As you dive deeper into Japanese, you’ll move beyond simply stating actions to describing the interactions between people. One of the most powerful tools for this is the causative form. This isn’t about what you do, but about what you make or let others do. It’s the grammar of authority, permission, and sometimes, gentle persuasion.

In English, we use separate verbs like “make,” “let,” “allow,” or “have someone do” to express these ideas. Japanese, with its love for efficiency, builds this meaning directly into the verb itself through a specific conjugation. Mastering the causative form, known as `使役形` (しえきけい, shieki-kei), will unlock a new level of expressive nuance in your speaking and writing. This article will break down how to form it, how to use it in sentences, and how to navigate its subtleties.

Understanding the Causative Form

Imagine you’re a film director. Your job is to tell the actors what to do. You might “make the actor cry” or “let the actor improvise.” The causative tense is your grammatical megaphone. The person giving the order (the director) causes the other person (the actor or “cast”) to perform an action. This form generally carries one of two meanings:

  • Coercive: Making, forcing, or having someone do something. This can range from a strong command to a simple instruction.
  • Permissive: Letting or allowing someone to do something. This implies giving permission or creating an opportunity for an action to happen.

The specific meaning is almost always clear from the context. A parent making a child eat vegetables is coercive, while a parent letting their child play outside is permissive.

How to Conjugate Verbs into the Causative Form

Just like other conjugations, the rules for creating the causative form depend on the verb group. Let’s break it down.

Conjugating Godan verbs for the Causative Form

For these verbs, the final hiragana character, which ends in a ‘u’ sound, changes to its ‘a’ sound equivalent before adding `せる` (seru).

  • 飲む (のむ) → 飲ませる (のませる) – to make/let drink
  • 書く (かく) → 書かせる (かかせる) – to make/let write
  • 待つ (まつ) → 待たせる (またせる) – to make/let wait

Conjugating Ichidan verbs for the causative form

This is the easy one! Simply replace the final `る` (ru) with `させる` (saseru). Verbs ending in `う` (u) are a special case. They change to `わ` (wa), not `あ` (a).

  • 食べる (たべる) → 食べさせる (たべさせる) – to make/let eat
  • 見る (みる) → 見させる (みさせる) – to make/let see
  • 起きる (おきる) → 起きさせる (おきさせる) – to make/let wake up
  • 言う (いう) → 言わせる (いわせる) – to make/let say

Conjugating Irregular verbs for the causative form

As always, these two verbs have their own unique forms.

  • する → させる – to make/let do
  • 来る (くる) → 来させる (こさせる) – to make/let come
 

Building Sentences: The Crucial Role of Particles

Once you’ve conjugated the verb, you need to build a sentence. The particles `に` and `を` are key here, and they tell you who is being made to do the action. The rule depends on whether the verb is transitive (takes a direct object) or intransitive (does not).

Scenario 1: Using a Transitive Verb (a verb with a direct object)

When the action verb takes a direct object (marked by `を`), the person being made to do the action (the “cast”) is marked with `に`.

Sentence Structure:
[Director] は [Cast] に [Object] を [Causative Verb].

Example 1 (Coercive):
母は子供に野菜を食べさせました
はははこどもにやさいをたべさせました
Haha wa kodomo ni yasai o tabesasemashita
The mother made her child eat the vegetables
(`食べる` is transitive because the child eats *something*.)


Example 2 (Permissive):
先生は生徒に好きな本を読ませた
せんせいはせいとにすきなほんをよませた
Sensei wa seito ni suki na hon o yomaseta
The teacher let the students read the books they liked
(`読む` is transitive because the students read *something*.)

Example 3 (Coercive)

部長は私にたくさんの仕事をさせた
ぶちょうはわたしにたくさんのしごとをさせた
Buchō wa watashi ni takusan no shigoto o saseta
The department manager made me do a lot of work


Example 4 (Permissive)

親は子供に好きなだけ遊ばせた
おやはこどもにすきなだけあそばせた
Oya wa kodomo ni suki na dake asobaseta
The parent let their child play as much as they wanted.

Scenario 2: Using an Intransitive Verb (a verb with no direct object)

When the action verb is intransitive (like “go,” “stand,” “laugh”), the person being made to do the action (the “cast”) is marked with the particle `を`.

Sentence Structure:
[Director] は [Cast] を [Causative Verb].

Example 1 (Coercive):
部長は田中さんを出張に行かせました
ぶちょうはたなかさんをしゅっちょうにいかせました
Buchō wa Tanaka-san o shutchō ni ikasemashita
The department manager made Mr. Tanaka go on a business trip
(`行く` is intransitive. You don’t “go” an object.)

Example 2 (Permissive)

親は子供を公園で遊ばせた
おやはこどもをこうえんであそばせた
Oya wa kodomo o kōen de asobaseta.
The parents let their child play in the park.
(`遊ぶ` is intransitive. You don’t “play” an object.)

Example 3 (Coercive)

コーチは選手を走らせました
こーちはせんしゅをはしらせました
Kōchi wa senshu o hashirasemashita
The coach made the player run.

Example 4 (Permissive)

先生は病気の生徒を早く帰らせました
せんせいはびょうきのせいとをはやくかえらせました
Sensei wa byōki no seito o hayaku kaerasemashita
The teacher let the sick student go home early

A Step Further: The Causative-Passive Form

What happens when you want to say you were the one being forced? For this, Japanese combines the causative and passive forms into the `使役受身形` (しえきうけみけい). It expresses the feeling of being unwillingly made to do something.

The conjugation follows a simple pattern: take the causative form and conjugate it as if it were a Godan verb ending in `す`. In short, the `せる` becomes `させられる`. This often gets shortened in casual speech.

Godan Example: 書く (kaku) – to write
Causative: 書かせる (kakaseru)
Causative-Passive: 書かされる (kakasareru) – to be made to write

Ichidan Example: 食べる (taberu) – to eat
Causative: 食べさせる (tabesaseru)
Causative-Passive: 食べさせられる (tabesaserareru) – to be made to eat

Sentence Example:
子供の時、母にピーマンを食べさせられました
こどものとき、ははにピーマンをたべさせられました
Kodomo no toki, haha ni pīman o tabesaseraremashita.
When I was a child, I was made to eat green peppers by my mother.

 

Strategies for Mastering the Causative

This form can feel complex at first, but it becomes second nature with practice. Here’s how to approach it:

  1. Drill the Conjugations: Before anything else, make sure you can instantly change any verb into its causative form. Separate your practice by verb group until the patterns are automatic.
  2. Focus on the Particle Rule: Actively ask yourself, “Is this verb transitive or intransitive?” whenever you build a causative sentence. This will help you choose between `に` and `を` correctly. It’s the most common mistake for learners.
  3. Look for Context Clues: When reading or listening, pay attention to the situation. Is a boss talking to an employee? It’s likely coercive. Are parents talking about their children’s hobbies? It’s likely permissive. Absorbing these patterns will build your intuition.
  4. Start with Yourself: Create simple sentences about what you would let or make people do. “I’ll make my friend wait.” (友達を待たせる。) “I’ll let my child watch TV.” (子供にテレビを見させる。) This makes the grammar personal and easier to remember.

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