what does 貸してもらえないかな mean?


This was from a test prep book:

> A: この間の本貸してもらえないかな。  
>  B: ええ,明日持ってきてます

I'm thinking that the `V てもらえない` form is often used for requests.

My literal parsing of `貸して ＋ もらえない` is:

> 'Can I not receive the favor of your lending (it) for me?'

Which then translates to

> 'Can you lend it to me?'

Is my translation correct? I'm not sure why there is `かな` at the end. I
thought it is used to indicate uncertainty.




You are correct that the Verb+てもらえない（か）is used to request favors. The かな
softens things a bit, and is more polite, perhaps being less assuming that the
favor will be granted.

Here's is a non-comprehensive list of some てもらえない request use cases roughly
ordered with the top being with more politeness. The top and middle are pretty
similar and may be swapped around.

貸してもらえませんか？

貸してもらえないでしょうか？

貸してもらえないかな？

貸してもらえない？

貸してもらえないか？

