推薦書を書いて下さいました。vs (先生に)ピアノを教えていただきました。


> 1 - 推薦書を書いて下さいました。
>
> 2 - (先生に)ピアノを教えていただきました。

I wanted to confirm 2 things.

First is number 1 尊敬語 and is number 2 謙譲語

Second is the reason why 2 is using 謙譲語 because the teacher is part of the
speakers 'group/clan/gang' etc.?

For 1, is it safe to assume that someone outside of the speakers clan gave
them a recommendation letter, hence why 尊敬語 is used?




I think you have [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/90675/5010) in mind, but this
rule is not related now. 先生 is higher than the speaker, the speaker has to
respect 先生, and that's all. The speaker is not speaking on behalf of his/her
teacher or school.

Pretty simply, Sentence 1 uses 尊敬語 because the subject is 先生, whereas Sentence
2 uses 謙譲語 because the subject is 私. Note that くださる is the honorific form of
くれる ("to give") but いただく is the humble form of もらう ("to receive"). If you
explicitly write the subjects using は:

  1. **先生は** (私に)推薦状を書いて下さいました。  
**My teacher** wrote (me) a recommendation letter.

  2. **私は** (先生に)ピアノを教えていただきました。  
(literally) **I** received a favor of teaching piano (from my teacher).




I think you have [this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/90675/5010) in mind, but this
rule is not related now. 先生 is higher than the speaker, the speaker has to
respect 先生, and that's all. The speaker is not speaking on behalf of his/her
teacher or school.

Pretty simply, Sentence 1 uses 尊敬語 because the subject is 先生, whereas Sentence
2 uses 謙譲語 because the subject is 私. Note that くださる is the honorific form of
くれる ("to give") but いただく is the humble form of もらう ("to receive"). If you
explicitly write the subjects using は:

  1. **先生は** (私に)推薦状を書いて下さいました。  
**My teacher** wrote (me) a recommendation letter.

  2. **私は** (先生に)ピアノを教えていただきました。  
(literally) **I** received a favor of teaching piano (from my teacher).

