How to Make Someone Do: Causative Form

In Japanese, when you want to say “make someone do something” or “let someone do something,” you use the causative form (使役形しえきけい).

This grammar is very common in daily conversation, workplaces, parenting, and even news articles. Let’s break it down step by step.

🌱 What Is the Causative Form?

The causative form expresses that:

Someone makes another person do something
Someone lets / allows another person do something

👉 The key idea: one person causes another person to perform an action.

🧩 How to Form the Causative

🔹 Group 1 Verbs (U-verbs)

Change the final u sound → a sound + せる

Dictionary Form	Causative
行いく	行いかせる
話はなす	話はなさせる
書かく	書かかせる
読よむ	読よませる

🔹 Group 2 Verbs (Ru-verbs)

Remove る and add させる

Dictionary Form	Causative
食たべる	食たべさせる
見みる	見みさせる
寝ねる	寝ねさせる

🔹 Irregular Verbs

Verb	Causative
する	させる
来くる	来こさせる

👥 Sentence Structure

Person A は Person B に／を Verb-させる

に → common when focusing on who is made to act
を → often used when the action is movement (行いく、帰かえる)

✨ Example Sentences

🧑‍🏫 Making Someone Do Something

先生せんせいは学生がくせいに宿題しゅくだいをさせました。
👉 The teacher made the students do homework.
上司じょうしは部下ぶかに残業ざんぎょうさせました。
👉 The boss made the subordinate work overtime.

🌸 Letting Someone Do Something

Context often decides whether it means make or let:

母ははは子こどもに好すきなことをさせた。
👉 The mother let her child do what they like.
彼かれは私わたしに説明せつめいさせてくれた。
👉 He let me explain.

⚠️ Important Nuance: “Make” vs “Let”

Japanese causative does not always mean force.

Situation	Meaning
Authority / rules	“make”
Kindness / permission	“let”

📌 Tone and context are very important.

💬 Common Real-Life Uses

Parenting:
子こどもに野菜やさいを食たべさせる
(Make a child eat vegetables)
Workplace:
会議かいぎで部下ぶかに発表はっぴょうさせる
(Make a subordinate present)
Daily life:
友ともだちを待またせてしまった
(I made my friend wait)

📝 Bonus: Causative + Apology

Often used when you inconvenience someone:

待またせてすみません。
👉 Sorry for making you wait.

🎯 Summary

✔ The causative form shows causing someone to act
✔ Form: Verb + せる / させる
✔ Meaning depends on context (make vs let)
✔ Extremely useful in real-life Japanese