Implication of a Japanese sentence


I was wondering if there is any context implied by a sentence like
"6時に起こしてください。"

I have read it translated as "Please wake me up at 6." But is "me" implied?
Could it also mean "Please (will you) wake up at 6."?




You're right that there is technically some ambiguity, although slightly wrong
in your interpretation. In a sentence like ６時に起こしてください it's basically implied
that you mean _yourself_ , as in the provided translation ("Please wake me
up"). Without context, though, there's no way to be 100% sure. It could be a
request to wake up any other person (except the person to whom the request is
directed, as in "please wake up at 6").

起こす is a transitive verb, so you're asking this person to wake _someone_ up.
Wake me up, wake Jim up, wake Mary up, anyone. In Japanese this would be more
explicitly stated with を, as in "６時にジョンを起こしてください。"

If you want _that person_ to get up at 6, you would use ６時に起きてください. 起きる is an
intransitive verb, so it has a meaning closer to the simple "wake up" in
English, as in "I woke up at 6." Notice the lack of a direct object. "I woke
up at 6" does not imply that you woke someone else up -- it only refers to
you, the speaker.




You're right that there is technically some ambiguity, although slightly wrong
in your interpretation. In a sentence like ６時に起こしてください it's basically implied
that you mean _yourself_ , as in the provided translation ("Please wake me
up"). Without context, though, there's no way to be 100% sure. It could be a
request to wake up any other person (except the person to whom the request is
directed, as in "please wake up at 6").

起こす is a transitive verb, so you're asking this person to wake _someone_ up.
Wake me up, wake Jim up, wake Mary up, anyone. In Japanese this would be more
explicitly stated with を, as in "６時にジョンを起こしてください。"

If you want _that person_ to get up at 6, you would use ６時に起きてください. 起きる is an
intransitive verb, so it has a meaning closer to the simple "wake up" in
English, as in "I woke up at 6." Notice the lack of a direct object. "I woke
up at 6" does not imply that you woke someone else up -- it only refers to
you, the speaker.

