文法の説明

N4 レッスン 6: 4/16

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

either に or を can mark the doer

使い方・接続

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

詳細

  • 一般

「Verb［せる・させる］」の情報

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.

関連

単語 網羅率

このアイテムに記載されているすべての単語。

例文

--:--

  • 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］」に関する文法ディスカッション

最近の返信 (合計17件)

  • Fuga

    Fuga

    Hey @mooshmellow !

    なきゃ is the abbreviated form of なければ! If you would like to learn more about this abbreviation, we have a entry for it right here!

    I hope this helps!

  • mooshmellow

    mooshmellow

    Ah! That is really helpful, I must have missed that when I moved over to Bunpro for N4! Thank you!

  • mariner

    mariner

    It’s been awhile since I did this lesson, but I think the descriptions for what に/を mark is a little confusing:

    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).

    Okay that makes sense, since in the sentence:
    息子に野菜を食べさせる：I make my son eat vegetables
    The son is the one who is being made to do the action of 食べる

    This is because the actual ‘doer’ of the action is considered to be the person that is making/letting someone perform that action.

    Hold on, isn’t that me? In the above sentence I am the one making/letting someone(my son) perform the action.

    And later:
    Because the actual ‘doer’ in causative verb sentences will be marked with が

    Which seems to directly contradict the first explanation.

    So after reading it a few times, I noticed the use of doer and ‘doer’ (with single quotes) which is what I’m guessing the distinction is, but IM...

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