The causative-passive, or 使役受身 transcribed shieki ukemi in Japanese, expresses how someone is made or forced to do something by someone else. The basic concept is quite simple: make a causative sentence passive:
| Causative sentence (X makes Y do something) | Causative passive (Y is made to do something by X) |
|---|---|
My mom made me eat spinach. | I was made to eat spinach by my mom. |
However, there are some situations that you can describe using a causative sentence, but not a causative passive, and some cases where the causative passive might sound better than the causative on its own.
In this post, we’ll start with a quick review of how to form and use causative sentences and passive sentences in Japanese, then we’ll go over how to combine them into the causative passive. We’ll discuss how to form causative-passive verbs, how to use them in a sentence, and when you should use the causative-passive in the first place.
Ready to have a look? Let’s dive in!
Quick review: Japanese causative and passive sentences
Before discussing what the causative-passive is, let’s quickly review what causative and passive sentences are, on their own.
What is a causative sentence?
In Japanese, a causative sentence describes a situation in which one noun (the “causer”) makes or lets another noun (the “actor”) do something.
A causer makes/lets an actor do some action
The causer might be forcing someone to do something, but could also just be letting it happen. What’s essential is that the causer has authority or control over whether or not the actor can act.
In a Japanese causative sentence, the causer is the subject, marked by は transcribed wa or が transcribed ga, while the actor is marked by either を transcribed o or に transcribed ni. The verb will also have a special causative form.
The plain forms of causative verbs mostly end with せる transcribed aseru or させる transcribed saseru. These plain causative forms can then be conjugated as ru-verbs.
| Verb group | Ending | Dictionary | Causative |
|---|---|---|---|
| u-verb | stem -aseru | 書く Transcription: kaku Translation: to write | 書かせる Transcription: kakaseru Translation: to make/let write |
| ru-verb | stem -saseru | 見る Transcription: miru Translation: to look/see | 見させる Transcription: misaseru Translation: to make/let see |
| Irregular | – | 来る Transcription: kuru Translation: to come | 来させる Transcription: kosaseru Translation: to make/let come |
する Transcription: suru Translation: to do | させる Transcription: saseru Translation: to make/let do |
What is a passive sentence?
A passive sentence describes a situation in which the subject is directly or indirectly affected by an action. There are two types of passive sentences in Japanese:
A direct passive is a lot like the English passive. The subject directly undergoes the action, and the doer of the action is most commonly marked by に transcribed ni or から transcribed aseru.
undergoerdoer絵が泥棒に盗まれた。Transcription: E ga dorobō ni nusumareta.Translation: The painting was stolen by a thief.An indirect passive sentence has a similar structure, but is a bit different in meaning. Here, the subject is affected by the action (most often negatively), but doesn’t directly undergo the action. The noun that undergoes the action is marked most often by を transcribed o.
suffererdoerundergoerその美術館は泥棒に絵を盗まれた。Transcription: Sono bijutsukan wa dorobō ni e o nusumareta.Translation: The museum had a painting stolen by a thief.
Both types of passives require you to use a special passive form of the verb. This will end either with れる transcribed areru or られる transcribed rareru. The passive form of verbs all conjugate as ru-verbs.
| Verb group | Ending | Dictionary | Passive |
|---|---|---|---|
| u-verb | stem -areru | 書く Transcription: kaku Translation: to write | 書かれる Transcription: kakareru Translation: to make/let write |
| ru-verb | stem -rareru | 見る Transcription: miru Translation: to look/see | 見られる Transcription: mirareru Translation: to make/let see |
| Irregular | – | 来る Transcription: kuru Translation: to come | 来られる Transcription: korareru Translation: to make/let come |
する Transcription: suru Translation: to do | される Transcription: sareru Translation: to make/let do |
Now that we have reviewed causative and passive sentences, let’s move onto causative-passive sentences, starting with the verb form!
How to form the causative-passive form of Japanese verbs?
To form the causative-passive of a Japanese verb, just form the plain causative verb and turn that base into a passive verb! Because all causative verbs are conjugated as ru-verbs, that means you’ll add られる transcribed raru to the causative stem.
Stem
Causative ending
remove る transcribed ru
Passive ending
られる transcribed raru
However, there is more to learn! Some causative-passives have irregular forms and causative-passives formed from u-verbs also have a short form. Let’s have a look!
U-verbs: Two forms of the causative-passive
When you form a causative passive from a u-verb, there are two possible forms:
The full form follows the rules outlined above. Simply adding られる transcribed rareru to the causative stem. This effectively means you’re adding the ending -ase-rareru to the dictionary form.
The short form abbreviates the combined endings -aserareru to just -asareru which is easier to pronounce.
In everyday language, the short form is more common, so it’s important to learn to use this ending!
| Dictionary Form | Causative | Causative-passive | |
|---|---|---|---|
stem -aseru | stem -ase -rareru | stem -asareru | |
書く Transcription: kaku Translation: to write | 書かせる Transcription: kakaseru Translation: to make/let write | 書かせられる Transcription: kakaserareru Translation: to be made to write | 書かされる Transcription: kakasareru Translation: to be made to write |
読む Transcription: yomu Translation: to read | 読ませる Transcription: yomaseru Translation: to make/let read | 読ませられる Transcription: yomaserareru Translation: to be made to read | 読まされる Transcription: yomasareru Translation: to be made to read |
Irregular verbs: 来させられる [kosaserareru] & させられる [saserareru]
The causative-passive form of irregular verbs follow the same rule as the ru-verbs: drop the last る from the causative form and add the passive ending られる transcribed rareru. Just remember that the causative base you’re adding the passive ending to is still irregular!
| Dictionary Form | Causative form | Causative-passive |
|---|---|---|
来る Transcription: kuru Translation: to come | 来させる Transcription: kosaseru Translation: to make/let come | 来させられる Transcription: kosaserareru Translation: to be made to come |
する Transcription: suru Translation: to do | させる Transcription: saseru Translation: to make/let do | させられる Transcription: saserareru Translation: to be made to do |
How to form causative-passive sentences in Japanese?
A Japanese causative-passive sentence typically involves three major elements:
An action, expressed by the causative-passive form of the verb
An actor, who performs the action
A causer, whose authority makes, causes, or allows the action to take place
We saw above that in a plain causative sentence, the causer is the subject, while the actor is an object. A causative-passive is the passive of a sentence like this, so the actor is the subject, and the causer is usually marked by the particles に transcribed ni or から transcribed kara.
Actor + は/が
subject
Causer + に/から
Verb
causative-passive
Compare the sentences above with their active equivalents:
When to use causative-passive sentences?
There are two main cases where you will use the causative-passive in Japanese:
The actor is forced to do something
The actor is made to feel or think something by a causer (a reaction)
Importantly, a causative-passive sentence focuses on the actor’s experience of the situation. This is what makes causative-passives different from the plain causative, which focuses on the causer’s involvement. Notice, though, that there is one use of the regular causative that doesn’t have a parallel in the causative passive!
| Regular Causative | Causative passive |
|---|---|
The causer forces the actor to do something | The actor is forced to do something |
The causer makes the actor feel or think something | The actor is made to feel or think something by the causer (a reaction) |
The causer lets the actor do something | ❌ The actor is allowed to do something by the causer |
Let’s have a look at the two cases you can use the causative-passive, and what you should do to express that last meaning in Japanese.
The actor is forced to do something
We can use a causative-passive sentence when the actor is made or forced to do something against their own will. You might hear this called a "coercive causative.”
causative-passive私は母に無理やりピアノを習わされた。Transcription: Watashi wa haha ni muriyari piano o narawasareta.Translation: I was forced to take piano lessons by my mother.Notice that this sentence focuses on my experience of being forced. Compare that with the non-passive causative equivalent, which focuses more on what my mother did to force me:
causative母は私に無理やりピアノを習わせた。Transcription: Haha wa watashi ni muriyari piano o narawaseta.Translation: My mother forced me to take piano lessons.The actor is made to feel or think something
We can also use a causative passive sentence when the actor has some reaction triggered in them by the causer. Usually this means that the causer triggers an emotion or a thought:
emotion
make surprised, make disappointed, make irritated, ...
thought
make think, make reflect, ...
In these cases too, the difference between the causative and the causative-passive is a matter of whose experience is the focus.
- causative-passive両親は無鉄砲な弟にいつもハラハラさせられています。Transcription: Ryōshin wa muteppōna otōto ni itsumo harahara saserarete imasu.Translation: My parents are always made nervous by my reckless younger brother.Focus on the person who experiences the reaction.
- causative無鉄砲な弟はいつも両親をハラハラさせています。Transcription: Muteppō na otōto wa itsumo ryōshin o harahara sasete imasu.Translation: My reckless younger brother always makes my parents nervous.Focus on the person who causes the reaction.
When the cause of a reaction is an event or something other than a person, the causative-passive sentence version will often sound more natural than the plain causative.
- causative-passive✅ (私は) 田中さんの発言に考えさせられた。Transcription: (Watashi wa) Tanaka san no hatsugen ni kangaesaserareta.Translation: I was made to think by Mr. Tanaka’s words.
- causative🆗 田中さんの発言は私に考えさせた。Transcription: Tanaka san no hatsugen wa watashi ni kangaesaseta.Translation: Mr. Tanaka’s words made me think.This reads like a literal translation from English. It’s not ungrammatical, but it’s not the way a native Japanese speaker would phrase this sentence.
How to express that the actor was allowed to do something?
We can’t use causative-passive sentences to express that an actor was allowed or permitted to do something by the causer. Even though we can use the plain causative to discuss the same basic situation.
- causative母は音楽が好きな私にピアノを習わせた。Transcription: Haha wa ongaku ga sukina watashi ni piano o narawaseta.Translation: My mother let me, a music lover, take piano lessons.
- causative-passive❌ 音楽が好きな私は、母にピアノを習わされた。Transcription: Ongaku ga sukina watashi wa, haha ni piano o narawasareta.Translation: Intended: I, a music lover, was allowed to take piano lessons by my mother.
If you want focus on the actor’s experience of receiving permission, you’ll instead need to use an expression like 〜てもらう transcribed ...te morau or 〜ていただく transcribed ...te itadaku. These are the expressions we use to discuss giving and receiving favors in Japanese.
To sum up
In this post, we introduced the causative-passive verb form in Japanese: how to form it and how to use it. Here are the main things to remember:
Form the causative-passive by adding the passive ending られる transcribed rareru to the causative stem.
The causative-passive is essentially the result of making a causative sentence passive: making the object of a causative sentence into the subject.
Causative sentence Causer + は
Actor + に/を
Causative verb
母は私に部屋を掃除させたTranscription: heya oTranslation: My mother made me clean my roomCausative-passive sentence Actor + は
Causer + に
Causative-passive verb
私は母に部屋を掃除させられたTranscription: heya o .Translation: Iwas made to clean my room by my mother.
Use the causative-passive to express that:
someone was forced to do something
someone was made to have some emotional or reaction
In general, you will only use the causative-passive in a case where the actor did not want to perform the action.
Ready to practice what you’ve learned? Check out our Japanese causative-passive activities! Happy learning!
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