So the lesson on the causative states:
With causative, either に, or を can mark the doer of the action that せる, or させる is linked to (not が). This is because the actual ‘doer’ of the action is considered to be the person that is making/letting someone perform that action. に will usually imply that someone was ‘let’ do something, while を implies ‘make’.
However if the verb that is being caused is transitive then the causee is marked with に since を is used to indicate the direct object of the verb that is caused. E.g., in Bunpro’s own example sentence:
- 忘年会で先輩たちが後輩に歌を歌わせた。
The 歌 is marked with を so 後輩 has to take に - I believe it is grammatically possible, altough contentious, for them to both take を but in practice this never happens since people avoid repeating case-marking particles like the plague.
Equally, を doesn’t imply “make” - it implies either the permissive or coercive meaning (allow or make) although に does (when used with an intransitive verb and thus optionally) imply permission. I could be wrong as the content team is obviously far better on Japanese grammar than me but I am pretty sure I am correct here. It should also probably mentioned that this only applies to intransative verbs as it is contradicted by the singing example sentence above with Bunpro’s own translation there being “At the end of year party, the seniors made the juniors sing a song.” since the causee has to take に as discussed above.
A bit more nitpicky but the lesson also states:
Because the actual ‘doer’ in causative verb sentences will be marked with が (as is always the case)
I know this is meant to mean that が always marks the subject however it seems to exclude the fact that the “doer” can take は quite happily in non-subordinate causative clauses. が is always preferred in subordinate clauses though, naturally.
The lesson also doesn’t mention the not uncommon さす form nor any of its nuances.
Also there is no mention of using words like あげる to indicate permission instead of coercion and, conversely, there is no mention of using the causative-passive to indicate coercion. I know it is an N4 lesson so complications are probably avoided but both of these are common strategies to avoid opacity in regards to the causee’s volition.
I am sure I am missing other things as well as this is a thorny topic for learners and I am sure I have made some mistake here as I really don’t get on well with the causative in general. Anyway, I was gonna send this as direct feedback but I thought maybe some community input from others would be appropriate as my opinion is surely flawed or perhaps people like the lesson as it currently is. Maybe this lesson needs to be split into two lessons? One for choosing the correct particle and one for just correctly appending the aux させる?
