Grammar Notes 16

You may sometimes encounter ほしい with a third-person subject. This is possible when the person's desire is treated as known or established information, rather than simply inferred from outward behavior. For example, the person may have directly said what they want:

• スミスさんは水がほしいんです。
  Mr. Smith wants some water.

In such contexts, ほしい presents the desire itself, while ほしがっている describes the person as showing or expressing a desire for something. Compare:

• スミスさんは水がほしいんです。
  Mr. Smith wants some water.
  → His desire is presented as known information.
• スミスさんは水をほしがっています。
  Mr. Smith wants some water.
  → He is showing or expressing a desire for water.

Both かもしれない and でしょう can express uncertainty, but they differ in the speaker's degree of confidence. かもしれない presents something as one possibility: the speaker is not sure whether it is true. でしょう expresses a more confident prediction or judgment: based on what the speaker knows, the speaker thinks that something is probably true or will probably happen.

• あしたは雨がふるかもしれません。
  It might rain tomorrow.
• あしたは雨がふるでしょう。
  It will probably rain tomorrow.

It is better not to assign an exact percentage of probability to these expressions. The important distinction is the speaker's degree of commitment: かもしれない is more tentative than でしょう.

The expression かもしれない generally follows a plain-form predicate. However, with an affirmative non-past noun or な-adjective, the copula だ is omitted before かもしれない (marked by ✅ below).

い-Adjective	な-Adjective
いいかもしれない	だめかもしれない✅
よくないかもしれない	だめじゃないかもしれない
よかったかもしれない	だめだったかもしれない
よくなかったかもしれない	だめじゃなかったかもしれない
Noun	Verb
先生かもしれない✅	食べるかもしれない
先生じゃないかもしれない	食べないかもしれない
先生だったかもしれない	食べたかもしれない
先生じゃなかったかもしれない	食べなかったかもしれない

More Examples:

• あしたは雨がふるかもしれないね。
  It might rain tomorrow.

• あしたは雨かもしれないね。
  It might be rainy tomorrow.
• きのうは雨がふったかもしれませんね。
  It might have rained yesterday.
• きのうは雨だったかもしれませんね。
  It might have been rainy yesterday.

The polite form is かもしれません:

• 田中先生も来るかもしれません。
  Professor Tanaka may come, too.

In casual conversation, かもしれない is often shortened to かも:

• 田中先生も来るかも。
  Professor Tanaka might come, too.

Both expressions can be used to give advice, but they have somewhat different nuances.

• 薬を飲んだらどうですか。
  How about taking some medicine?

This presents taking medicine as a possible course of action for the listener to consider.

• 薬を飲んだほうがいいですよ。
  You should take some medicine.

This more directly expresses the speaker's judgment that taking medicine is the better course of action. Thus, Vたらどうですか can sound gentler than Vたほうがいい. However, tone and context are important. When the listener has asked for advice, Vたらどうですか is a natural response:

• A: 頭が痛いんですが、どうしたらいいですか。
  　　I have a headache. What should I do?
• B: 薬を飲んだらどうですか。
  　　How about taking some medicine?

When advice has not been requested, Vたらどうですか can sometimes sound critical or impatient, especially if the suggested action seems obvious:

• 薬を飲んだらどうですか。
  Why don't you take some medicine?

Depending on the situation and tone of voice, this could imply, “Why aren't you doing that?”

Do not confuse Vたらどうですか with an invitation using Vませんか.

• あした、映画(えいが)を見ませんか。
  Would you like to watch a movie tomorrow?

→ The speaker is inviting the listener to do something, often together with the speaker.

• あした、映画を見たらどうですか。
  Why don't you watch a movie tomorrow?

→ The speaker is suggesting that watching a movie would be a good option for the listener. This is not an invitation to watch the movie together.

The …たら conditional is formed by adding ら to the plain past form. Depending on the context, it often corresponds to “if” or “when” in English. Despite being built from the plain past form, …たら does not necessarily refer to past time.

Table 2. Clause 1たら + Clause 2

Clause 1 (If/When ...)	Clause 2 (Main Clause)
その本がたかかったら	買えません。
If the book is expensive,	I can't buy it.
ケーキがおいしくなかったら	食べません。
If the cake is not tasty,	I won't eat it.
やさいがきらいだったら	食べなくてもいいですよ。
If you dislike vegetable,	you don't have to eat it.
カフェがしずかじゃなかったら	としょかんに行きましょう。
If the cafeteria is not quiet,	let's go to the library.
その人が日本人だったら	日本語が話せるでしょう。
If that person is a Japanese,	he/she can speak Japanese.
その人がいい人じゃなかったら	そうだんできません。
If he/she is not a good person,	I won't be able to consult with him/her.
大学をそつぎょうしたら	日本の会社で はたらきたいです。
If/When I graduate from college,	I would like to work for a Japanese company.
11時までに来なかったら	帰ります。
If he does not come by 11 o'clock,	I will leave.

Whether …たら is best translated as “if” or “when” depends on the context.　If the speaker treats the event in the …たら clause as something that is expected to occur, English often uses "when":

• あしたの朝になったら、出かけます。
  When morning comes tomorrow, I'll leave.

If it is uncertain whether the condition will be met, English normally uses "if":

• あしたの朝、晴れたら、出かけます。
  If it is sunny tomorrow morning, I'll go out.

Japanese …たら itself does not make the same grammatical distinction between English if and when; the interpretation comes from the meaning and context.

When …たら refers to two events, the event or situation in the …たら clause is established before the event in the main clause occurs.

• 大学を卒業(そつぎょう)したら、日本の会社で働(はたら)きたいです。
  When I graduate from college, I would like to work for a Japanese company.
  First: 大学を卒業する　 → Then: 日本の会社で働く

This time relationship is particularly important when comparing …たら with …なら.

When the …たら clause has its own subject, that subject is commonly marked by が:

• ［田中さんが駅(えき)に着(つ)いたら］、電話します。
  When Mr. Tanaka arrives at the station, I will call.

Here, 田中さん is the subject of 着く, while the omitted subject of 電話します can be the speaker.　Compare:

• 田中さんは［駅に着いたら］、電話します。
  When he arrives at the station, Mr. Tanaka will call.

Here, 田中さんは is the topic of the entire sentence and is understood as the person who will call.

There is a special use of …たら when both events have already happened. In this use, the speaker performs or experiences the first event and then discovers a situation or unexpected result.

• 学校に行ったら、テストがあった。
  When I went to school, I found out that there was a test.
  → The test was an unexpected discovery.
  
• 外に出たら、雪がふっていた。
  When I went outside, I found that it was snowing.
  → The speaker discovered the situation after going outside.

Because this construction presents the second event as a result, situation, or discovery encountered after S1, it normally does not describe an intentionally planned action by the same person:

• ✽ 学校に行ったら、本を読んだ。 [Unacceptable]
  Intended: When I went to school, I read a book.

If reading the book was simply the speaker's planned next action, this is not the appropriate use of past …たら.

One important difference between …たら and …なら concerns the relationship between the condition and the main-clause event.　With …たら, the condition is established first, and then the main-clause event takes place:

• 日本に行ったら、カメラを買います。
  When I go to Japan, I'll buy a camera.
  → Go to Japan first → buy the camera there.

With …なら, the main-clause event does not have to occur after the event described by なら. It may even occur before it:

• 日本に行くなら、カメラを買います。
  If I'm going to Japan, I'll buy a camera.
  → Knowing that I am going to Japan is the condition;
  　　I can buy the camera before leaving for Japan.

Therefore, …たら often establishes a sequence of events, while …なら presents something as a condition, assumption, or given situation without requiring the same chronological order.

Table 3. Giver は／が + Object を + Recipient に + あげる

Giverは／が	Direct Objectを	Recipientに	Giving Verb
(私は)	はなを	田中さんに	あげました。	I gave flowers to Ms. Tanaka.

When the speaker gives something to someone else, あげる is used, not くれる:

• ✽ 私は花を田中さんにくれました。 [Ungrammatical]

The giver can also be someone other than the speaker:

Table 4. Giver は／が + Object を + Recipient に + あげる

Giverは／が	Direct Objectを	Recipientに	Giving Verb
スミスさんは	本を	田中さんに	あげました。	Ms. Smith gave a book to Ms. Tanaka.

くれる is used when someone gives something to the speaker:

Table 5. Giver は／が + Object を + 私に + くれる

Giverは／が	Direct Objectを	Recipientに	Giving Verb
田中さんは	ケーキを	(私に)	くれました。	Ms. Tanaka gave a cake to me.

Because くれる already indicates that the giving is directed toward the speaker or the speaker's group, 私に is often omitted when it is clear from the context. The recipient can also be someone whom the speaker regards as part of the speaker's ingroup, such as a family member as shown in Sentence 1 below. The gift therefore moves toward the speaker's side, and くれる is natural. Compare this to Sentence 2 where あげる refers to the giving directed toward the speaker's own daughter. This is considered ungrammatical.

Table 6. Giver は／が + Object を + Ingroupに + くれる

	Giverは／が	Direct Objectを	Recipientに	Giving Verb
1.	田中さんは	ケーキを	むすめに	くれました。✅	Ms. Tanaka gave a cake to my daughter.
2.	✽田中さんは	ケーキを	むすめに	あげました。	[Ungrammatical if むすめ is the speaker's daughter.]

If the giver gives something to their own daughter, あげる is grammatical (Sentence 3a or 3b below).

Table 7. Giver は／が + Object を + Ingroupに + あげる

	Giverは／が	Direct Objectを	Recipientに	Giving Verb
3a.	私は	ケーキを	むすめに	あげました。	I gave a cake to my daughter.
3b.	田中さんは	ケーキを	むすめに	あげました。	Ms. Tanaka gave a cake to her own daughter.

Thus, the choice between あげる and くれる is not determined only by who physically receives the object. It also reflects the speaker's point of view and relationship to the recipient.

• Giving away from the speaker's side → あげる
• Giving toward the speaker's side → くれる

The honorific equivalent of くれる is くださる:

• 先生が本をくださいました。
  The professor gave me a book.

The familiar request expression ください (“please give me...”) is historically the imperative form of くださる.

もらう means “receive” and describes the same type of transfer from the recipient's point of view. It is an う-verb. The recipient is marked by は／が, the item received by を, and the giver (source) by に or から.

Table 8. Recipient は／が + Object を + Giverに + もらう

Recipient は／が	Direct Objectを	Giverに／から	Receiving Verb
私は	ケーキを	田中さんに 田中さんから	もらいました。	I received a cake from Tanaka.

The recipient does not have to be the speaker:

Table 9. Recipient は／が + Object を + Giverに + もらう

Recipient は／が	Direct Objectを	Giverに／から	Receiving Verb
スミスさんは	ケーキを	田中さんに 田中さんから	もらいました。	Smith received a cake from Tanaka.

With もらう, に and から can both mark the giver. から more explicitly presents the person as the source from which something is received.

When the speaker is the giver, Japanese normally describes the event using あげる, rather than presenting another person's receiving with もらう:

• 私は田中さんに本をあげました。
  I gave Ms. Tanaka a book.

Rather than:

• ❓田中さんは私に／から本をもらいました。[Unnatural]
  Ms. Tanaka received a book from me.

The second sentence is grammatically possible in an appropriate context, but it is generally unnatural as a simple report by the speaker because it presents the other person's receiving rather than the speaker's giving. In ordinary conversation, the speaker would normally choose あげる. This illustrates an important feature of Japanese giving and receiving expressions: the choice of verb reflects not only who gives and who receives, but also whose point of view the event is presented from.

Giving and receiving verbs can also occur in request expressions.

• 田中さんに本をあげてください。
  Please give the book to Mr. Tanaka.
• このおみやげをもらってください。
  Please accept this souvenir.

With くれる, however, the ordinary request meaning “Please give me...” is expressed with ください:

• 水をください。
  Please give me some water.

Do not say:

• ❓水をくれてください。[Unacceptable]

くれてください is not the standard request form. Use ください when requesting that someone give you an object. Compare the three directions:

• 私は田中さんに本をあげました。
  I gave Ms. Tanaka a book. → giving to someone else
• 田中さんは私に本をくれました。
  Ms. Tanaka gave me a book. → giving to me
• 私は田中さんに／から本をもらいました。
  I received a book from Ms. Tanaka. → receiving from someone else

The same transfer can therefore be described from different perspectives:

• 田中さんは私に本をくれました。
  Ms. Tanaka gave me a book.
• 私は田中さんに本をもらいました。
  I received a book from Ms. Tanaka.

Both sentences describe the same transfer, but くれる views it as something someone gave toward the speaker, while もらう views it as something the speaker received.