Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 6: 4/16

せる・させる (Causative)To make/let/have (somebody do something)

either に or を can mark the doer

Structure

Examples:
［る1］Verb ￫ 見(み)る + させる
［る5］Verb ￫ 座(すわ)る + らせる
［う］Verb ￫ 歌(うた)う + わせる
［く］Verb ￫ 歩(ある)く + かせる
［す］Verb ￫ 話(はな)す + させる
［つ］Verb ￫ 打(う)つ + たせる
［ぬ］Verb ￫ 死(し)ぬ + なせる
［ぶ］Verb ￫ 飛(と)ぶ + ばせる
［む］Verb ￫ 休(やす)む + ませる
［ぐ］Verb ￫ 泳(およ)ぐ + がせる

Exceptions:
する→させる
くる→ こさせる

Details

  • Standard

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(しえき) (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.).

As usual, する and 来(く)る have special conjugation rules. する will be replaced completely by させる (in a similar way to how できる completely replaces する in the 'potential' form). 来(く)る will become 来(こ)させる.

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'.

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.

Related

Examples

--:--

  • お兄(にい)ちゃんが妹(いもうと)を泣(な)かせた。

    My older brother made my younger sister cry.

  • 学校(がっこう)に行(い)きたくない子(こ)を行(い)かせる。

    (Someone) makes the kid who doesn't want to go to school go.

  • 友達(ともだち)を朝(あさ)４時(よじ)に起(お)こして、帰(かえ)らせた。

    I woke my friend up at four in the morning and made him go home.

  • 私(わたし)は生徒(せいと)に勉強(べんきょう)することを楽(たの)しませます。

    I make/let students enjoy studying.

  • 友達(ともだち)を無理(むり)やりお化(ば)け屋敷(やしき)に行(い)かせたから、怒(おこ)られた。

    I was yelled at because I insistently made my friend go to a haunted house.

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Verb［せる・させる］ – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (13 in total)

  • Salatrel

    Salatrel

    Hello,

    I have a question regarding this example sentence from another grammar point

    今日の宿題は難しかったと見えて、誰も終わらせてなかった。

    translated by Bunpro as

    One can conclude that today’s homework was difficult, because no one completed it.

    The 終わらせて looks like causative to me, but I do not understand who made the doing/ it seems somehow like passive construction to me.

    Can someone help me understand the components of this sentence?

    KR
    (Edit: typo)

  • casual

    casual

    It’s causative, I think.

    宿題が終わる (same meaning as 済む)
    homework is done

    宿題を終わらせる (godan conjugation)
    make homework come to its end (that is, complete it)

    It sounds odd in English, but ○○を終わらせる is a frequently used expression.

    宿題を終わらせている

    て-form indicates that the action remains in that state (of being finished). I believe 終わる is a momentary verb (瞬間動詞) which makes て-form carry this meaning.

    So, including omitted parts:

    誰も が この宿題を 終わらせていなかった。
    nobody completed it (nobody made the homework become completed)

  • Salatrel

    Salatrel

    That’s so embarrassing….
    I totally forgot 終わる was intransitive and got lost from there. ^^

    Thank you for the great explanation!

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