Japanese Causative Form: The Grammar Point Where "Make" and "Let" Are the Same Thing

You know that moment when you're watching a Japanese show and someone says something with させる, and you can't tell if they're forcing someone to do something or giving them permission? Yeah. The causative form is confusing like that.

Here's the thing: Japanese grammar doesn't have separate causative verbs for "make someone do" and "let someone do." It's the same verb form. Context tells you which one it means, and when you're learning, that's basically useless advice because you don't have that context yet.

But look—once you understand how this actually works, the Japanese causative isn't that complicated. The causative form just expresses that someone causes an action that someone else performs. Whether that's through force or permission depends on who's talking to who and what the situation is.

Let me break down what you actually need to know.

How Causative Form Conjugation Works

The conjugation rules are pretty straightforward once you know your verb groups. The causative form is used to show that someone makes or lets somebody do something.

Ichidan verbs (ru-verbs): Drop the る, add させる

This pattern applies to any ichidan verb in the plain form.

Godan verbs (u-verbs): Change the final kana to the あ sound in that kana column, then add せる

Irregular verbs: Just memorize these two

One helpful thing about verb conjugations: all causative verbs become ru-verbs, no matter what they started as. So 行かせる (make/let someone go) conjugates like a regular ru-verb: 行かせる、行かせた、行かせない、行かせて.

That's actually really convenient. Once you conjugate to the causative, you don't need to remember the original verb group.

Understanding Causative Sentences: Make or Let Someone?

Okay, so how do you know if 母は子供に野菜を食べさせた means "Mom made her kid eat vegetables" or "Mom let her kid eat vegetables"?

You don't. Not from the causative sentence alone.

The causative is neutral—it just means someone caused an action to happen. Think about the relationship between the people:

One reliable trick: when you see the causative with くれる or ください, it almost always means "let someone":

Without those helpers, you're reading the room. The Japanese causative form requires context to understand whether it's coercive or permissive.

Particle Selection: The に vs. を Problem

This is where most learners mess up, and honestly, most explanations make it worse. The particle you use with causative sentences depends on whether the verb is transitive or intransitive.

With transitive verbs (verbs that take an object):

You can't use を for both the person and the object. Japanese doesn't repeat particles like that.

With intransitive verbs (verbs that don't take an object):

But real talk—most of the time it doesn't matter that much. Native speakers understand either way, and you'll develop intuition for particle usage as you see more examples in real Japanese.

This is covered in guides like Tae Kim's Japanese grammar explanations, but honestly, you learn this better from seeing it in context than memorizing rules.

If you're constantly second-guessing particles, our particles guide might help you get a better feel for how に and を work in general.

Politeness and the Causative: Forms You'll Actually Use

The basic causative verb is neutral. But in real Japanese—especially at work or in formal situations—you'll constantly hear these combinations that show formality and politeness.

させてもらう / させていただく (being allowed to do something) This is huge. It means "be allowed to do" or "take the liberty of doing," and it's everywhere in business Japanese:

The ていただく version is the honorific version of てもらう. させていただく is usually more polite than させてもらう, which is why you hear it constantly in business settings. Both express that you're doing something with permission.

させてくれる / させてください (let someone do something) These let you ask permission or express gratitude for being allowed to do something:

When you use the causative with giving/receiving verbs, the meaning becomes clearer—it's almost always about permission rather than force.

させてあげる (I'll let someone do) "I'll let someone do":

These aren't separate grammar points—the causative form combines with all the giving/receiving verbs you already know. If you're not solid on those yet, you're going to have a rough time with polite causative constructions.

And yeah, the Japanese causative shows up constantly in keigo (honorific language). させていただく is basically the poster child for humble Japanese.

The Causative-Passive Form: When You're Forced to Do Something

Take any causative verb, then conjugate it to the passive form. That gives you the causative-passive: させられる.

食べる → 食べさせる → 食べさせられる

The causative-passive form means "to be made to do" something, and it always implies you were forced to do something you didn't want to do:

Important: You can't use the causative-passive for positive things. If your teacher praised you, you say 褒められた (passive form), not 褒めさせられた (causative-passive). The latter sounds like someone forced them to praise you against their will, which is weird.

The shorter causative form Native speakers often shorten this to さされる instead of させられる:

You'll hear both in the Japanese language, but the short form is more casual.

This is an N4 level grammar point on most JLPT study resources like Bunpro, but you'll see it constantly in real Japanese.

Common Mistakes When You Use the Causative

Conjugation errors The most common mistake is not changing the verb properly:

For godan verbs, you need to change to the negative form base (same as when you make negative verbs), then add せる instead of ない:

Wrong particle choice Using を with transitive verbs when you should use に:

Mixing up causative and passive forms The causative (させる) and passive (られる/れる) look similar but mean totally different things:

Don't confuse these. The causative and passive forms are separate grammar points that can combine.

What Actually Helps You Learn the Japanese Causative Form

Reading explanations is one thing. Actually using causative sentences is different.

The problem with studying Japanese grammar in isolation is that you miss the context cues that tell you what's really happening. Is this person making someone do something or letting them? You can't tell from a textbook example sentence with 見る or 見せる.

You need to see this stuff in actual Japanese—shows, movies, manga, whatever. Watch a workplace scene and notice how a manager uses the causative with employees. Watch a family scene and see how parents use causative verbs with kids. The relationship tells you everything about whether it's forceful or permissive.

When you learn Japanese from real content instead of manufactured textbook sentences, you automatically get that context. You see the power dynamics, hear the tone, understand the situation. The causative form stops being a grammar puzzle and starts being just... how people talk.

That's how you actually internalize this stuff—not by memorizing rules about particles and verb form conjugations, but by seeing thousands of examples where the particles and meanings just make sense because you understand what's happening.

Look, the causative is one of those Japanese grammar points that textbooks make way harder than it needs to be. Yeah, there are verb conjugations and particle guidelines, but the real skill is reading situations and understanding relationships between people. And you only get that from actual Japanese.

That's why we built Migaku around immersion learning—you're watching shows you actually want to watch, reading manga you care about, and the browser extension handles the annoying stuff like instant lookups and flashcard creation. The causative form stops being a grammar point to memorize and becomes something you just recognize when you see it.

Plus, when you learn grammar from context instead of tables, you automatically pick up the polite forms (like 〜させて with もらう or くれる), the casual shortenings, the subtle differences between に and を—all the stuff that textbooks explain badly or skip entirely.

You can try it free for 10 days. Set up the browser extension, throw on a Japanese show, and start learning from actual content instead of grammar drills.