Japanese Study Materials: 使役受身の形 ・ Causative-Passive Form

使役受身の形 ・ Causative-Passive Form

In Japanese you can express the idea of someone (subject) is made to do something (verb) by using the causative-passive form verb conjugation. Godan (Group I) verbs and ichidan (Group II) verbs both have their own conjugation rules.

ごだん動詞 Godan Verbs

There are two versions of the causative-passive form for godan verbs, but they both follow the same conjugation rule. Fist you start with a plain form verb (ふつう形), remove the [u] ending sound and replace it with the [a] ending sound hiragana. For the causative-passive form 1 you add される. For causative-passive form 2 you add せられる.  The first form is easier to say, but it doesn’t work with any verbs ending in す. The second form can be used with all verbs.

All plain form verbs end in the [u] column on the hiragana chart, so you can just move up two rows to find the corresponding [a] ending sound. You can also start in the polite/masu form (ます形) by cutting off the ます and changing the [i] ending sound hiragana to the [a] ending sound hiragana.

Examples ・例えば

• (I) pay　→　(I'm) being made to pay払う　→　払わされる or 払わせられる
• (I) transport 　→　(I'm) being made to transport運ぶ　→　運ばされる or 運ばせられる
• (I) speak 　→　(I'm) being made to speak話す　→　話させられる

いちだん動詞 Ichidan Verbs

For this verb group you should start by finding the verb root, or verb stem. You can find the verb root by first starting in the polite/masu form (ます形 ). The verb stem is just the polite/masu form (ます形 ) without the ます. Once you’ve found the verb root all you need to do is add させられる.

Examples ・例えば

• (I) wear　→　(I'm) being made to wear着る　→　着させられる
• (I) sleep　→　(I'm) being made to sleep寝る　→　寝させられる
• (I) eat　→　(I'm) being made to eat食べる　→　食べさせられる

Irregular Verbs

Irregular verbs are just that — irregular. They don’t have any set rules. Fortunately there aren’t a whole lot of them. The most common are する・to do, and 来る・to come. 

Examples ・例えば

• (I) do　→　(I'm) being made to doする・します　→　させられる
• (I) come　→　(I'm) being made to come来る・来ます　→　来させられる