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Ok, so I was studying some Japanese phrases when this showed up: 新しい 机 を 買って
もらいました。

The translation provided in the source material is: "They bought me a new
desk"

What I don't understand, however, is the verb placement. From what I can
perceive, the te-form in the 買う is used to connect it with the verb もらう. How
do I know which is the subject for each verb? I mean, how do I distinguish
that 買って's subject is "they" and that もらう's subject is "me"?

How do I know if this phrase means "They bought me a new desk" instead of "I
bought and received a new desk"?
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2014-12-24T11:26:25.587
21009
2014-12-24T13:15:28.790
2014-12-24T12:11:23.560
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question
translation meaning verbs word-order
新しい 机 を 買って もらいました。"They bought me a new desk" or "I bought and received a new desk"?
Whenever you use もらう, it always means to receive from someone else. It is
unusual to use もらう for anything you receive from yourself:

> 私は自分からこのケーキをもらった。 "I got this cake from me." <-- this sounds crazy

Moreover, it's odd to use もらう for getting or receiving things from stuff that
isn't willingly or consciously giving it to you:

> ジョンさんは、棚から千円もらった。 "John received one thousand yen from the shelf." <--
> crazy, shelves can't give people stuff

Basically, もらう is the reciprocal form of くれる or あげる, so that the participants
and viewpoint are switched. View もらう as though it's a rewording of あげる or くれる:

> 彼が 武田さんに 新しいコートを 買ってあげました "He bought Mr. Takeda a new coat."
>
> 武田さんが 彼に 新しいコートを 買ってもらいました "He bought Mr. Takeda a new coat."
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2014-12-24T12:32:22.113
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2014-12-24T13:15:28.790
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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answer