Cause to be Passive
Causative and Passive Verbs
We will now learn the last two major types of verb conjugations: causative and passive forms. While there are many reason to put this in the
Essential Grammar section, I have decided to put it as the first lesson of this section because: 1) The essential grammar section
was getting really big, 2)
Causative and passive forms are not as commonly used as other verb forms. These two verb conjugations are traditionally covered together
because of the notorious causative-passive combination. We will now go over what all these things are and how they are used.
Causative Verbs
Verbs conjugated into the causative form are used to indicate an action that someone makes happen. Like Captain Picard so succinctly puts it,
the causative verb means to "make it so". This verb is usually used in the context of making somebody do something. The really confusing thing
about the causative verb is that it can also mean to let someone do something. Or maybe this is a different type of verb with the exact same
conjugation rules. Whichever the case may be, a verb in the causative form can mean either making or letting someone do
something. The only good news is that when the causative form is used with 「」
and 「」, it almost always means to
"let someone do". Once you get used to it, surprisingly, it becomes quite clear which meaning is being used when.
（１） 。- Made/Let (someone) eat it all.
（２） 。- Let (someone) eat it all.
Causative Conjugation Rules
Here are the conjugation rules for the causative form. All causative verbs become ru-verbs.
- ru-verbs - Remove the 「る」 and add 「させる」.
- u-verbs - Change the last character as you would for negative verbs but attach 「せる」
instead of 「ない」.
- Exception Verbs - 「」 becomes 「」 and 「」 becomes 「」.
Sample ru-verbs
| Plain | Causative |
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Sample u-verbs
| Plain | Causative |
ローマ字 | ローマ字 (Caus.) |
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hanasu | hanasaseru |
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kiku | kikaseru |
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oyogu | oyogaseru |
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asobu | asobaseru |
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matu | mataseru |
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nomu | nomaseru |
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naoru | naoraseru |
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shinu | shinaseru |
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kau | kawaseru |
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Exception Verbs
| Positive | Causative |
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Examples
Here are some examples using the causative verb. Context will usually tell you which is being meant, but for our purposes
we will assume that when the verb is used with 「」 and 「」（） it means "to let someone do"
while it means, "to make someone do" when used without it.
（１） がにを。
- Teacher made students do lots of homework.
（２） がを。
- Teacher let [someone] ask lots of questions.
（３） はを。
- Please let me rest from work today. (Please let me take the day off today.)
（４） は、。
- That manager often make [people] work long hours.
When asking for permission to let someone do something, it is more common to use the 「～ても」 grammar.
（１） にか。
- Can you let me go to the bathroom? (Sounds like a prisoner, even in English)
（２） にもですか。
- Is it ok to go to the bathroom? (No problem here)
A Shorter Alternative
There is a shorter version of the causative conjugation, which I will go over for completeness. However, since this version is mostly used in very rough slang,
you are free to skip this section until you've had time to get used to the regular form. Also, textbooks usually don't cover this version of the causative verb.
The key difference in this version is that all verbs become an u-verbs with a 「す」 ending. Therefore, the resulting verb would conjugate just like any other u-verb ending
in 「す」 such as 「」 or 「」.
The first part of the conjugation is the same as the original causative form. However, for ru-verbs, instead of attaching 「させる」, you attach 「さす」 and for u-verbs,
you attach 「す」 instead of 「せる」. As a result, all the verbs become an u-verb ending in 「す」.
Shortened Causative Form
- This form is rarely used so you may just want to stick with the more traditional version of the causative form.
- ru-verbs - Remove the 「る」 and add 「さす」.
- u-verbs - Change the last character as you would for negative verbs but attach 「す」 instead of 「ない」.
- Exception Verbs - 「」 becomes 「」 and 「」 becomes 「」.
Examples
（１） をもな！
- Don't make me say the same thing again and again!
（２） んだから、よ。
- I'm hungry so let me eat something.
Passive Verbs
Passive verbs are verbs that are done to the (passive) subject. Unlike English style of writing which discourages the use of the passive form, passive
verbs in Japanese are often used in essays and articles.
Passive Conjugation Rules
For once, the conjugations rules are same for both ru-verbs and u-verbs. All passive verbs become ru-verbs.
- ru-verbs and u-verbs - Change the last character from an / u / vowel sound to an / a / vowel sound and add 「れる」.
- Exception Verbs - 「」 becomes 「」 and 「」 becomes 「」.
Sample ru-verbs
| Plain | Passive |
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Sample u-verbs
| Plain | Passive |
ローマ字 | ローマ字 (Pass.) |
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hanasu | hanasareru |
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kiku | kikareru |
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oyogu | oyogareru |
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asobu | asobareru |
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matu | matareru |
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nomu | nomareru |
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naoru | naorareru |
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shinu | shinareru |
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kau | kawareru |
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Exception Verbs
| Positive | Passive |
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Examples
（１） がに！
- The porridge was eaten by somebody!
（２） にだと。
- I am told by everybody that [I'm] strange.
（３） のをのは、だと。
- Exceeding the speed of light is thought to be impossible.
（４） はのに。
- This textbook is being read by a large number of people.
（５） にをが、。
- I was asked a question by a foreigner but I couldn't answer.
（６） には、。
- Everything is included in this package.
Using passive form to show politeness
While we will go over various types of grammar that express a politeness level above the normal -masu/-desu forms in the next lesson,
it is useful to know that using passive form is another more polite way to express an action. In Japanese, a sentence is usually more polite when
it is less direct. For example, it is more polite to refer to someone by his or her name and not by the direct pronoun "you". It is also more polite to ask
a negative question than a positive one. (For example, 「しますか？」 vs. 「 しませんか？」) In a similar sense, using the passive form makes
the sentence less direct because the subject does not directly perform the action. This makes it sound more polite.
Here is the same sentence in increasing degrees of politeness.
（１） ？- What will you do? (lit: How do?)
（２） か？ - Regular polite.
（３） か？- Passive polite.
（４） か？- Honorific (to be covered next lesson)
（５） でしょうか？- Honorific + a lesser degree of certainty.
Notice how the same sentence grows longer and longer as you get more and more indirect.
Examples
（１） はか？
- What about your receipt? (lit: How will you do receipt?)
（２） のにんですか？
- Are you going to tomorrow's meeting?
Causative-Passive Forms
The causative-passive form is simply the combination of causative and passive conjugations to mean that the action of making someone do
something was done to that person. This would effectively translate into, "[someone] is made to do [something]".
The important thing to remember is the order of conjugation. The verb is first conjugated to the causative
and then passive, never the other way around.
Causative-Passive Conjugation Form
- The causative-passive verb is formed by first conjugating to the causative form and then by conjugating the result to the passive form.
例） → →
例） → →
Examples
（１） はのに、。
- Despite not wanting to eat breakfast, I was made to eat it.
（２） では、をが。
- In Japan, the event of being made to drink is numerous.
（３） にも。
- I was made to wait 2 hours by that guy.
（４） にを。
- I am made to do homework everyday by my parent(s).
A Shorter Alternative
Going along with the shorter causative alternative, you can also use the same conjugation for the causative-passive form. I won't cover it in too much detail because
the usefulness of this form is rather limited just like the shorter causative form itself.
The idea is to simply used the shortened causative form instead of using the regular causative conjugation. The rest is the same as before.
Shortened causative-passive form examples
- First conjugate to the shortened causative form. Then conjugate to the passive form.
例） → → →
例） → → →
This form cannot be used in cases where the shorter causative form ends in 「さす」, in other words, you can't have a 「さされる」 ending.
Verbs that cannot be used in this form
- Examples of verbs you can't use in this form.
誤） → →
誤） → →
Examples
（１） がに。
- The student was made to stand in the hall.
（２） では、をが。
- In Japan, the event of being made to drink is numerous.
（３） にも。
- I was made to wait 2 hours by that guy.
This page has last been revised on 2006/1/28
Minor typos and conjugation example （食べさせられる） fixed (2005/3/31)
Added shorter causative alternative for completeness (2006/1/28)