〜ていただく
- 1To humbly receive the favor of someone of higher status doing an action for the speaker or the speaker's side.Ex. 1
- 2Used in polite request or permission-seeking expressions to ask someone to do something.Ex. 2
The person doing the favor is marked with に（先生に）
Request forms: 〜ていただけますか / 〜ていただけませんか / 〜ていただいてもよろしいでしょうか
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A humble keigo expression used when the favor comes from teachers, bosses, customers, or others the speaker defers to. It is common in business, customer service, and formal speech. It is the humble counterpart of 〜てもらう, and unlike 〜てくれる its grammatical subject is the receiver of the favor.
Learners sometimes mark the person doing the favor with が; in this pattern that person is marked with に.
Note that the subject of 〜ていただく is the receiver of the favor, not the person performing the action.
Do not default to 〜ていただく with close friends; 〜てもらう is the normal choice, and 〜ていただく sounds deliberately deferential there.
- てもらうN3「てもらう」 has the same meaning and structure as 「〜ていただく」 but is neutral in register, used mainly with family and friends; in informal situations you can even say 「先生に教えてもらった」 about a teacher, but it should not replace 「〜ていただく」 in formal settings.
- ていただけませんかN4「ていただけませんか」 is the fixed request form of 「〜ていただく」, used only to make a request to someone, never to describe a favor already received; compared with 「ていただけますか」, the negative question leaves more room and sounds more polite.
- てくれるN4「てくれる」 takes the giver as the subject marked with 「が」 and is neutral in register; the request form 「てくれない？」 is rather casual. Its honorific equivalent is 「てくださる」, so 「先生が教えてくださった」 ≈ 「先生に教えていただいた」.
- てあげるN4「てあげる」 works in the opposite direction: I do something for someone else, with the giver as subject. It is neutral in register and mostly used with juniors or peers; using it toward a superior sounds condescending. It cannot express someone doing something for me, so it is not interchangeable with 「〜ていただく」.
- てやるN4「てやる」 is used when the speaker does something for a peer, junior, or an animal/plant, with the giver as subject; it is colloquial and condescending. It can also express a resolve to deliberately annoy someone or out of spite, a meaning 「〜ていただく」 lacks. The two work in opposite directions and cannot be interchanged.
〜てもらう has the same receiving viewpoint in plain register, while 〜ていただけませんか is a set request form built on the potential of 〜ていただく. 〜てくれる makes the giver the subject, and 〜てあげる and 〜てやる describe favors done for others rather than received.
