Causative form
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A causative form, in linguistics, (a) is an expression of an agent causing or forcing a patient to perform an action or to be in a certain condition--salient cause, (b) is an expression of a patient involves in a non-volitional event that registers the changes of its state--salient effect, (c) is an expression of a grammatical modality in perfective (sequential) or subjenctive (hypothetical) or realis (non-hypothetical) state--perceptual salient. In Korean, this form is called 사동.
The Korean passive and causative conjugations pose many confusing aspects, and most Korean materials don't even teach this part properly. This grammar part may even be hard for some native Korean speakers. For example, 굽다 has two meanings and their conjugation forms are completely different.
- 굽다1 : bend
- 굽어지다 : to become (naturally) bent : (-어지다 is always passive. in this case, 굽다 follows the regular conjugation rule)
- 굽히다 : to make something become bent , to bend something : (this -히 is causative)
- 굽혀지다 : to become bent by someone : (causative + passive)
- 굽다2 : to bake
- 구워지다 : to be baked : (-어지다 is always passive. in this case, 굽다 follows the ㅂ irregular conjugation rule)
In the example above, -히 is a causative particle, but it can be either a passive particle in many other verbs.
- 먹다 : to eat
- 먹히다 : to be eaten : (this -히 is passive)
- 먹혀지다 : to be eaten : (passive -히 + passive -어지다. this is wrong as it is a double passive)
- 먹이다 : to make/let someone eat , to feed : (this -이 is causative)
- 먹여지다 : to be fed : (causative -이 + passive -어지다)
In some cases, passive and causative forms are morphologically identical.
- 보다 : to see
- 보이다1 : to be seen : (this -이 is passive)
- 보이다2 : to make/let someone see , to show : (this -이 is causative. to avoid confusion, 보여주다 is used in most cases)
- 보여지다1 : to be shown : (causative -이 + passive -어지다)
- 보여지다2 : to be seen : (passive -이 + passive -어지다, this usage is wrong as it is a double passive)
There are some verbs that even most native Koreans fail to conjugate correctly.
- 잊다 : to forget
- 잊히다 : to be forgotten : (passive)
- 잊혀지다 : to be forgotten : (a double passive using both -히 and -어지다. this is wrong)
- 잊게 하다 : to make/let someone forget something : (in this case, -게 하다 is the proper causative form)
Some verbs don't allow the passive particles at all. These exceptional verbs need special passive forms.
- 죽다 : to die
- 죽이다 : to make/let someone die , to kill : (causative -이)
- 죽임을 당하다 : to be killed : (causative -이 + passive -ㅁ을 당하다)
- 사망(死亡)하다 : to die : (Sino Korean equivalent)
- 살해(殺害)하다 : to kill : (Sino Korean equivalent)
- 살해(殺害)당하다 : to be killed : (Sino Korean equivalent)
- 살해(殺害)되다 : to be killed : (Sino Korean equivalent)
- 피살(被殺)되다 : to be killed : (Sino Korean equivalent)
묻다 has three meanings and each of them has different conjugation forms.
- 묻다1 : to bury : (this verb follows the regular conjugation rule)
- 묻히다1 : to be buried : (this -히 is passive)
- 묻혀지다1 : to be buried : (passive -히 + passive -어지다, this usage is wrong as it is a double passive)
- 묻게 하다 : to make/let someone bury something : (causative form with -게 하다)
- 묻다2 : to be smeared : (this verb follows the regular conjugation rule)
- 묻히다2 : to make/let something become smeared, to smear : (this -히 is causative. note that the previous 묻히다1 is passive)
- 묻혀지다2 : to become smeared with something by someone : (causative -히 + passive -어지다)
- 묻다3 : to ask : (this verb does not have a passive form. theoretically, it should be 물어지다 in passive form but this is not used. this verb follows the ㄷ irregular conjugation rule)
- 물어보게 하다 : to make/let someone ask something : (causative form with -게 하다. theoretically, it should be 묻게 하다 but this can be misunderstood as the 묻다1 verb.)
Some verbs have two possible passive forms.
- 믿다 : to believe
- 믿기다 : to be believed : (this -기 is passive)
- 믿어지다 : to be believed : (-어지다 is passive)
- 믿겨지다 : to be believed : (passive -기 + passive -어지다. this is wrong as it is a double passive)
- 믿게 하다 : to make/let someone believe something : (causative)
Adjectives can also become passive and causative verbs
- 낮다 : be low
- 낮아지다 : to become low : (passive -아지다)
- 낮추다 : to make/let something low , to lower : (this -추 is causative)
- 낮춰지다 : to become lowered by someone : (causative -추 + passive -어지다)
- 높다 : be high
- 높아지다 : to become high : (passive -아지다)
- 높이다 : to make/let something high : (this -이 is causative)
- 높여지다 : passive form of 높이다 : (causative -이 + passive -어지다)
Some causative forms with the -우 particle are inflected with the vowel ㅣ.
- 자다 : to sleep
- 재우다 : to make/let someone sleep : (자 + ㅣ + 우 + 다)
- 재워지다 : passive form of 재우다 : (causative -우 + passive -어지다)
- 서다 : to stand
- 세우다 : to make/let something stand : (서 + ㅣ + 우 + 다)
- 세워지다 : passive form of 세우다 : (causative -우 + passive -어지다)
In short, the conjugation rules for passive and causative forms follow some patterns, but vary with individual verbs. (most passive verbs take one of -이, -히, -리, -기 or -어/-아지다 or -되다. most causative verbs take one of -이, -히, -리, -기, -우 , -구, -추 or -시키다 or -게 하다). The four particles -이, -히, -리, -기 are particularly tricky as they could be passive or causative (or sometimes both). If you encounter a new word with one of the four particles, you can't really determine whether it is passive or causative unless you look up a Korean dictionary, because those four particles work arbitrarily with individual verbs. (say, if you encounter a new English word with "-ed" ending, you can figure out it is a past tense suffix for a verb, but you can't presume the function of the four Korean particles without a Korean dictionary) That's why most Korean materials for foreigners skip or overlook this grammar part. Each form of every verb should be memorized.
Forming causatives
Explaining the form with subject marker, object marker, etc.
| Active verb | Causative verb | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 먹다 (to eat) | 먹이다 (to make/let someone eat , to feed) |
Active- 나는 김치를 먹는다.(I eat Kimchi) Causative- 나는 강아지에게 물을 먹인다.(I make my dog drink water) |
| 죽다 (to die) | 죽이다 (to make/let someone die , to kill) |
Active- 지진 때문에 많은 사람이 죽었다. (Many people died from the earthquake.) Causative- 그는 사람을 죽였다. (He killed a person.) |
| 붙다 (to stick to) | 붙이다 (to make/let something stick to) |
Active- 나는 벽에 붙는다. (I stick to the wall.) Causative- 나는 사진을 벽에 붙인다. (I make a picture stick to the wall.) |
| 끓다 (to boil) | 끓이다 (to make/let something boil) |
Active- 물은 100℃ 이상에서 끓는다. (Water boils in the temperature of 100℃ and over.) Causative- 나는 김치찌개를 끓인다. (I make the Kimchi-jjigae boil. / I boil the Kimchi-jjigae.) |
| 보다 (to see, to look, to watch) | 보이다 (to make/let someone see , to show) |
Active- 나는 영화를 보았다. (I saw a movie.) Causative- 학생이 내게 사진을 보였다. (A student showed me a photograph.) |
| 속다 (to be fooled, to be deceived) | 속이다 (to make/let someone be fooled) |
Active- 또다시 일기예보에게 속았다. (I am fooled by the weather forecast again.) Causative- 절대로 사람을 속이지 마라. (Never deceive a person.) |
| Active verb | Causative verb | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 익다 | 익히다 | |
| 읽다 (to read) | 읽히다 | |
| 입다 (to wear) | 입히다 | |
| 앉다 (to sit) | 앉히다 | |
| 눕다 | 눕히다 | |
| 맞다 | 맞히다 |
| Active verb | Causative verb | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 알다 | 알리다 | |
| 울다 | 울리다 | |
| 돌다 | 돌리다 | |
| 살다 | 살리다 | |
| 놀다 | 놀리다 | |
| 걸다 (to hang) | 걸리다 |
| Active verb | Causative verb | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 벗다 | 벗기다 | |
| 신다 | 신기다 | |
| 웃다 | 웃기다 | |
| 맡다 | 맡기다 | |
| 감다 | 감기다 | |
| 씻다 | 씻기다 |
| Active verb | Causative verb | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 깨다 | 깨우다 | |
| 서다 | 세우다 | |
| 쓰다 | 씌우다 | |
| 자다 | 재우다 | |
| 타다 | 태우다 |
| Active verb | Causative verb | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 돋다 | 돋구다 | |
| 일다 | 일구다 | |
| 달다 | 달구다 | |
| 솟다 | 솟구다 |
| Active verb | Causative verb | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 낮다 | 낮추다 | |
| 늦다 | 늦추다 | |
| 맞다 | 맞추다 | |
| 곧다 | 곧추다 |
Creating causative form
The causative form can also be created using: See V + 게 하다
