Causative Form in Japanese

In Brief

The Japanese causative form presents one person as causing or allowing another person to act: 食べる → 食べさせる “make/let someone eat” and 行く → 行かせる “make/let someone go.” Ichidan verbs add させる, while godan verbs change their final u-row sound to the corresponding a-row sound and add せる. Context—not the verb form alone—usually tells you whether the meaning is “make,” “have,” or “let.”

Overview

The causative form, 使役形（しえきけい）, changes the roles in a sentence. An ordinary sentence has someone who acts; a causative sentence adds a causer (the person who makes or permits the action) and turns the original actor into the causee (the person who is made or allowed to act). For example, 子供が遊ぶ means “the child plays,” while 母親が子供を遊ばせる means “the mother lets the child play.”

This is a core B1 pattern because it combines verb formation, particles, and social meaning. English often chooses separate verbs or phrases—“make,” “let,” “have,” “get someone to”—but Japanese uses the same causative form for several of these ideas. You must infer the intended meaning from the relationship between the people, the action, and the wider situation.

The causative is common in family life, school, work, instructions, and requests for permission. It can describe direct force, an instruction, an arranged action, or permission. That range makes the form useful, but it also means that a grammatically correct sentence can sound controlling if the relationship does not justify it.

How It Works

The basic sentence change

Start with a non-causative sentence:

• 学生が本を読みます。 — The student reads a book.

Add a causer, mark the student as the causee, and put 読む in the causative:

• 先生は学生に本を読ませます。 — The teacher makes/has the student read a book.

A useful pattern is:

Causer は/が + causee に/を + action in the causative form

The causative verb itself conjugates like an ichidan verb. For example, 食べさせる becomes 食べさせます, 食べさせない, 食べさせた, and 食べさせて.

Ichidan verbs: add させる

For an ichidan verb (often called a “る-verb”), remove final る and add させる.

Dictionary form	Stem	Causative	Meaning
食べる	食べ	食べさせる	make/let eat
見る	見	見させる	make/let see or watch
起きる	起き	起きさせる	make/get someone to wake up
寝る	寝	寝させる	make/let sleep

Godan verbs: change to the a-row + せる

For a godan verb (often called a “u-verb”), change the final kana from its u-row sound to the matching a-row sound, then add せる. The ending う changes to わ, not あ.

Ending	Change	Example	Causative
う	わせる	買う	買わせる
く	かせる	書く	書かせる
ぐ	がせる	泳ぐ	泳がせる
す	させる	話す	話させる
つ	たせる	立つ	立たせる
ぬ	なせる	死ぬ	死なせる
ぶ	ばせる	遊ぶ	遊ばせる
む	ませる	読む	読ませる
る	らせる	帰る	帰らせる

Do not classify a verb only by seeing る. 食べる is ichidan, so it becomes 食べさせる; 帰る is godan, so it becomes 帰らせる.

Irregular verbs

Dictionary form	Causative	Meaning
する	させる	make/let do
来る（くる）	来させる（こさせる）	make/let come

Compounds with する follow the same pattern: 勉強する → 勉強させる and 練習する → 練習させる.

Choosing に or を for the causee

Particle choice depends partly on the original verb and partly on how the situation is presented.

With a transitive verb (a verb that acts on a direct object), the causee is normally marked by に, because を already marks the thing acted on:

• 母は私に野菜を食べさせました。 — My mother made me eat vegetables.
• 先生は学生に作文を書かせました。 — The teacher had the students write an essay.

With an intransitive verb (a verb with no direct object), を commonly marks the causee, especially when the causer directs, induces, or brings about the action:

• 先生は学生を立たせました。 — The teacher made the student stand.
• 父は子供を早く寝させました。 — The father made the child go to bed early.

With an intransitive verb, に can highlight the causee as a willing or permitted actor:

• 母は子供に外で遊ばせました。 — The mother let the child play outside.

This is a helpful tendency, not a mechanical “を always means force and に always means permission” rule. Context and verb type matter, and usage varies. Learn complete sentences rather than attaching one fixed English translation to each particle.

“Make” or “let”?

The basic causative does not always state whether the causee wanted to act.

• A teacher assigning work will often be understood as “make/have.”
• A parent permitting play will often be understood as “let.”
• A manager arranging for an employee to attend may be “have/send.”

Add context when the distinction matters. Expressions such as 自由に “freely,” 許可して “giving permission,” or 無理に “forcibly” can clarify the situation. The pattern 〜させてあげる explicitly presents permission as something done for the other person, though its social tone needs care.

Examples in Context

Japanese	English	Note
母は私に野菜を食べさせました。	My mother made me eat vegetables.	Transitive verb; the food keeps を.
先生は学生を立たせました。	The teacher made the student stand.	Intransitive action with causee marked by を.
子供を遊ばせています。	I’m letting the children play.	Context favors permission.
好きなことをさせてください。	Please let me do what I like.	A request for permission.
部長は田中さんに報告書を書かせました。	The department manager had Ms. Tanaka write the report.	Workplace instruction; causee takes に.
医者は患者を歩かせました。	The doctor had the patient walk.	A directed intransitive action.
今夜は赤ちゃんを早く寝させます。	I’ll put the baby to bed early tonight.	Natural English does not need “make.”
両親は私に留学させてくれました。	My parents let me study abroad.	〜てくれる presents the permission as a favor to the speaker.
もう少し考えさせてください。	Please let me think about it a little longer.	Common polite request.
彼を一人で行かせないでください。	Please don’t let him go alone.	Negative causative request.
その映画は観客を泣かせました。	That film made the audience cry.	An event, not a person, causes a response.
お待たせしました。	I’m sorry to have kept you waiting.	Fixed polite expression using 待たせる.

Common Mistakes

Adding させる directly to a godan verb

• Wrong: 行くさせる
• Right: 行かせる
• Why: Godan verbs change the final sound to the a-row before せる: く → かせる.

Treating every る-verb as ichidan

• Wrong: 帰させる for “make someone go home”
• Right: 帰らせる
• Why: 帰る is godan. Its final る changes to ら, then せる is added. By contrast, ichidan 食べる becomes 食べさせる.

Marking both the causee and the object with を

• Wrong: 先生は学生を本を読ませました。
• Right: 先生は学生に本を読ませました。
• Why: 本を読む already contains the direct object 本を. In standard causative structure, use に for the person who reads.

Assuming the form always means force

• Misleading: Translating 子供を遊ばせた automatically as “I forced the child to play.”
• Better: 子供を遊ばせた。 — “I let the child play.”
• Why: The causative covers both causing and allowing. The situation supplies the interpretation.

Using a bare causative request where a softer expression is needed

• Too direct in many situations: 帰らせて。
• More appropriate: 帰らせてください。 — Please let me go home.
• Why: 〜させてください is the standard polite pattern for asking permission to do something. Even softer business forms appear at advanced levels.

Usage Notes

Japanese causatives often encode authority. Parents, teachers, managers, and organizers can naturally be presented as causers when they control or arrange another person’s action. With equals—or when speaking about someone of higher status—a bare causative may suggest that the causer has power over that person. If you merely asked someone to act, 〜てもらう (“have someone do something for you”) may describe the relationship more tactfully: 田中さんに確認してもらいました means “I had/asked Tanaka to check it.”

English translations should follow the situation rather than copy the same verb every time. 寝させる may mean “make someone sleep,” “let someone sleep,” or simply “put a child to bed.” 来させる may be “make someone come,” “have someone come,” or “send for someone.” Natural translation is evidence that you have understood the roles, not that the Japanese form has changed.

In requests, 〜させてください literally asks the listener to allow the speaker’s action, but in everyday English it often corresponds to “please let me…” or “allow me to….” Common phrases include 説明させてください “please let me explain” and 確認させてください “let me check/confirm.” In service and business language, causative request forms can also function as conventional polite phrasing rather than a dramatic request for permission.

Beyond the Basics / Advanced Use

Causative + giving and receiving expressions

Adding あげる, くれる, or もらう makes perspective and benefit more explicit.

• 子供に好きな本を読ませてあげました。 — I let the child read the book they liked.
• 先生は私にもう一度発表させてくれました。 — The teacher let me present again.
• 今日は私に説明させてもらえますか。 — Could I be allowed to explain today?

Be cautious with 〜させてあげる. Because あげる presents the action as a favor supplied by the causer, it can sound patronizing if said about an equal or superior. 〜させてくれる is especially useful when someone else’s permission benefits the speaker.

Short spoken causatives

In casual speech, godan causatives may contract from 〜せる to 〜す: 行かせる → 行かす and 待たせる → 待たす. Forms such as 食べさす also occur for ichidan verbs. These contractions are common enough to recognize, but the full forms are safer in careful speech and writing.

Causation without a human causer

The causer can be an event, object, or experience:

• その知らせはみんなを驚かせた。 — The news surprised everyone.
• 彼の冗談は私を笑わせた。 — His joke made me laugh.

Some causative forms become established lexical verbs with their own familiar translations. 驚かせる is commonly “surprise,” and 喜ばせる is “delight/make happy.” You can still see the underlying causative structure, but translating word by word may sound unnatural.

The causative-passive

The causative can combine with the passive to focus on the person compelled to act: 私は母に野菜を食べさせられました means “I was made to eat vegetables by my mother.” This form often conveys unwillingness or inconvenience and deserves separate study after the basic causative is secure.

Practice Tips

1. Transform complete sentences, not isolated verbs. Change 学生が本を読む into 先生が学生に本を読ませる. This trains both the verb form and the change in particles.
2. Make three versions of one situation. Compare a neutral causative, a permission request with 〜させてください, and a benefited-speaker version with 〜させてくれる. Say what social relationship each version suggests.
3. Sort verbs before forming the causative. Practice five ichidan verbs, five godan verbs with different endings, and the two irregular verbs. Pay special attention to deceptive る verbs such as 帰る.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Potential Form — reinforces verb-group recognition and systematic changes to verb endings.
• Next step: Causative-Passive — describes being made to do something, often unwillingly.
• Further study: Permissive Causative — develops the “let someone do” meaning and its interpersonal nuances.