5219
Good afternoon all,

From what I understand, "~ておく" basically has 4 meanings:

  1. to do something for a purpose / reason

  2. used as a softener ([source](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/3142/264))

  3. to do.. for now or for the time being ([source](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/4750/264), [source](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/3002/264)), in other words to leave a situation as it is for now or for some time ([source](http://www.maggiesensei.com/2010/11/25/%E3%80%9C%E3%81%A6%E3%81%8A%E3%81%8F-teoku/))

  4. used as a request / command ([source](http://www.imabijapaneselearningcenter.com/lesson49.htm#509811189))

I was wondering which of the above meaning is the implied meaning of "~ておく"
when we use the word "任せておく" in the sentence "任せておけ！" ?

Is it the first meaning: _"Leave it to me! (and your reason being that I will
get the job done for you)"_ ,

Or is it the third meaning: _"(For the time being,) Leave it to me!"_ ?

PS: Btw just to confirm, is it true that the "~ておく" of "放っておく" implies the
third meaning?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-13T11:14:44.290
5216
2013-03-11T01:29:16.867
2017-04-13T12:43:44.207
-1
264
question
nuances て-form subsidiary-verbs
What does the "~ておく" mean in "任せておく"?
I was taught ～ておく means "to leave something all set". In fact I've seen it
written with ～て置く.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-14T05:40:23.370
5218
2012-04-14T05:40:23.370
1306
5216
answer
I'll just leave my comment above as an answer to maybe be ticked off since
people seem to agree with it:

I was taught that ~ておく means "to do something in preparation (for something
else)", (ie. nr.1 there) but I'm sure there's many (probably similar)
applications..

As sawa also points out in his comment, your point 2 and 4 doesn't seem to
make much sense, and point 3 is also a bit fuzzy.

Furthermore, as a side note, ~ておく at least in speech is often shortened to
~とく, as also noted in [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/3141/where-does-the-
verbal-form-%E3%81%97%E3%81%A8%E3%81%8F-come-from).
CC BY-SA 3.0
2012-04-14T07:03:29.753
5219
2012-04-15T03:49:59.600
2017-04-13T12:43:44.863
-1
1173
5216
answer