てもらう: how do know if it's "I had someone do x for me" or "someone did x for me"


For example:

褒めてもらった

I can tell it's probably about getting praised.

However

母に車で送ってもらった。

Is "I had my mom drive me here":

How does one get the difference?




I may be wrong about this but I've come to believe that "I had someone do
something for me" is a terrible translation, invented by people who don't
understand the nuance of this English sentence; probably to make the subject
of the verb match correctly.

I think "I had ..." in this context is intended to mean "I received the
experience of ..." which is a valid translation. But my native English brain
instantly interprets "I had ..." in this context as the result of a
demand/request. I don't believe there is any such demand/request nuance in the
Japanese version.

