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When you use the causative form of a verb, you can describe who
makes someone
do something, and who lets someone do something. |
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Forming causative verbs: |
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ru-verbs: Drop the -ru and add -sase-ru |
| 食べる -> 食べさせる |
to eat - to make somebody eat |
| taberu - tabesaseru |
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u-verbs: Drop the -u and add -ase-ru. (* 1) |
| 行く ->
行かせる |
to go - to make someone go |
|
iku - ikaseru |
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| 話す -> 話させる |
to talk - to make someone talk |
| hanasu - hanasaseru |
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irregular verbs: |
| くる -> こさせる |
to come, to arrive - to make somebody arrive |
| kuru - kosaseru |
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| する -> させる |
to do - to make somebody do |
| suru - saseru |
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As you may have noticed already, the
causative derivation is quite similar to the passive
derivation, which we studied in the last lesson. |
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The basic structure of a causative sentence is as follows: |
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(director)は (cast)に (action). |
| 先生は 学生に 会話を覚えさせました。 |
The professor made the students memorize the dialogue. |
| sensei-wa gakusei-ni kaiwa-o oboe-sasemashita. |
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The "director" decides what is allowed and what is to be done. Marked with は
- ha [wa] or が - ga. |
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The "cast" performs the action. Usually goes with に -
ni.
(* 2) |
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The "action" is described with a causative form of a verb. |
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There are two meanings of the causative form.
Any causative verb can be interpreted either as "make
somebody do" or "let somebody do".
Thus you cannot tell simply from the sentences below in
isolation
whether they describe an authoritarian parent (forcing the
children to eat what they do not want)
or a doting parent (allowing the children to have what they
want).
Only our general knowledge about the parents and the
linguistic context of the sentence solve the issue. |
| お父さんは 子供に 野菜を食べさせました。 |
The father made/let his child eat vegetables. |
|
otoo-san-wa kodomo-ni yasai-o tabe-sasemashita. |
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| お母さんは 子供に 本を読ませました。 |
The mother made/let her child read the book. |
| okaasan-wa kodomo-ni hon-o yomasemashita. |
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If the helping verb てあげる
- te ageru, てくれる
- te kureru or てもらう - te morau follows a causative verb, you can assume
in almost all cases that it is a "let" causative verb. |
| 先生は 私に 英語を話させてくれませんでした。 |
The professor did not allow me to speak in
English. |
| sensei-wa watashi-ni eigo-o hanasasete kuremasen deshita. |
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私は 自分の子供に
好きな所に行かせてあげるつもりです。 |
I think I will let my children go to the
place they love. |
watashi-wa jibun-no kodomo-ni
sukina tokoro-ni ikasete ageru tsumori desu. |
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You can use the causative + te kudasai
to ask for permission to do something and to volunteer to do
something. |
| 私にこの仕事をやらせてください。 |
Please let me do this job. |
| watashi-ni kono shigoto-o yarasete kudasai. |
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Form: |
| (director) wa (cast) ni causative verb
|
(director) makes (cast) do . . . |
| (director) wa (cast) ni causative verb +
te
ageru / te kureru |
(director) lets (cast) do . . |
| causative verb + te kudasai |
please let me do . . . |
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* 1
With the verbs that end with the hiragana u,
we see a "w" intervening, just as in the negative
short forms and the passive forms. |
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* 2 There are cases in which the "cast"
gets wo [o] instead. |
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(1) When the caused action is a reflex, such
as crying and laughing: |
| 私は その子供を 泣かせてしまいました。 |
I accidentally made the child cry. |
| watashi-wa sono kodomo-o nakasete shimai mashita. |
|
アレンさんは おもしろい映画を作って
みんなを 笑わせました。 |
Mr. Allen made funny movies
and made
everyone laugh. |
aren-san-wa omoshiroi eiga-o tsukutte
minna-o warawasemashita. |
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(2) When the verb that is turned into the
causative originally did not call for wo [o]: |
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In the first two examples below, the verbs iku and
suwaru do not take the particle wo [o],
and therefore
wo [o] is up for grabs for marking the
cast in the causative sentences.
In the last example, in contrast,
yomu; already calls
for wo [o], and therefore wo [o] is not
available for marking the cast in the causative. |
| 先生は 私を トイレに行かせました。 |
The professor made me go to the bathroom. |
| sensei-wa watashi-o toiru-ni ikasemashita. |
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| その人は 私を そこに座らせました。 |
That person made me sit there. |
| sono hito-wa watashi-o soko-ni suwarasemashita. |
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| 両親は 私を 本を 読ませました。 |
My parents made me
read books. |
|
ryooshin-wa watashi-o hon-o
yomasemashita. |
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