～て  くれる・～て  くださる
Someone Does Something for Us

This structure expresses the ideas of someone doing something for us. That is, someone "gives us the doing" of something.
In this sense, the structure is very similar to the use of くれる that we learnt in Year 11.
Example:
Here are some examples that show ～て  くれる・～て  くださる in various situations and various tenses:
お父さんは、（ぼくに）おべんとうを　つくってくれました。
  • My father made my obentō for me. 
先生は、私たちに　正しいこたえを　教えて くださいました。
  • The teacher told us the correct answer. 
日本人の友だちが、おはしの使い方を　教えて くれました。
  • My Japanese friend taught me how to use chopsticks. 
Often, the giver and/or receiver are left out of the sentence, especially if that part is obvious, and the important part is the receiving of the favour /OR/ the fact that you got someone else to do it for you.
電気を　けして くれますか。
  • Can you turn off the light for me? 
電気を　けして くださいますか。
  • Would you (be so kind as to) turn off the light for me? 
Notes:
  • Whereas in English, we use phrases like 'for me/for us' to show who the action was given to, in Japanese we use the verb structure ～て くれる・～て くださる to convey this idea.
  • You can leave the receiver and/or the giver out of the sentence.
  • Use ～て くださる instead of ～て くれる when you need to convey a sense of respect towards the giver of the action.
  • One difference between ～て くれる and ～て もらう is the 'agency' of the giver. ～て もらう implies that the speaker somehow got someone to do something, whereas with ～て くれる, the giving could be spontaneous, not asked for.
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PRACTISE USING ～てくれる AND ～てくださる ON QUIZLET