LEARN + JAPANESE / Note 118 JLPT N4

Making Someone Do It (させる)

させる turns a verb causative, either making someone do something or letting them do it, depending on context. The person being caused to act takes に if the verb is transitive, sometimes を if intransitive, while the person giving the order or permission is the subject.

In Real Life
作る becomes 作らせる by swapping the final る-sound for あ-sound plus せる, exactly like the negative stem you already know, and る-verbs like 覚える become 覚えさせる by dropping る and adding させる directly.
In Real Life
させてもらう flips the feel entirely, from an order to a request for permission, “let me do this.” Combined with もらえませんか, the polite request pattern you already know, it becomes one of the most natural ways to ask for permission in Japanese.
In Real Life
させられる, the causative-passive, describes being forced into an action you didn’t choose, “made to do it.” It’s built by adding られる onto the causative form, させる plus られる, layering two forms you’ve now met separately into one.

Vocabulary

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