High School - Grade 9
Lesson 2: Advanced Grammar
Causative Voice (사동)
What is Causative Voice?
While Passive Voice is about *receiving* an action, Causative Voice is about *making someone do* an action.
Active Voice: The subject does the action.
`아이가 밥을 먹어요.` (The child eats rice.)
Causative Voice: The subject causes the action.
`엄마가 아이에게 밥을 먹여요.` (The mother feeds the child rice.)
Method 1: The Infixes (이, 히, 리, 기, 우, 구, 추)
Just like passive voice, we can add an infix to the verb stem. The first four are the same, but we add three new ones: 우, 구, 추. These must be memorized.
이 (i)
`보다` (to see) `보이다` (to show)
`죽다` (to die) `죽이다` (to kill)
히 (hi)
`입다` (to wear) `입히다` (to dress someone)
`앉다` (to sit) `앉히다` (to seat someone)
리 (ri)
`알다` (to know) `알리다` (to inform)
`울다` (to cry) `울리다` (to make cry)
기 (gi)
`웃다` (to laugh) `웃기다` (to make laugh)
`신다` (to wear shoes) `신기다` (to put shoes on someone)
New Infixes: 우, 구, 추
우 (u): `깨다` (to wake up) `깨우다` (to wake someone up)
구 (gu): `돋다` (to rise) `돋구다` (to raise, stir up)
추 (chu): `낮다` (to be low) `낮추다` (to lower)
Method 2: The `~게 하다` Ending
This is the "long form" and is much more straightforward. It literally means "to make/let (someone) do (something)." You can use this with almost any verb, especially when an infix doesn't exist.
`가다` (to go) `가게 하다` (to make go)
`공부하다` (to study) `공부하게 하다` (to make study)
선생님이 학생들을 공부하게 했어요.
"The teacher made the students study."
How Sentences Change
Active Sentence
아이가 책을 읽어요.
(The child reads the book.)
Subject: `아이가` (child)
Object: `책을` (book)
Verb: `읽어요` (reads)
Causative Sentence
엄마가 아이에게 책을 읽혀요.
(The mother makes the child read the book.)
Subject (Causer): `엄마가` (mother)
Original Doer: `아이에게` (child)
Verb: `읽혀요` (makes read)
The original doer (the child) now gets the `에게` particle!
Coming Up Next...
Amazing! You've mastered Passive and Causative voice, the most complex grammar in Grade 9.
Next, we'll move to Grade 10 and learn how to report what other people say. This is how you change "It is cold" into "She said *that it is cold*."