how to complement the させる＋くれる


I'm struggling trying to complement sentences using させる＋くれる/もらう.

In my studies it was said that させる＋くれる meant "to let someone do" kind of, so
the following sentence:

先生が質問をたくさん聞かせてくれた The teacher let (someone) ask lots of questions.

Now how can I specify who the teacher let to ask the questions?

If I want to say "The teacher let the students ask lots of questions.", how do
I say that?

My try: 先生が学生に質問をたくさん聞かせてくれた。

thanks in advance.




Your attempt is grammatically correct. To specify the target of 「させる」, we use
the 「に」 particle.

But your sentence can be improved a little more, so let me describe it.

First, 「質問を **聞く** 」 is a little bit unnatural. We say 「質問を **する** 」 far more
often. We use 「聞く」 with concrete question phrases, for example: 「どこに居るのか聞く」
(ask where you are).

Then your sentence would be 「先生が学生に質問をたくさん **させて** くれた。」

Secondly, this sentence is ambiguous because there are two patterns in which
「学生に」 modifies different verbs; one is "let" and the other is "ask."

The two possible interpretations of the sentence are:

> The teacher let the students ask lots of questions.  
>  The teacher let (someone) ask the students lots of questions.

One way to avoid this is:

> 先生が学生に質問の[機会]{きかい}をたくさんくれた。  
>  The teacher gave the students a lot of opportunities to ask questions.

In this case 「学生に」 modifies 「くれた」 but not 「質問」, because we don't say 「学生に質問」
to mean "the questions to the students" but say 「学生への質問」.




Your attempt is grammatically correct. To specify the target of 「させる」, we use
the 「に」 particle.

But your sentence can be improved a little more, so let me describe it.

First, 「質問を **聞く** 」 is a little bit unnatural. We say 「質問を **する** 」 far more
often. We use 「聞く」 with concrete question phrases, for example: 「どこに居るのか聞く」
(ask where you are).

Then your sentence would be 「先生が学生に質問をたくさん **させて** くれた。」

Secondly, this sentence is ambiguous because there are two patterns in which
「学生に」 modifies different verbs; one is "let" and the other is "ask."

The two possible interpretations of the sentence are:

> The teacher let the students ask lots of questions.  
>  The teacher let (someone) ask the students lots of questions.

One way to avoid this is:

> 先生が学生に質問の[機会]{きかい}をたくさんくれた。  
>  The teacher gave the students a lot of opportunities to ask questions.

In this case 「学生に」 modifies 「くれた」 but not 「質問」, because we don't say 「学生に質問」
to mean "the questions to the students" but say 「学生への質問」.

