[KyleGoetz]

Originally Posted by pacerier

heys thanks for the clarification =)

anyways i was wondering if its acceptable to use 上げる when someone gives something to my family member, or must it be in くれる e.g:
(1) ボブは妹にプレゼントを上げた
(2) ボブは妹にプレゼントをくれた

I sure wouldn't use あげる. I would use くれる／くださる. Unless for some reason my sister wasn't in my in-group (perhaps an estranged sister or something). My sense is that あげる is when a gift is moving away from me even further. くれる is when it is moving toward me.

also, i came across this sentence 友達が私に教えてくれた。
From what i know, this sentence means “friend gave me favour of teaching me”. How do i modify it along the lines of “friend gave my father favour of teaching me (i mean something like the friend still teaches me, but the favour is not for me, its for my father)”. My attempt is this: 友達が父に私に教えてくれた but it feels very odd.

I forget if you're a native English speaker. I think you are, right? It's chryuop who is Italian but living in the US. Regardless, I don't understand your English here.

友達が私に教えてくれた means "My friend taught me." More "literally/explicitly," "My friend [did for me] teaching."

If you mean "My friend taught me for my father's sake," I've never tried such a convoluted expression in Japanese, but I think I'd have a go with (say I'm talking to my mother) 友達がお父さんのために私に教えてくれた。

This google search ("のために教えてくれた" - Google Search) seems to suggest that 〜のために〜てくれる is permissible.

A few sample snippets I found:
"仕事のために教えてくれたことがあった。" <-seems to indicate you can structure it like I suggested
"オペラをやる仲間集めのために教えてくれたようです� �，..."
"主のために教えてくれたことなんだし。"
"片付け素人の私 一つ一つ手探りで 一歩一歩ゆっくりだけど前に進む自分のために 家族のために教えてくれた「 りゅうのすけ」のために"
"リスナーさんのために教えてくれた丸ちゃん"