Structure
Examples:
［る1］Verb ￫ 見る + させる
［る5］Verb ￫ 座る + らせる
［う］Verb ￫ 歌う + わせる
［く］Verb ￫ 歩く + かせる
［す］Verb ￫ 話す + させる
［つ］Verb ￫ 打つ + たせる
［ぬ］Verb ￫ 死ぬ + なせる
［ぶ］Verb ￫ 飛ぶ + ばせる
［む］Verb ￫ 休む + ませる
［ぐ］Verb ￫ 泳ぐ + がせる
Exceptions:
する→させる
くる→ こさせる
Details
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Standard
使用域
一般
About Verb［せる・させる］
In order to express that someone was 'made to do', or 'let do' something, the auxiliary verbs せる and させる will be used. The meaning that せる and させる will convey (when attached to a verb) is called 使役 (causative, employment, or using) in Japanese.
A common misconception is that せる and させる are standard conjugations of each verb. However, these auxiliary verbs should be thought of as having their own meaning, in a similar way to how たい, ない, だ, です, and other auxiliaries each have their own meanings.
In order to use these grammar structures, remove the る from る-Verbs, and then add させる. For う-Verbs, change the last kana to the あ sound kana from within the same column (except for う, which becomes わ), and then add せる (る becomes ら, む becomes ま, く becomes か, etc.).
(A) が (B) に楽しませる - For (A) to cause fun 'in' (B).
(A) が (B) を楽しませる - For (A) to cause fun 'through' (B).
It is these standard meanings of the particles に (a location) and を (a target) that will create the 'let', or 'make' nuance when using せる, or させる.
A common misconception is that せる and させる are standard conjugations of each verb. However, these auxiliary verbs should be thought of as having their own meaning, in a similar way to how たい, ない, だ, です, and other auxiliaries each have their own meanings.
In order to use these grammar structures, remove the る from る-Verbs, and then add させる. For う-Verbs, change the last kana to the あ sound kana from within the same column (except for う, which becomes わ), and then add せる (る becomes ら, む becomes ま, く becomes か, etc.).
- 息子に野菜を食べさせる。I make my son eat vegetables.
- 友達にトマトを育てさせる。I make my friend grow tomatoes.
- 忘年会で先輩たちが後輩に歌を歌わせた。At the end of year party, the seniors made the juniors sing a song.
- 友達が私の携帯を壊したので、新しいのを買わせる。Since my friend broke my phone, I will make them buy me a new one.
- 嫌な仕事は後輩にさせる。I let my juniors do the work that I don't want to do.
- 親に心配させることしてはいけない。You should not do anything that would make your parents worry.
- 夜遅くに会社に来させるのはよくない。It is not good to make people come to the company late at night.
- 犬を呼んで、こっちに来させる。To call the dog and make it come to you.
Caution
With causative, either に, or を can mark the doer of the action that せる, or させる is linked to (not が). This is because the actual 'doer' of the action is considered to be the person that is making/letting someone perform that action. に will usually imply that someone was 'let' do something, while を implies 'make'.- 誰かに心配をさせる。To let someone worry about you.
- 誰かを心配させる。To make someone worry about you.
Fun Fact
Because the actual 'doer' in causative verb sentences will be marked with が (as is always the case), the literal translation of せる and させる is closer to the following:(A) が (B) に楽しませる - For (A) to cause fun 'in' (B).
(A) が (B) を楽しませる - For (A) to cause fun 'through' (B).
It is these standard meanings of the particles に (a location) and を (a target) that will create the 'let', or 'make' nuance when using せる, or させる.
Synonyms
Examples
学校に行きたくない子を行かせる。
(Someone) makes the kid who doesn't want to go to school go.
友達を朝４時に起こして、帰らせた。
I woke my friend up at four in the morning and made him go home.
私は生徒に勉強することを楽しませます。
I make students enjoy studying.
どこかに行かせると楽しめないでしょう。
If (you) make (someone) go somewhere, they won't have fun.
お兄ちゃんが妹を泣かせた。
My older brother made my younger sister cry.
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Verb［せる・させる］ – Grammar Discussion
Most Recent Replies (6 in total)
Bunta
just to clarify, based on the notes in the grammar point I was led to believe
先生が私をコヒーを作らせました。would mean, my teacher made me make coffee - if を in fact carries the nuance of to make someone do something.
But my teachers are saying the correct sentence is actually
先生が私にコヒーを作らせました。Which can mean either let or made with the differentiator either being context or a 〜て下さった・〜てくれった to imply having done me the favor of letting me.
focamotivada
Hi everyone! I have a question. How can you turn this into negative? For example, if I want to say “XX person didn’t permit YY person to do this and that”? Thanks!
Asher
Good question! In this kind of sentence, most of the time it will be implied that someone did not do something ‘for you’, so you would combine させる with てくれる.
お母さんは私にダンスの習い事をさせてくれなかった。
‘My mom didn’t let me do dance practice’If you were talking about someone else, you would probably use the てあげる structure instead of くれる. or just させなかった by itself.
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