Japanese Grammar Bank

JAPANESE CAUSATIVE FORM

In this lesson, we will learn how to use the “causative form” in the Japanese language.

Japanese causative form is basically equivalent to “to make” and “to let” in English.

But, unlike English, Japanese language doesn’t have any causative verbs. As usual, you have to conjugate a verb into the causative form to express “to make” or “to let”.

VERB CONJUGATION

You can derive the causative form of a verb as follows, depending on their verb groups.

U-verbs

Drop the final -u sound and replace it with -aseru.

PATTERN

Remove -u + replace with -aseru

Examples of u-verb conjugation:

Dictionary formCausative form
To take取る / toru取らせる / toraseru
To speak話す / hanasu話させる / hanasaseru
To buy買う / kau買わせる / kawaseru
To read読む / yomu読ませる / yomaseru
To wait待つ / matsu待たせる / mataseru
To go行く / iku行かせる / ikaseru
To stand立つ / tatsu立たせる / tataseru
To know知る / shiru知らせる / shiraseru
To drink飲む / nomu飲ませる / nomaseru
To use使う / tsukau使わせる / tsukawaseru

Ru-verbs

Ru-verb conjugation is simple. Just drop the final -ru and replace it with -saseru.

PATTERN

Remove -ru + replace with -saseru

Examples of ru-verb conjugation:

Dictionary formCausative form
To eat食べる / taberu食べさせる / tabesaseru
To think考える / kangaeru考えさせる / kangaesaseru
To sleep寝る / neru寝させる / nesaseru
To see, to look見る / miru見させる / misaseru
To borrow借りる / kariru借りさせる / karisaseru
To remember覚える / oboeru覚えさせる / oboesaseru
To open開ける / akeru開けさせる / akesaseru
To answer答える / kotaeru答えさせる / kotaesaseru
To forget忘れる / wasureru忘れさせる / wasuresaseru
To close, to shut閉める / shimeru閉めさせる / shimesaseru

Irregular verbs

There are two irregular verbs that do not belong to u-verb or ru-verb.

Examples of irregular verb conjugation:

Dictionary formCausative form
To come来る / kuru来させる / kosaseru
To doする / suruさせる / saseru

CAUSATIVE VERB SENTENCE

There are two types of causative sentences.

  • Those which indicate the subject of an action with a particle を,
  • and those which indicate it with a particle に.

When the verb is intransitive, を is always used with action-takers. On the other hand, when the verb is transitive, に is used with action takers.

Make/let a person V (intransitive verb):

PATTERN

Subject (person) +を + Verb (intransitive) causative

私の父は私を自由に遊ばせました。Watashino chichi wa watashi wo jiyuu ni asobase mashita.My father let me play freely.
母は私をそこに座らせました。Haha wa watashi wo soko ni suwarase mashita.My mother made me sit there.
View More Examples:
先生は私を図書館に行かせました。Sensei wa watashi wo toshokan ni ikase mashita.The teacher made me go to the library.
私は子供を走らせます。Watashi wa kodomo wo hashirase masu.I make my child run.
社長は私の同僚を東京へ出張させます。Shachou wa watshi no douryou wo Tokyo e shucchou sase masu.The company president makes my colleague go to Tokyo for a business trip.
私は事故で入院して、友達や家族を驚かせました。Watashi wa jiko de nyuuin shite kazoku ya tomodachi wo odorokase mashita.I made my family and friends are surprised because I was admitted to the hospital by an accident.

Make/let a person V (intransitive verb):

PATTERN

Subject (person) + に + Noun + を + Verb (transitive) causative

 先生は学生に単語を覚えさせました。Sensei wa gakusei ni tango wo oboesase mashita.The teacher made the students memorize the vocabulary.
お母さんは子供に勉強をさせました。Okaasan wa kodomo ni benkyou wo sasemashita.The mother made her child to study.
View More Examples:
とても忙しいので、娘に家事を手伝わせました。Totemo isogashii node musume ni kaji wo tetsudawase masu.I made my daughter help with house chores because I was really busy.
父は私に自由に意見を言わせました。Chichi wa watashi ni jiyuu ni iken wo iwase mashita.My father let me freely share my opinion with him.
先生は私に学校を遅刻した理由を説明させました。Sensei wa watashi ni gakkou wo chikoku shita riyuu wo setsumei sase mashita.The teacher made me explain the reason why I was late to school.
私は子供に社会のルールを守らせます。Watashi wa kodomo ni shakai no ruuru wo mamorase masu.I will make my child obey the social rules.

As you can see in these examples, Japanese causative forms indicate compulsion or permission.

A causative sentence is used when the relationship between a senior person [or a higher person] and a junior person is very clear and a senior person forces a junior person to do something or allows him/her to do something. 

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FAQs

What are causative sentences in Japanese?

Causative sentences in Japanese are used to express actions where someone makes or allows another person to do something.

It’s similar to saying “to make someone do” or “to let someone do” in English.

How to form the Japanese causative form?

The causative form is created by altering the verb. For -ru verbs, replace -ru with -saseru (e.g., 食べる → 食べさせる).

For -u verbs, change the final -u to -aseru (e.g., 行く → 行かせる).

Irregular verbs like する become させる and 来る becomes こさせる.

What particles are used with causative sentences?

Typically, を is used with the object that is made to do the action, and に is used to mark the person being made to perform the action.

For example: 先生は生徒に本を読ませました (The teacher made the student read a book).

Can we use causative for polite speech?

Yes, the causative form can be used in polite speech. To do this, you conjugate the causative form into the polite form (e.g., 食べさせる → 食べさせます).

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