Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 6: 9/16

させられる (Causative-Passive)

Verbs (Causative-passive voice), To be made to do something, To be forced to do

Structure

Examples:
［る¹］Verb ￫ 見(み)る + させられる
［す］Verb ￫ 話(はな)す + させられる

［る⁵］Verb ￫ 座(すわ)る + らせられる
座(すわ)る + らされる

［う］Verb ￫ 歌(うた)う + わせられる
歌(うた)う + 歌(うた)わされる

［く］Verb ￫ 歩(ある)く + かせられる
歩(ある)く + 歩(ある)かされる

［つ］Verb ￫ 打(う)つ + たせられる
打(う)つ + 打(う)たされる

［ぬ］Verb ￫ 死(し)ぬ + なせられる
死(し)ぬ + 死(し)なされる

［ぶ］Verb ￫ 飛(と)ぶ + ばせられる
飛(と)ぶ + 飛(と)ばされる

［む］Verb ￫ 休(やす)む + ませられる
休(やす)む + 休(やす)まされる

［ぐ］Verb ￫ 泳(およ)ぐ + がせられる
泳(およ)ぐ + 泳(およ)がされる

Exceptions:
する ￫ させられる
くる ￫ こさせられる

Details

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About Causative-Passive

When the auxiliary verb せる (or させる) 'to make/let do' is combined with the auxiliary verb られる 'to be the receiver of', it creates the causative-passive form of verbs in Japanese. These sentences will be from the perspective of the person who has 'been made to do' something, and are very often negative (against the will of the speaker).

First, verbs must be conjugated in the same way that they would be with せる, or させる. After that simply remove the る, and then add られる. This will create the verb form させられる (linked with る-Verbs), or せられる (linked with う-Verbs).

As with the causative form, する and 来(く)る have special conjugation rules. する will be replaced completely by させられる, while 来(く)る will become 来(こ)させられる.

Caution

Unlike with causative verbs, where the actual doer of a sentence (marked with が) is considered to be the person who 'caused' the action, られる reverses the perspective. This makes the doer (marked with が) the person who is being 'forced' to do something. When the person that is 'causing' the action appears in a causative-passive sentence, they will be marked with に.

  • 子供(こども)の頃(ころ)は兄(あに)が勉強(べんきょう)をさせられていた。
    When we were still kids, my older brother was forced to study.
  • 子供(こども)の頃(ころ)は兄(あに)に勉強(べんきょう)をさせられていた。
    When we were still children, my older brother forced me to study.

Caution

れる may not be used in place of られる in causative-passive sentences. This is because せる and させる both have せ (an え sound kana) at the point where they will connect with られる. This is a rule for all verbs with an え sound kana at their conjugation point (excluding the 'potential' use of れる and られる).

Examples

--:--

    お腹(なか)がいっぱいなのに、ケーキを食(た)べさせられた。

    I was forced to eat the cake even though I was full.

    私(わたし)は兄(あに)に宿題(しゅくだい)をさせられた。

    I was forced to do homework by my older brother.

    どんなことをさせられたの？

    What kind of things were you forced to do?

    嫌(いや)なことをさせられた。

    I was made to do awful things.

    あまり見(み)たくない動画(どうが)を見(み)させられたのです。

    I was forced to watch a video I didn't really want to watch.

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      Causative-Passive – Grammar Discussion

      Most Recent Replies (27 in total)

      • Fuga

        Fuga

        Hey @MakroneBiest997 !

        Although both なら and たら are both used for hypothetical situations, the nuance they have is different.

        Since なら is an abbreviation of ならば, it would be used to make guesses about what ‘may’ happen, or what ‘could’ happen. This means that when a sentence uses なら, that situation is most likely just hypothetical and will not be used in statements about results that are produced through effort.

        Because たら is sort more in the halfway point of ‘if’ and ‘when’, the situation it is referring to could be hypothetical or it may be presenting something that has happened in the past. Due to this nuance, たら is used for situations that have a high probability of happening.

        In this sentence it is implied that whatever he did already happened, since the speaker is talking to the other person by putting them in the other person’s shoes, so using たら would sound more natural.

        I hope this helps!

      • MakroneBiest997

        MakroneBiest997

        Thank you so much for the clarification!

        This helps indeed a lot. I’m sure I got it now!

      • Magikarpador

        Magikarpador

        yeah i feel like that shouldnt be a thing. like, following the course as intended, you straight up will not know this and will inevitable get it wrong regardless of your understanding of the base grammar point youre supposed to be quizzed on. kinda bs

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