：

• 靠译词来记
• 只记单词
• 凭感觉选择

真正能在考试中稳定得分的人，是能够机械地确认：

“这句话是谁的视角？”

只要视角固定下来，授受表达反而可以变成得分点。

总结：只要不弄错“谁的视角”，授受表达并不可怕

在「あげる」「くれる」「もらう」上犹豫的人，并不是不知道意思。

很多时候，问题只是视角整理还不够清楚。

看到授受表达时，首先应该思考的只有一件事。

“这句话是从谁的立场来看？”

这一点确定后，应该选择哪个动词就会清楚很多。

相反，如果这里一直模糊，不管做多少题，都容易在同一个地方犹豫。

在RJT中，你可以学习这些容易混乱的语法项目，不只是记意思，也可以一起整理视角和用法差异。

不是做完一题就结束，而是能看懂“为什么是这个答案”。做到这一点后，语法就会一下子稳定下来。

授受表达靠的不是死记硬背，而是整理。

“谁的视角？”

首先，请把这一条清晰的主线，牢牢建立在自己的理解中。