ご飯に行ってくれると言ってました

[theseus_]

Context:

今日は会社に出社して、退勤後新居の鍵を受け取りに不動産屋さんへ行きました。そのまま夜ご飯を食べて帰りました。イケメンの不動産屋さんは大事な試験が終わった10月末以降にご飯に行ってくれると言ってました。楽しみです！

The author is a girl and she has a crush on the employee of the real estate agent's employee, and it seems that they have an appointment to have dinner together.


My doubt is mainly about "~てくれる", I simply think it means "不動産屋さん" gives the author something.

I've asked others as well, and what I know so far is that the subject of ご飯に行ってくれる and 言ってました are both "イケメンの不動産屋さん".

So, I guess that "ご飯に行ってくれる" is something that "不動産屋さん" said to the author, maybe "不動産屋さん" invited the author to dinner.

But someone told me that the person who invited the other is most likely the girl and not 不動産屋さん, because if the situation is reversed, it should be "ご飯に連れて行ってくれる".

Then, the fact is that the author invited "不動産屋さん", and "不動産屋さん" said "ご飯に行ってくれる".

What does "ご飯に行ってくれる" actually mean? Does it mean "agree to have dinner"?

 

[SoLaTiDoberman]

行ってくれる is definitely not 行って、そして、（何かのプレゼントや品を）くれる.

行ってくれる and 行ってあげる and 行ってもらう and 行ってやる are roughly speaking the same as 行く.
てくれる, てあげる, てもらう and てやる are kind of suffix of the verb 行く, indicating "from who to whom" or "for who's sake."

Aが私のために行く＝Aが行っててくれる＝Aに行ってもらう= A goes for my sake.

私がＢのために行く＝わたしが行ってあげる=私が行ってやる = I go for B's sake.

ご飯に行ってくれる in this context means "不動産屋のイケメン男 is going to eat out for dinner with 著者の女, for her sake."

 

[gengo]

今日は会社に出社して、退勤後新居の鍵を受け取りに不動産屋さんへ行きました。そのまま夜ご飯を食べて帰りました。イケメンの不動産屋さんは大事な試験が終わった10月末以降にご飯に行ってくれると言ってました。楽しみです！

That くれる is a bit difficult to translate into English, but as Sola has explained, it basically means that the other party is doing something that is appreciated by the first party.

My translation:
I went into the office today, and after work I went to my real estate agent* to pick up the keys to my new place. I ate dinner and went straight home. The good-looking real estate agent agreed to go out for dinner with me after the end of October, once he has finished an important exam. I can't wait!

I used "agreed" here, but there are probably other ways to convey the nuance here.

* There is no exact translation of 不動産屋, because that particular business model does not exist in English-speaking countries. A real estate agent is someone who helps people buy or sell houses, etc., but a 不動産屋 does more than that, and is usually the party that receives rent payments and manages the property. Another possible translation is "property manager," although that too is not an exact match.

 

[Flaminius]

Even though the sense is clear (taking the writer to dinner) I find ご飯に行ってくれる incomplete without words like 私と or 二人で. In conversation, however, ご飯に行ってくれる may be sufficient. The evidence follows (emphasis mine):

1人は寂しい････
___ご飯に行ってくれる男性
一緒にドライブに行ってくれる女性が
いたら最高じゃないですか

 

[Joschl]

I personally find the expression "ご飯に行く" odd (see OKWAVE) and would say something like "[イケメンの不動産屋さん]が[離婚したばかりの私を][食事]に誘ってくれました。" instead.

 

[gengo]

I personally find the expression "ご飯に行く" odd (see OKWAVE) and would say something like "[イケメンの不動産屋さん]が[離婚したばかりの私を][食事]に誘ってくれました。" instead.

I think that version changes the meaning. The original (ご飯に行ってくれると言ってました) implies, to me at least, that the man said "OK" to a suggestion from the woman that they go out to dinner together, whereas your version clearly states that the man was the one who made the invitation.

 

[Joschl]

[Y]our version clearly states that the man was the one who made the invitation.

That's right. I'm not sure if the benefactive construction "[一緒に]ご飯に行ってくれる" by itself can really tell us who made the invitation. I think we can only know that the man did what the woman wanted him to do. We can assume that the woman made the suggestion but we cannot know if it was true.

theseus_, the verbs "age-ru/yar-u", "kure-ru" and "mora-u" function not only as full verbs (本動詞) but also as subsidiary verbs (補助動詞) together with full verbs in their te/de-forms in benefactive constructions (受益構文). You find some general information on that here.

 

[theseus_]

Thank you all for answering, the explanations, translations, grammar points and links you've given are very helpful to me!

I think that version changes the meaning. The original (ご飯に行ってくれると言ってました) implies, to me at least, that the man said "OK" to a suggestion from the woman that they go out to dinner together, whereas your version clearly states that the man was the one who made the invitation.

That's right. I'm not sure if the benefactive construction "[一緒に]ご飯に行ってくれる" by itself can really tell us who made the invitation. I think we can only know that the man did what the woman wanted him to do. We can assume that the woman made the suggestion but we cannot know if it was true.

I still have a small question though.

After reading these two paragraphs, I feel that the original text doesn't make it clear who invited whom first, and it seems that the construction of "te-kure-ru" alone doesn't indicate this information, and yet it seems that everyone assumes from the text that the author invited the man first.

Is it possible that the author avoided indicating that she made the invitation, and simply skipped this detail with the benefactive construction "te-kure-ru", which is considered a traditional ambiguity/implicitness in expression?

 

[Joschl]

The benefactive constructions "～te age-ru" and "～te kure-ru" simply convay the idea that '[person A] [does] [something] that is beneficial for [person B]' or '[person A] [does] [something] as a favour to [person B]'.

[A]が[B]に[何か]を[して]あげる。(subject: A, described from A's perspective)
[A]が[B]に[何か]を[して]くれる。(subject: A, described from B's perspective)

If the writer wants to tell her readers clearly who asked/invited whom to dinner, she will need to use an expression, such as "招待する" or "誘う", just as I did in my post #5.

[不動産屋さん]は，[私]を[食事]に[誘って]くれました。(The man invited the woman to dinner.)
[私]が[不動産屋さん]を[食事]に[招待したら]，
([不動産屋さん]は, [その招待]を)快く[受けて]くれました。(The man accepted the woman's invitation to dinner.)

Why do you expect the writer to tell her readers, whom she doesn't know, every single detail? I personally think that the writer simply wanted to tell her readers that

[私と一緒に]ご飯に行ってくれると言ってました。楽しみです！

 

[theseus_]

Joschl さん, thank you again for the detailed explanation and the clear color labeling!

I have been reflecting on my excessive focus on "～te age-ru", perhaps I have not really been able to develop an understanding of "～te age-ru" in my language thinking. Then I added too much personal imagination to this unclear area. Your reminder helped me to realize this problem more deeply.