Pattern

Doing Something for Someone

How does a language say an action was done for someone?

English hangs a beneficiary on the end of the clause with “for”, or slips it in front of the object: cook a meal for her, cook her a meal. Elsewhere the verb itself carries the news. Swahili lengthens the stem, Tagalog rebuilds the clause around the person who profits, and across East and Southeast Asia into West Africa a second verb meaning “give” follows the first. Japanese splits that second verb three ways, so one act of cooking is worded differently depending on who ends up better off — and uses the passive when the answer is nobody.

Domain: Grammatical relations Benefaction
Structure: Multiverb construction Valency change
Mechanism: Grammaticalization

Strategies

A second verb “give”

[V] + GIVE → done for someone

The verb that names the action is joined by a verb that elsewhere means handing something over. Japanese 〜てくれる and 〜てあげる, Korean 〜어 주다, Mandarin 給 gěi, Thai ให้ hâi, Vietnamese cho and Ewe ná all work this way. The goods have dropped out: what is given is the action.

Japanese · 作ってくれた tsukutte kuretaKorean · 만들어 줬다 mandeureo jwottaMandarin Chinese · 給我做飯 gěi wǒ zuò fànThai · ทำอาหารให้ผม tham aahǎan hâi phǒmVietnamese · nấu cho tôi Ewe · ná Hindi · बना देना banā denā

A second verb “receive”

[V] + RECEIVE → I had it done for me

The same event told from the other end, with the beneficiary as subject. Japanese 〜てもらう makes the person who profits the one the sentence is about, so 作ってもらった says of the speaker what 作ってくれた says of the cook. This is the rarest of the strategies here, and the languages that have it cluster in and around Japan.

Japanese · 作ってもらった tsukutte morattaVietnamese · được giúp

An applicative on the verb

V-APPL → the beneficiary becomes an object

An affix on the verb licenses a beneficiary and treats it like a direct object, with no preposition anywhere. Swahili pika “cook” becomes pikia “cook for”, Chichewa and Zulu use reflexes of -ir-/-el-, Classical Nahuatl has -lia, and Ainu prefixes ko- to the verb. The clause gains an argument it had no room for before.

Swahili · nilimpikia Chichewa (Nyanja) · -ir- / -er- Zulu · -el- Nahuatl · -lia Ainu · ko-

Voice on the verb

V-VOICE → the affected person is what the clause is built on

Voice morphology rebuilds the clause around the person the event lands on, without adding an argument the way an applicative does. Tagalog i- selects the beneficiary as the pivot, the participant the ang-phrase names. Japanese reaches for the passive in the unwelcome case and can build it on an intransitive verb, which admits an affected person into an event that has no slot for one.

Japanese · 雨に降られた ame ni furaretaTagalog (Filipino) · i- (ibili)

A “for” phrase

for / 替 / ために + BENEFICIARY

A preposition or postposition marks the beneficiary and leaves the verb untouched. English for, German für, Russian для, Turkish için, Hindi के लिए and Japanese のために sit here. Several of these languages keep the phrase for emphasis or contrast while using a shorter construction by default.

Japanese · 私のために watashi no tame niKorean · 나를 위해서 nareul wihaeseoMandarin Chinese · 替我 / 為我 tì wǒ / wèi wǒEnglish · cook a meal for her German · für sie Russian · для меня dlja menjaFrench · pour elle Turkish · onun için Hindi · उसके लिए uske liye

Dative or bare object

V + BENEFICIARY.DAT

A case ending does the work — German ihm, Russian ему, Latin mihi, the Ancient Greek dative — or, in a language with no case left, the beneficiary simply takes an object slot next to the thing produced, as in cook her a meal. The same datives often double as possessors: French je lui ai lavé les mains puts the owner of the hands in the dative rather than the genitive.

English · cook her a meal German · Ich habe ihr Essen gekocht Russian · Я ей приготовил еду Ja ej prigotovil eduLatin · mihi Ancient Greek · μοι moiFrench · Je lui ai préparé un repas Spanish · Le preparé la cena

Geographic distribution

Pick one thing, and each dot is how that language says it, coloured by the strategy behind the verb. Click a dot for the form.

A second verb “give” An applicative on the verb Voice on the verb A “for” phrase Dative or bare object

Marker positions are approximate cultural centres — they are not territorial claims. Tiles: OpenFreeMap · © OpenStreetMap contributors · Dark tiles: © CARTO.

Language comparison

Language	Strategy	Expression	Note
Japanese Japonic	A second verb “give”	作ってくれた tsukutte kureta	くれる when the benefit comes toward the speaker, あげる when it goes away; くださる and さしあげる are the versions used where rank is at stake Shibatani 1994 山田敏弘 2004
Japanese Japonic	A second verb “receive”	作ってもらった tsukutte moratta	もらう < 貰う, to receive; いただく in deferential use Shibatani 1994 山田敏弘 2004
Japanese Japonic	Voice on the verb	雨に降られた ame ni furareta	the adversative passive, here on an intransitive verb — the unwelcome counterpart of the benefactive auxiliaries Shibatani 1994
Japanese Japonic	A “for” phrase	私のために watashi no tame ni	used where the auxiliary would be too weak or too intimate
Korean Koreanic	A second verb “give”	만들어 줬다 mandeureo jwotta	주다, to give; one form for both directions, with 드리다 when the person served outranks the server Shibatani 1994
Korean Koreanic	A “for” phrase	나를 위해서 nareul wihaeseo	Korean has no auxiliary matching Japanese もらう and uses a full verb, 도움을 받다, to put the beneficiary in subject position; 받다 does occur in bound forms like 사랑받다 Shibatani 1994
Mandarin Chinese Sino-Tibetan › Sinitic	A second verb “give”	給我做飯 gěi wǒ zuò fàn	給 stands before the verb here, and after it in 送給 Newman 1996
Mandarin Chinese Sino-Tibetan › Sinitic	A “for” phrase	替我 / 為我 tì wǒ / wèi wǒ	替, to stand in for; 為, on account of
Thai Tai-Kadai › Tai	A second verb “give”	ทำอาหารให้ผม tham aahǎan hâi phǒm	ให้ hâi is the ordinary verb “give”; with no object between them, ทำให้ reads as a causative instead Newman 1996
Vietnamese Austroasiatic › Vietic	A second verb “give”	nấu cho tôi	cho, to give Newman 1996
Vietnamese Austroasiatic › Vietic	A second verb “receive”	được giúp	được, to get, marks the welcome case; the unwelcome one takes bị
Ewe Atlantic-Congo › Kwa	A second verb “give”	ná	the verb “give” in a serial chain Heine & Kuteva 2002
Swahili Atlantic-Congo › Bantu	An applicative on the verb	nilimpikia	ni-li-m-pik-i-a, I cooked for him; pika “cook” → pikia “cook for”, and the vowel of the suffix follows the stem Ashton 1944 Peterson 2007
Chichewa (Nyanja) Atlantic-Congo › Bantu	An applicative on the verb	-ir- / -er-	the Bantu applicative extension Peterson 2007
Zulu Atlantic-Congo › Bantu	An applicative on the verb	-el-	Peterson 2007
Nahuatl Uto-Aztecan	An applicative on the verb	-lia	Classical Nahuatl Peterson 2007
Ainu Ainu (isolate, critically endangered)	An applicative on the verb	ko-	a prefix adding a participant the action is directed at Satō 2008
Tagalog (Filipino) Austronesian › Philippine	Voice on the verb	i- (ibili)	the beneficiary becomes the pivot and takes the ang-phrase; ipag- serves other verb classes, and on this root ipagbili means “sell” rather than “buy for” Schachter & Otanes 1972
English Indo-European › Germanic	A “for” phrase	cook a meal for her
English Indo-European › Germanic	Dative or bare object	cook her a meal	productive with native verbs; Latinate ones resist it, hence explain the problem to me but not *explain me the problem
German Indo-European › Germanic	Dative or bare object	Ich habe ihr Essen gekocht	a free dative: kochen does not require it, and the benefit is what it adds
German Indo-European › Germanic	A “for” phrase	für sie
Russian Indo-European › Slavic	Dative or bare object	Я ей приготовил еду Ja ej prigotovil edu
Russian Indo-European › Slavic	A “for” phrase	для меня dlja menja
Latin Indo-European › Italic (historical)	Dative or bare object	mihi	the dative of advantage, dativus commodi, beside the dative of disadvantage
Ancient Greek Indo-European › Hellenic (historical)	Dative or bare object	μοι moi	the dative, which also covers the recipient and the possessor
French Indo-European › Romance	Dative or bare object	Je lui ai préparé un repas	the dative clitic; aider by contrast takes a plain direct object and marks nothing
French Indo-European › Romance	A “for” phrase	pour elle
Spanish Indo-European › Romance	Dative or bare object	Le preparé la cena
Turkish Turkic › Oghuz	A “for” phrase	onun için
Hindi Indo-European › Indo-Aryan	A “for” phrase	उसके लिए uske liye
Hindi Indo-European › Indo-Aryan	A second verb “give”	बना देना banā denā	देना as a vector verb; it also marks completion, so the benefactive reading depends on context

Who ends up better off

One meal cooked, put four ways according to who profits, and a fifth row for the case where somebody loses. Japanese changes the auxiliary every time; Korean uses one auxiliary for the first two rows and reserves its marking for rank; German and Russian move a pronoun into the dative and leave the verb alone. An empty cell is a language with no dedicated construction there.

Language	someone cooks for me The benefit arrives at the speaker or the speaker’s side.	I cook for someone The benefit leaves the speaker for someone else.	I had them cook for me The same event with the beneficiary as the subject of the sentence.	cooking for a superior The construction registers the social standing of the person served.	it happened on me The counterpart of benefit: someone is worse off for the event.
Japanese Japonic	作ってくれた tsukutte kureta A second verb “give” gave me the cooking	作ってあげた tsukutte ageta A second verb “give” あげる is 上げる, to raise	作ってもらった tsukutte moratta A second verb “receive” received the cooking	作って差し上げた tsukutte sashiageta A second verb “give” さしあげる for serving a superior; くださる is the mirror image, a superior doing it for me	雨に降られた ame ni furareta Voice on the verb the adversative passive, built on an intransitive verb
Korean Koreanic	만들어 줬다 mandeureo jwotta A second verb “give”	만들어 줬다 mandeureo jwotta A second verb “give” the same form as the row above	—	만들어 드렸다 mandeureo deuryeotta A second verb “give” 드리다 when the person served outranks the server	—
Mandarin Chinese Sino-Tibetan › Sinitic	他給我做了飯 tā gěi wǒ zuò le fàn A second verb “give”	我給他做了飯 wǒ gěi tā zuò le fàn A second verb “give” the same 給, with the pronouns swapped	—	—	—
Thai Tai-Kadai › Tai	ทำอาหารให้ผม tham aahǎan hâi phǒm A second verb “give”	ทำอาหารให้เขา tham aahǎan hâi kháo A second verb “give” the object อาหาร has to stand between the verbs; bare ทำให้ is read as a causative	—	—	—
Vietnamese Austroasiatic › Vietic	nấu cho tôi A second verb “give”	nấu cho anh ấy A second verb “give”	—	—	—
Swahili Atlantic-Congo › Bantu	amenipikia An applicative on the verb a-me-ni-pik-i-a, he has cooked for me	nimempikia An applicative on the verb ni-me-m-pik-i-a, I have cooked for him	—	—	—
Tagalog (Filipino) Austronesian › Philippine	Ibili mo ako ng tinapay Voice on the verb buying rather than cooking; ako, the beneficiary, is the pivot of the clause	—	—	—	—
English Indo-European › Germanic	she cooked me a meal Dative or bare object no marking on the verb; the beneficiary takes an object slot	I cooked her a meal Dative or bare object	I got her to cook for me a causative pressed into service; English has no benefactive construction here	—	the car died on me A “for” phrase the “on me” of misfortune
German Indo-European › Germanic	sie hat mir Essen gekocht Dative or bare object a free dative: kochen does not ask for one	ich habe ihr Essen gekocht Dative or bare object	—	—	mir ist der Zug weggefahren Dative or bare object the dative of disadvantage: the train left on me
Russian Indo-European › Slavic	она мне приготовила еду ona mne prigotovila edu Dative or bare object	я ей приготовил еду ja ej prigotovil edu Dative or bare object	—	—	—
French Indo-European › Romance	elle m'a préparé un repas Dative or bare object	je lui ai préparé un repas Dative or bare object	—	—	—
Hindi Indo-European › Indo-Aryan	मेरे लिए खाना बना दिया mere liye khānā banā diyā A second verb “give” two strategies at once: the के लिए phrase and the vector verb देना	उसके लिए खाना बना दिया uske liye khānā banā diyā A second verb “give”	—	—	—
Turkish Turkic › Oghuz	benim için yemek yaptı A “for” phrase	onun için yemek yaptım A “for” phrase	—	—	—

How the columns cluster

Two columns count as close when the same language uses one verb for both. Branches joining further right are the pairs more languages merge; the column order in the grid and on the map follows this tree, so neighbours behave alike.

92% someone cooks for me · I cook for someone 11 of 12 — Korean, Mandarin Chinese, Thai, Vietnamese, Swahili, English, German, Russian, French, Hindi, Turkish

I had them cook for me sits at the far end. No language here uses its verb for someone cooks for me, I cook for someone, cooking for a superior or it happened on me.

Examples

Toggle between Natural / Literal / Gloss to see how each language conceptualises the same idea.

Who gives, who receives

Japanese picks a different auxiliary for each direction, and a third for telling the story from the beneficiary’s side. Korean, Mandarin and Thai use one GIVE verb throughout.

Japanese · 日本語

友達が作ってくれた。

tomodachi ga tsukutte kureta.

Natural: A friend made it for me.

Japanese · 日本語

妹に本を読んであげた。

imōto ni hon o yonde ageta.

Natural: I read my little sister a book.

Japanese · 日本語

友達に作ってもらった。

tomodachi ni tsukutte moratta.

Natural: I got a friend to make it for me.

Korean · 한국어

친구가 만들어 줬어.

chingu-ga mandeureo jwosseo.

Natural: A friend made it for me.

Mandarin Chinese · 普通话

我給他做了飯。

wǒ gěi tā zuò le fàn.

Natural: I cooked him a meal.

Thai · ภาษาไทย

เขาทำอาหารให้ผม

kháo tham aahǎan hâi phǒm

Natural: He cooked a meal for me.

References

Ashton 1944 01

Ashton, E. O. (1944).

Swahili Grammar (Including Intonation).

Longmans, Green & Co..
Creissels 2010 02

Creissels, Denis (2010).

Benefactive applicative periphrases: A typological approach.

In Zúñiga, Fernando; Kittilä, Seppo (eds.), Benefactives and Malefactives: Typological Perspectives and Case Studies. John Benjamins. 29–70. doi:10.1075/tsl.92.02cre
Heine & Kuteva 2002 03

Heine, Bernd; Kuteva, Tania (2002).

World Lexicon of Grammaticalization.

Cambridge University Press.
Kittilä 2005 04

Kittilä, Seppo (2005).

Recipient-prominence vs. beneficiary-prominence.

Linguistic Typology. 9(2): 269–297. doi:10.1515/lity.2005.9.2.269
Newman 1996 05

Newman, John (1996).

Give: A Cognitive Linguistic Study.

Cognitive Linguistics Research 7. Mouton de Gruyter. doi:10.1515/9783110823714
Peterson 2007 06

Peterson, David A. (2007).

Applicative Constructions.

Oxford Studies in Typology and Linguistic Theory. Oxford University Press.
Satō 2008 07

Satō, Tomomi 佐藤知己 (2008).

アイヌ語文法の基礎 [Foundations of Ainu grammar].

Daigaku Shorin 大学書林.
Schachter & Otanes 1972 08

Schachter, Paul; Otanes, Fe T. (1972).

Tagalog Reference Grammar.

University of California Press.
Shibatani 1994 09

Shibatani, Masayoshi (1994).

Benefactive constructions: A Japanese-Korean comparative perspective.

Japanese/Korean Linguistics 4. CSLI Publications. 39–74.
Zúñiga & Kittilä 2010 10

Zúñiga, Fernando; Kittilä, Seppo (2010).

Benefactives and Malefactives: Typological Perspectives and Case Studies.

Typological Studies in Language 92. John Benjamins. doi:10.1075/tsl.92
山田敏弘 2004 11

山田敏弘 (2004).

日本語のベネファクティブ ——「てやる」「てくれる」「てもらう」の文法.

明治書院.

Related patterns

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