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What happens when I post-fix a って to もらう. Example:
手伝ってもらって.

I know 手伝ってもらう means I receive the favor of someone helping me. But what does conjugating もらう to its て form does?

Also, in its causative form,
手伝わせてもらう - A made B help me (as a favor for me)

If I am to conjugate this to 手伝ってもらって, what does it mean?

And finally, its passive form:
手伝われてもらう - Same meaning as 手伝ってもらう possibly?

Again, conjugating this to 手伝われてもらって, what does this mean?

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    I wouldn't interpret 手伝わせてもらう as A made B help me (as a favor for me)...
    – chocolate
    Commented May 13, 2019 at 8:34

2 Answers 2

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もらう means the subject receives a favor/thing from someone else. The subject is typically "I", but it doesn't have to be so. As always, the implied subject depends on the context.

私は手伝ってもらった。
I got help (from someone).

彼は手伝ってもらった。
He got help (from someone).

手伝ってもらった。
{Someone} got help (from someone).
(This "someone" is typically "I", but it can be anyone depending on the context.)

The te-form can form a request, as you probably know. Therefore:

手伝ってもらって。
(You should) Get help (from someone).
Let {him/her/someone} help you.

させて + もらう is not so uncommon. Here, the "favor" itself is a causative expression. Note that させる can also describe allowance:

私は手伝ってもらった。
I received a favor of helping (me).
I got help (from someone).

私は手伝わせてもらった。
I received a favor of letting me help (someone).
Thankfully, I was allowed to help (someone).

られて + もらう is a very rare combination and you may want to forget it for now. In case you're curious, it's possible to say something like this:

私は彼に怒られてもらった。
I received his favor of being scolded (by someone else).
I got him to be scolded (e.g., on behalf of me).
(It's far more natural to say 彼は(私の代わりに)怒られてくれた.)

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  • @Newbie Yes, basically it's just "I was allowed to help, and...".
    – naruto
    Commented May 14, 2019 at 1:25
  • Whoops, I deleted my previous comment (which was answered by @naruto). So am putting it back here just for future reference. Question as follows: Can i assume by extension that the て-form of causative expression (手伝わせてもらって) implies "let (me) help (someone)"
    – Newbie
    Commented May 14, 2019 at 1:51
  • It can mean that, but what I was implying in my comment was whether it can also mean "asking someone for permission as to whether I am allowed to help someone else". For example: 彼を手伝わせてもらって would mean "let me help him please" if I am not mistaken
    – Newbie
    Commented May 14, 2019 at 2:40
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手伝わせてもらう would simply mean "help (someone)". The nuance is that you are helping another, whether they wanted the help or not.

手伝ってもらって would be "to have someone help", as in:

「あの人に手伝ってもらってね」

"Be sure to have him help you." or "Be sure to ask him to help you."

or in the middle of a sentence it would indicate "having someone help, (...)". E.g.

「彼に手伝ってもらって、早めに終わらせるんだ」

"Have him help you so you can finish early."

I've never heard anyone use 手伝われてもらう (and by extension, 手伝われてもらって). As an example,

「A君には手伝われてもらうぞ」

while confusing, would technically convey the impression that A-kun does not want others to help him with some specific task, yet the speaker wants A-kun to accept other people's (not the speaker's, but in general) help, in terms of that specific task. Practically no one uses this form, though, unless their intention is to play with verb conjugation.

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  • Thanks for the answer. From your example 「彼に手伝ってもらって、早めに終わらせるんだ」, if i am not mistaken the second clause would (more literally) be translated as "so you can make (it) end early". I am just curious as to why you would use the causative form instead of the normal form (早めに終わるんだ). Does causative sound more natural?
    – Newbie
    Commented May 14, 2019 at 1:43
  • 終わらせる means "make end", "finish". 終わらせるんだ is like an order ("You should make end", "You should finish" etc), so in this case 早めに終わらせるんだ can be translated as "you should (try to) finish early" and with the 手伝ってもらって it becomes "Get help (from someone) so you can finish early". I'm not sure how to explain it better, but hopefully these examples can elucidate the usage somewhat.
    – VVayfarer
    Commented May 14, 2019 at 5:30

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