Causative Voice in Korean

In Brief

Korean causatives express that someone or something causes another person or thing to act or change: 아이를 재웠어요 means “I put the child to sleep.” Korean commonly uses either a causative verb with a suffix such as -이-, -히-, -리-, -기-, -우-, or -추-, or the productive pattern verb stem + -게 하다. The suffix must be learned with the individual verb, while -게 하다 can be used much more freely.

Overview

A causative changes the roles in a sentence. In 아이가 잤어요 (“The child slept”), the child performs the action. In 엄마가 아이를 재웠어요 (“The mother put the child to sleep”), the mother is the causer—the person who brings the event about—and the child is the causee, meaning the person or thing made, allowed, or helped to act.

This is a core B1 pattern because it lets you talk about parenting, work, teaching, emotions, rules, and changes of state: making someone study, letting a guest wait, making food cool, or informing a colleague. English often uses separate verbs such as “make,” “have,” “let,” or “cause,” but Korean may build the meaning into a single verb or use -게 하다.

Causative meaning does not always imply force. Depending on the verb and context, it may mean “make,” “have,” “let,” “allow,” “cause,” or even “help someone to.” Context and additional words such as 억지로 (“by force”) or 마음대로 (“as one wishes”) clarify the intended meaning.

How It Works

1. Causative verbs with suffixes

Some Korean verbs form a causative by adding one of -이-, -히-, -리-, -기-, -우-, or -추- to the stem. These are often called short-form causatives. The resulting form behaves as a normal verb and takes ordinary tense and politeness endings.

Basic verb	Causative verb	Core contrast
먹다	먹이다	eat → feed, make eat
입다	입히다	wear → dress someone
울다	울리다	cry → make someone cry
알다	알리다	know → inform, let know
웃다	웃기다	laugh → make someone laugh; be funny
맡다	맡기다	take charge of → entrust, leave in someone’s care
자다	재우다	sleep → put to sleep
깨다	깨우다	wake up (intransitive) → wake someone
타다	태우다	ride → give someone a ride, put aboard
서다	세우다	stand → make stand, set up
낮다	낮추다	be low → lower
늦다	늦추다	be late → delay, postpone

The list of suffixes is useful for recognition, but it is not a reliable recipe. You cannot choose a suffix freely and attach it to every verb. Learn each basic–causative pair as vocabulary: 자다–재우다, not simply “add -우.” Sound changes can also hide the boundary between the stem and suffix.

Once formed, the verb conjugates normally:

Dictionary form	Present polite	Past polite	Future/intention
먹이다	먹여요	먹였어요	먹일 거예요
재우다	재워요	재웠어요	재울 거예요
알리다	알려요	알렸어요	알릴 거예요
낮추다	낮춰요	낮췄어요	낮출 거예요

Several causative forms have developed an everyday lexical meaning of their own. For example, 알리다 normally means “inform” or “announce,” 맡기다 means “entrust” or “leave in someone’s care,” and 웃기다 often means “be funny.” A literal “make know” analysis helps explain their origin, but it is not always the best English translation.

2. The productive pattern -게 하다

For a flexible causative, attach -게 하다 to a verb or descriptive verb stem. A descriptive verb is a Korean word such as 조용하다 or 따뜻하다 that often corresponds to an English adjective.

Pattern:

causer + causee + verb stem + -게 하다

Base expression	Causative expression	Meaning
공부하다	공부하게 하다	make/have someone study
기다리다	기다리게 하다	make/keep someone waiting
들어오다	들어오게 하다	let/make someone come in
조용하다	조용하게 하다	make something quiet
따뜻하다	따뜻하게 하다	make something warm

Only 하다 carries tense, politeness, or other sentence endings: 공부하게 했어요 (“made [someone] study”), 기다리게 하지 마세요 (“please do not make [someone] wait”), and 쉬게 해 주세요 (“please let [me/them] rest”). Do not tense both verbs.

The form -도록 하다 can overlap with -게 하다, especially in instructions and arrangements, but it often sounds more like ensuring that something happens or directing someone to do it: 내일까지 제출하도록 하세요 (“Have them submit it by tomorrow”). The basic causative taught here is -게 하다.

3. Marking the causee and the other object

Particles depend partly on whether the original verb already has an object. A direct object is the person or thing directly affected by a verb, marked most often by 을/를.

With an intransitive verb—one that normally has no direct object—the causee commonly becomes the object of the causative:

• 아이가 자요. — “The child sleeps.”
• 엄마가 아이를 재워요. — “The mother puts the child to sleep.”
• 학생들이 웃었어요. — “The students laughed.”
• 선생님이 학생들을 웃겼어요. — “The teacher made the students laugh.”

When the caused action already has an object, the causee is commonly marked by 에게 or conversational 한테, while the original object keeps 을/를:

• 민수가 책을 읽어요. — “Minsu reads a book.”
• 선생님이 민수에게 책을 읽게 했어요. — “The teacher had Minsu read a book.”

This pattern keeps the roles clear: 선생님이 is the causer, 민수에게 is the person who performs the reading, and 책을 is what is read. In real Korean, 을/를 can also mark a causee with some constructions, especially when there is no competing object: 아이를 밖에서 놀게 했어요 (“I let the child play outside”). Do not treat particle choice as a mechanical translation of English “to” or “by.”

4. Suffix causative or -게 하다?

Short causative	Long causative	Typical difference
아이를 재웠어요.	아이를 자게 했어요.	Both can mean “put/made the child to sleep”; 재우다 is compact and conventional.
친구를 웃겼어요.	친구를 웃게 했어요.	Both mean “made a friend laugh”; 웃기다 can also mean “be funny.”
소식을 알렸어요.	소식을 알게 했어요.	알리다 means “informed”; 알게 하다 stresses causing someone to learn/realize.
가격을 낮췄어요.	가격이 낮게 했어요.	The first is natural for “lowered the price”; the second sentence is not the normal way to express it.

The two forms are therefore not automatically interchangeable. A conventional causative verb is often shorter and more natural for direct physical action or a well-established lexical meaning. -게 하다 is productive, transparent, and useful when no common short causative exists or when you want to present the caused action as a separate event.

Examples in Context

Korean	English	Note
아이를 재웠어요.	I put the child to sleep.	자다 → 재우다
아침마다 동생을 깨워요.	I wake my younger sibling every morning.	깨다 → 깨우다
엄마가 아기에게 우유를 먹였어요.	The mother fed the baby milk.	Causee marked by 에게; milk is the object.
이 영화를 보면 항상 웃겨요.	This movie always makes me laugh / is always funny.	The experiencer may be omitted when clear.
회의 시간을 한 시간 늦췄어요.	We delayed the meeting time by one hour.	Lexical causative 늦추다
팀장님이 저에게 결과를 알리셨어요.	The team leader informed me of the result.	Honorific -시- appears in 알리셨어요.
선생님이 학생들에게 문장을 다시 쓰게 했어요.	The teacher had the students rewrite the sentence.	The students perform the caused action.
부모님은 아이를 밖에서 놀게 했어요.	The parents let the child play outside.	Context favors permission, not force.
의사가 환자에게 물을 많이 마시게 했어요.	The doctor had the patient drink plenty of water.	The causee and object are both stated.
매운 음식이 눈물을 나게 했어요.	The spicy food made tears come to my eyes.	A thing, not a person, can be the causer.
창문을 열어서 방을 시원하게 했어요.	I opened the window and made the room cool.	Descriptive verb + -게 하다
손님을 너무 오래 기다리게 하지 마세요.	Do not keep the guest waiting too long.	Negative causative command
오늘은 아이들이 마음껏 놀게 해 주세요.	Please let the children play as much as they want today.	-게 해 주세요 often requests permission.
그 소식은 모두를 놀라게 했어요.	The news surprised everyone.	Literally, “made everyone become surprised.”

Common Mistakes

1. Inventing a suffix form

• Wrong: 공부기다
• Right: 공부하게 하다
• Why: Causative suffixes are not freely productive. There is no standard causative verb 공부기다; use 공부하게 하다.

2. Giving both people the same particle

• Wrong: 선생님이 학생을 책을 읽게 했어요.
• Right: 선생님이 학생에게 책을 읽게 했어요.
• Why: Two adjacent 을/를 phrases obscure the roles. Here, the student is the causee, marked by 에게, and the book is the direct object.

3. Adding tense to the embedded verb

• Wrong: 공부했게 했어요.
• Right: 공부하게 했어요.
• Why: Attach -게 to the verb stem, then put tense on 하다: 하- + -였어요 → 했어요.

4. Assuming -게 하다 always means force

• Misleading: 아이를 놀게 했어요 always means “I forced the child to play.”
• Better: It can mean “I let the child play” or “I had the child play,” depending on context.
• Why: Korean does not always encode the make/let distinction in the causative form itself. Add 억지로 for coercion or permission-related context when clarity matters.

5. Translating a lexical causative word by word

• Awkward interpretation: 소식을 알렸어요 = “I made the news know.”
• Natural translation: “I announced the news” or “I informed them of the news.”
• Why: Many suffix causatives are ordinary vocabulary items with established meanings.

Usage Notes

In conversation, 한테 commonly replaces 에게 for a human causee: 아이한테 약을 먹게 했어요. 에게 is neutral and works well in both speech and writing; 한테 is more conversational. 께 is the honorific counterpart when respect toward the causee is needed, though causative wording directed at a respected person can sound socially delicate.

Korean often omits a causer or causee that listeners can recover from context. 공부하게 했어요 can mean “I made him study,” “She had them study,” or another contextually obvious combination. English usually requires an explicit subject and often an object, so a natural translation may contain pronouns absent from the Korean sentence.

Be sensitive to social relationships. A sentence such as 부장님에게 보고서를 쓰게 했어요 grammatically says that someone made the department head write a report, but it may sound surprising unless the causer has suitable authority. When describing a polite request rather than control, use request forms such as 부탁하다 or quote the request directly.

Negation can target the causing action: 아이를 못 나가게 했어요 means “I prevented the child from going out” or literally “caused the child not to be able to go out.” The very common pattern -지 못하게 하다 means “prevent someone from doing,” while -지 않게 하다 means “make sure someone does not do.”

Beyond the Basics

Direct and indirect causation

A short causative often suggests that the causer is closely involved in the event, while -게 하다 can make the causee’s action feel more independent. Compare 아이에게 옷을 입혔어요 (“I dressed the child”) with 아이에게 옷을 입게 했어요 (“I made/had the child put on clothes”). The first readily describes physically dressing the child; the second presents the child as the one doing the dressing. This is a tendency, not an absolute rule.

Causative and passive forms can look alike

The suffixes -이-, -히-, -리-, and -기- also occur in Korean passive verbs. For example, 먹이다 is causative (“feed”), but 보이다 may mean “be seen/seem” and can also be related to “show,” depending on structure and context. Do not identify voice from the suffix alone. Check the verb’s argument structure—who acts, who is affected, and which particles appear—and learn common forms as complete words.

This overlap is why studying Passive Voice first is helpful. In a passive, the subject receives or undergoes an action; in a causative, the subject causes another event. Compare 책이 학생들에게 읽혔어요 (“The book was read by the students”) with 선생님이 학생들에게 책을 읽게 했어요 (“The teacher had the students read the book”).

Double causatives and overbuilt forms

Korean can theoretically stack causative meaning, but learners should avoid forms built merely by adding another suffix or another 시키다. In particular, -시키다 is natural with many action nouns—교육시키다 (“train/educate”), 이동시키다 (“move/relocate something”)—but attaching it indiscriminately to every 하다 verb can sound redundant or overly forceful. Prefer the established verb or -게 하다 unless you know that a -시키다 form is conventional.

Permission made explicit

If the distinction between “make” and “let” matters, vocabulary can remove ambiguity:

• 허락하다 — permit, allow
• 억지로 -게 하다 — force someone to do
• 마음대로 -게 하다 — let someone do as they wish
• 도와주다 — help someone do

For example, 부모님이 여행을 허락해 주셨어요 clearly means “My parents allowed me to travel,” whereas 부모님이 여행하게 했어요 relies more heavily on context.

Practice Tips

1. Learn pairs, not suffix charts. Make cards with a base verb on one side and its causative partner plus one sentence on the other: 자다 → 아이를 재우다, 먹다 → 아이에게 밥을 먹이다.
2. Rebuild simple sentences. Start with 학생이 책을 읽어요, add a causer, and adjust the particles: 선생님이 학생에게 책을 읽게 해요. Say who causes, who performs, and what receives the action.
3. Test the English meaning in context. For every -게 하다 example, ask whether “make,” “have,” “let,” or “cause” sounds most natural. Then add one Korean clue—such as 억지로 or 마음껏—that makes the intended reading clearer.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Passive Voice — contrasts an affected subject with a subject that causes another event and introduces overlapping suffix forms.