Japanese Causative-Passive: させられる (Saserareru) — Complete Guide

2026年4月24日2026年4月27日

You studied the causative form — the one that lets you say “I made him do it.” You studied the passive form — the one that lets you say “I was told to do it.” But then your Japanese teacher handed you a sentence like 残業（ざんぎょう）させられた and suddenly your brain short-circuited.

You are not alone. The causative-passive is the form Japanese learners love to dread. It sounds long, it looks intimidating, and it packs two layers of grammar into a single verb. But once you understand what each layer is doing — and feel the emotional weight it carries — you will find it surprisingly logical. More importantly, you will recognize it everywhere: in workplace complaints, school memories, and almost every story about something someone really did not want to do.

This guide walks you through formation, meaning, usage, and the traps that catch most learners — with plenty of real examples along the way.

Point	Detail
Meaning	“To be made/forced to do [verb]” — the speaker did something against their will because someone else compelled them
Core feeling	Reluctance, compulsion, resentment — the subject is the unwilling actor
Formation (Group 1 godan)	Verb nai-stem + させられる (or colloquial さされる)
Formation (Group 2 ichidan)	Verb stem + させられる
Formation (Group 3 irregular)	する → させられる／くる → こさせられる
JLPT level	N3 (active recognition and production)
Register	Neutral to formal; casual short form さされる exists for godan verbs

TOC

Quick Review: Causative and Passive Forms

Before combining the two, let’s make sure both pieces are solid. If you already feel confident with each form on its own, you can skim this section and jump to the next one.

The Causative Form (〜させる / 〜かせる)

The causative expresses that someone causes or allows another person to do something. The “causer” is the grammatical subject; the person being caused to act is marked with に (compulsion) or を (permission/natural action).

Verb group	Dictionary form	Causative
Group 1 (godan)	書く（かく）write	書かせる
Group 1 (godan)	飲む（のむ）drink	飲ませる
Group 2 (ichidan)	食べる（たべる）eat	食べさせる
Group 3 (irregular)	する do	させる
Group 3 (irregular)	くる come	こさせる

Pattern: [Causer] は [Person] に [Causative verb]

Example: 先生（せんせい）は学生（がくせい）に漢字（かんじ）を書かせた。
The teacher made the students write kanji.

The Passive Form (〜られる)

The passive shifts the focus to the receiver of the action. In Japanese, the passive often carries a nuance of inconvenience or unwanted effect — something happened to the subject, often without their control.

Verb group	Dictionary form	Passive
Group 1 (godan)	書く write	書かれる
Group 1 (godan)	飲む drink	飲まれる
Group 2 (ichidan)	食べる eat	食べられる
Group 3 (irregular)	する do	される
Group 3 (irregular)	くる come	こられる

Example: 私（わたし）は先生に怒（おこ）られた。
I was scolded by the teacher.

Now here is the key question: what happens when you stack these two forms? The causative-passive is the answer.

How to Form the Causative-Passive (〜させられる)

The causative-passive is built by taking the causative form and then making it passive. In other words: causative + passive = させる + られる = させられる.

Let’s look at each verb group in detail.

Group 1: Godan Verbs (五段動詞）

For godan verbs, the causative form ends in 〜せる (because you replace the final う-row sound with the あ-row equivalent and add せる). Then you make that causative passive by swapping せる for させられる.

Formation steps:

Take the nai-form (dictionary form → remove う, replace with あ): 書く → 書か
Add せられる: 書か + せられる = 書かせられる

Dictionary	Meaning	Causative	Causative-Passive (standard)	Short form (casual)
書く（かく）	write	書かせる	書かせられる	書かされる
飲む（のむ）	drink	飲ませる	飲ませられる	飲まされる
行く（いく）	go	行かせる	行かせられる	行かされる
待つ（まつ）	wait	待たせる	待たせられる	待たされる
読む（よむ）	read	読ませる	読まされる	読まされる
話す（はなす）	speak	話させる	話させられる	話させられる ※

※ Note on 話す: Because 話す ends in す, its nai-stem is 話さ, and the causative is 話させる. If you tried to apply the short contraction, you would get 話さ + される = 話さされる, which creates an awkward double-さ sound. For this reason, す-ending verbs should always use the full standard form 話させられる.

Group 2: Ichidan Verbs (一段動詞）

For ichidan verbs, just remove る and add させられる.

Dictionary	Meaning	Causative-Passive
食べる（たべる）	eat	食べさせられる
起きる（おきる）	wake up	起きさせられる
見る（みる）	watch/see	見させられる
教える（おしえる）	teach/tell	教えさせられる

Group 3: Irregular Verbs

Dictionary	Meaning	Causative-Passive
する	do	させられる
くる	come	こさせられる

する → させられる is especially common in compound verbs: 勉強（べんきょう）する → 勉強させられる (to be made to study), 残業（ざんぎょう）する → 残業させられる (to be made to do overtime).

Yuka

Wait — so for a godan verb like 飲む, the causative-passive is 飲まされる? That's shorter than 飲まさせられる… is that right?

Rei

Exactly right! The short form 飲まされる is perfectly natural for godan verbs in everyday conversation. The full form 飲まさせられる would sound overly stiff. Both are grammatically accepted — but 飲まされる is what most people actually say.

Core Meaning: “Being Made to Do Something Against Your Will”

The causative-passive always carries a sense of compulsion from the outside. The grammatical subject is not acting freely — they were pushed, pressured, ordered, or obligated to perform the action. This is different from the simple passive, which just describes something happening to you. The causative-passive specifically says: “someone made me do this, and I didn’t really want to.”

The emotional register is important: reluctance, resignation, or resentment are baked into the form. Even if the speaker does not explicitly complain, choosing this form signals that the action was not their free choice.

Basic sentence pattern:
[Person who was compelled] は [Compeller] に [Causative-passive verb]

Now let’s see it in action with a range of natural examples.

Example Sentences

Japanese	English
上司（じょうし）に毎日（まいにち）残業（ざんぎょう）させられる。	I’m made to do overtime every day by my boss.
子どもの頃（ころ）、親（おや）にピアノを練習（れんしゅう）させられた。	When I was a child, I was made to practice piano by my parents.
学校（がっこう）で制服（せいふく）を着（き）させられた。	I was made to wear a uniform at school.
会議（かいぎ）で長い（ながい）スピーチを聞（き）かされた。	I was made to listen to a long speech at the meeting.
部活（ぶかつ）で毎朝（まいあさ）走（はし）らされた。	I was made to run every morning at club activities.
お酒（さけ）が飲（の）めないのに、先輩（せんぱい）に飲（の）まされた。	Even though I can’t drink alcohol, I was made to drink by my senior.
難（むずか）しい問題（もんだい）を全部（ぜんぶ）解（と）かされた。	I was made to solve all the difficult problems.
待合室（まちあいしつ）で1時間（いちじかん）も待（ま）たされた。	I was made to wait in the waiting room for a whole hour.
子どもたちは野菜（やさい）を食（た）べさせられた。	The children were made to eat vegetables.
新人（しんじん）のとき、謝罪文（しゃざいぶん）を100回（ひゃっかい）書（か）かされた。	When I was a newcomer, I was made to write the apology letter 100 times.
その映画（えいが）のせいで2時間（にじかん）泣（な）かされた。	Because of that movie, I was made to cry for two hours. (It made me cry.)

Notice the last example — the “compeller” does not have to be a person. A movie, a book, or even a situation can “make” you do something. In these cases, the causative-passive is used naturally in Japanese to express that an external force (even a non-human one) caused you to act.

When Japanese People Actually Use It

The causative-passive is not a textbook curiosity — it comes up constantly in real life, especially when people talk about obligations, hierarchies, and situations where they lacked choice. Here are the most common contexts.

1. Workplace Obligation

Japanese workplace culture involves significant pressure to conform to group schedules and senior requests. The causative-passive is the natural way to describe this:

残業させられる — being made to do overtime
休日出勤（きゅうじつしゅっきん）させられる — being made to come in on a holiday
プレゼンをやらされる — being made to give a presentation (reluctantly)
謝（あやま）らされる — being made to apologize (to a client, for something that wasn’t your fault)

Example: 上司（じょうし）のミスなのに、私（わたし）が客（きゃく）に謝（あやま）らされた。
Even though it was my boss’s mistake, I was made to apologize to the customer.

2. School Rules and Club Activities

School clubs (部活, ぶかつ) in Japan are notorious for strict training regimens. Alumni love to recall what they were made to do:

校庭（こうてい）を10周（じっしゅう）走らされた — was made to run ten laps of the schoolyard
坊主（ぼうず）にさせられた — was made to shave my head (baseball clubs)
先輩（せんぱい）の荷物（にもつ）を持（も）たされた — was made to carry the senior’s bags

3. Parental Commands in Childhood

Many Japanese adults use the causative-passive when looking back at childhood experiences they did not enjoy but had no choice about:

塾（じゅく）に行かされた — was made to go to cram school
嫌（いや）いな習い事（ならいごと）をさせられた — was made to do extracurricular lessons I hated
お風呂（ふろ）に早（はや）く入（はい）らされた — was made to take a bath early

4. Social Pressure

Group dynamics and peer pressure also call for the causative-passive:

飲み会（のみかい）で一気（いっき）飲（の）みをさせられた — was pressured into chugging drinks at the party
カラオケで歌（うた）わされた — was made to sing at karaoke (against my will)
スピーチをさせられた — was made to give a toast

Yuka

So it's basically the grammar of complaints? Like, whenever I had to do something I didn't want to do, I use させられる?

Rei

That's a great way to remember it! It doesn't have to be dramatic — sometimes it's just mild inconvenience, like being asked to stay late or being picked to give a speech. But yes, the causative-passive always implies the action came from outside you, not from your own free choice.

Causative-Passive vs. Plain Causative: Subject and Object Shift

One of the most important things to understand about the causative-passive is how it changes who is doing what. Compare the causative and causative-passive versions of the same situation:

Form	Japanese	Subject	Nuance
Active	私は報告書（ほうこくしょ）を書いた。	私 (I) — free choice	I wrote the report. (My own decision)
Causative	上司は私に報告書を書かせた。	上司 (boss) — causer	My boss made me write the report. (Boss’s perspective)
Causative-passive	私は上司に報告書を書かされた。	私 (I) — the one compelled	I was made to write the report by my boss. (My perspective, with reluctance implied)

Notice: the causative sentence takes the boss’s perspective — the boss is the subject. The causative-passive sentence takes your perspective — you are the subject, the boss is marked with に as the compeller. This is why the causative-passive is so common in spoken storytelling: you are almost always telling a story from your own point of view.

Here is another comparison set to make this concrete:

Form	Japanese	English
Active	彼女は野菜を食べた。	She ate vegetables. (Her choice)
Causative	親は彼女に野菜を食べさせた。	Her parents made her eat vegetables. (Parents’ perspective)
Causative-passive	彼女は親に野菜を食べさせられた。	She was made to eat vegetables by her parents. (Her perspective, reluctance implied)
Passive only	野菜が親に食べられた。	The vegetables were eaten by her parents. (Different — describes the vegetables)

The plain passive here shifts the focus entirely to the vegetables — which is grammatically valid but would describe an entirely different event. This shows why you cannot simply swap passive for causative-passive: they describe fundamentally different situations.

The Short Form (〜さされる): When to Use It

For Group 1 (godan) verbs, there is a colloquial contraction of the causative-passive. Instead of the full 〜かせられる, speakers often say 〜かされる. This is called the short causative-passive or contracted form.

Verb	Standard form	Short form	Naturalness
書く（かく）	書かせられる	書かされる	Both natural; short form is more casual
飲む（のむ）	飲ませられる	飲まされる	Short form is the default in casual speech
行く（いく）	行かせられる	行かされる	Short form is very common
話す（はなす）	話させられる	話さされる ✖	Short form avoided — double-さ sounds awkward; use standard
食べる（ichidan）	食べさせられる	食べさされる ✖	Short form does NOT apply to ichidan verbs

The rule for short forms:

The short form only works for godan verbs. Ichidan verbs always use the full 〜させられる.
It does not apply to verbs ending in す, because this creates an ugly double-さ (話さされる is awkward).
In casual conversation and informal writing, the short form is perfectly natural and very common.
In formal writing, business emails, and JLPT exams, use the standard full form.

Common Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

Mistake 1: Applying the Short Form to Ichidan Verbs

Learners often try to shorten 食べさせられる to 食べさされる. This is incorrect. The short form contraction is a feature of godan verbs only, because it comes from collapsing the causative suffix 〜せ〜 from the sequence 〜a-se-rare-ru. Ichidan verbs use させられる — there is no equivalent contraction.

❌ 食べさされた (wrong)
✅ 食べさせられた (correct)

Mistake 2: Confusing Causative-Passive with Passive Alone

Compare:

怒（おこ）られた = I was scolded. (Passive — something was done to me)
怒らされた = I was made to get angry. (Causative-passive — someone caused me to become angry)

These mean very different things. 怒られた means the speaker was on the receiving end of someone’s anger. 怒らされた means the speaker themselves became angry — because something or someone provoked that reaction.

Mistake 3: Wrong Nai-Stem for Irregular Godan Verbs

Some godan verbs have irregular nai-forms that learners forget. For example:

ある → ない (not あらない) → causative-passive is あらされる (rarely used, but note the stem)
行く → 行かない → 行かされる ✅

The most common error is treating all godan verbs as regular when forming the nai-stem. Always check irregular verbs carefully.

Mistake 4: Overusing the Causative-Passive

Because it is such a vivid form, learners sometimes reach for the causative-passive even when a simpler structure is better. If you simply stayed late voluntarily, don’t say 残業させられた — that implies you resented it or had no choice. Using it incorrectly can make you sound like you are blaming others when you are not.

Yuka

I see! So if I wanted to do overtime to impress my boss, I shouldn't use させられた — that would sound like I'm complaining about him?

Rei

Exactly. 残業させられた sounds like “my boss forced me to stay and I hated it.” If you chose to stay, just say 残業した — “I did overtime.” The causative-passive always carries that sense of unwillingness or external pressure, so choose it carefully.

Decision Flowchart: Which Form Should You Use?

Not sure which verb form fits your situation? Work through this flowchart:

Did YOU do the action?
│
├── YES ─ Was it your OWN free choice?
│         │
│         ├── YES ─ Use ACTIVE form
│         │         Example: 私は報告書を書いた。
│         │         (I wrote the report — my decision.)
│         │
│         └── NO ─ Were you compelled by someone/something external?
│                  │
│                  ├── YES ─ Use CAUSATIVE-PASSIVE (させられる)
│                  │         Example: 上司に報告書を書かされた。
│                  │         (I was made to write it by my boss.)
│                  │
│                  └── You acted under social obligation / expectation
│                            → Still use CAUSATIVE-PASSIVE
│                              (obligation without explicit order also counts)
│
└── NO ─ Did someone DO something TO you (or your belongings)?
         │
         ├── YES ─ Use PASSIVE form (られる)
         │         Example: 財布（さいふ）を盗（ぬす）まれた。
         │         (My wallet was stolen.)
         │
         └── Did YOU cause someone ELSE to do something?
                  │
                  ├── YES ─ Use CAUSATIVE form (させる)
                  │         Example: 部下（ぶか）に書かせた。
                  │         (I made my subordinate write it.)
                  │
                  └── Are you allowing someone to do something?
                            → Use CAUSATIVE (permission nuance)
                              Example: 子どもに食べさせた。
                              (I let/made my child eat it.)

Quick Quiz

Test yourself! Choose the correct causative-passive form or identify the meaning. Answers are below.

Question 1

What is the causative-passive of 飲む (godan verb, “to drink”)?
a) 飲まれる
b) 飲まされる
c) 飲ませる
d) 飲まさせられる

Question 2

What is the causative-passive of 食べる (ichidan verb, “to eat”)?
a) 食べられる
b) 食べさせる
c) 食べさせられる
d) 食べさされる

Question 3

Which sentence correctly uses the causative-passive?
a) 私は映画を見た。
b) 先生は生徒に漢字を書かせた。
c) 私は先生に長い文章を書かされた。
d) 私は先生に叱（しか）られた。

Question 4

Translate into Japanese using the causative-passive: “I was made to sing at karaoke by my colleagues.” (歌う = to sing, 同僚（どうりょう）= colleagues)

Question 5

True or False: The short form 食べさされる is acceptable in casual Japanese conversation.

Answers

b) 飲まされる — The standard form is 飲ませられる, but the short form 飲まされる is the natural choice for this godan verb. (d) would be incorrect doubling.)
c) 食べさせられる — Ichidan verbs do not use the short form. (d) 食べさされる is incorrect.
c) 私は先生に長い文章を書かされた。 — This has the correct structure: the compelled person (私) is subject, the compeller (先生) is marked with に. (d) uses the plain passive, which says “I was scolded” — not the causative-passive.)
私は同僚にカラオケで歌わされた。 (or: 歌わせられた)
False. 食べさされる is incorrect — the short form only applies to godan verbs, not ichidan verbs.

Summary

Key point	Detail
What it means	“To be made to [verb]” — compelled by an external force against one’s will
Formation (godan)	Nai-stem + せられる (or colloquial: nai-stem + される — short form)
Formation (ichidan)	Verb stem + させられる (no short form)
Formation (する)	させられる
Subject	Always the person who was compelled; compeller marked with に
Short form caveat	Godan only; avoid for す-verbs (double-さ); never for ichidan
Common contexts	Workplace overtime, school rules, parental commands, social pressure
Emotional nuance	Reluctance, resignation, mild resentment — always externally driven

The causative-passive is one of those forms that feels complex in a grammar chart but clicks instantly when you hear it in context. The next time a Japanese friend complains about their job, listen for させられる — you will start noticing it everywhere.

Have you been させられる’d lately? Share your own example sentence in the comments — whether it’s a real story from work, school, or family life. We’d love to see how you use this form in real situations, and your example might help a fellow learner too!

Keep Learning

Now that you have mastered the causative-passive, deepen your understanding with these related articles:

— **Editor notes**: Internal link slugs verified via WP API on 2026-04-27: `japanese-causative-form` (post 65227), `japanese-passive-form` (post 65954), `te-form-japanese` (post 64877). The slug `japanese-causative-passive` (post 65268) already exists in WP — this draft is a replacement/upgrade for that post. Formation table for す-ending godan verbs (話す) includes an explicit note about the double-さ problem, which is a common learner trap not covered in most textbooks. The flowchart section uses `wp:code` to render a monospace tree — the proofreader should confirm this renders acceptably in SWELL or suggest an alternative format.

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