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`強くさせてくれたこと`, by Google Translate and by what I can infer from the context, is
`something that made me strong`. However, upon further analyzing the grammar,
I felt something was not right. To be specific, shouldn't "something that made
me strong" be `強くならせてくれたこと`, and shouldn't `強くさせてくれたこと` be `something that
made me make something else strong?`

If we construct this sentence from 辞書形,

  * 強くなる → (I) become strong （自分）が強くなる
  * 強くする → (I) make (something) strong （自分）が（何か）を強くする

  

  * 強くならせる → (Something) makes (me) become strong （何か）が（自分）に強くならせる
  * 強くさせる → (Something) makes (me) make (something else) strong （何か）が（自分）に（他の何か）を強くさせる

  

  * 強くならせてくれたこと → Something that made me strong
  * 強くさせてくれたこと → Something that made me make something else strong

Is this correct? If this interpretation is correct, does that mean Google
Translate is wrong? From the context of `強くさせてくれたこと` I'm sure the author meant
`Something that made me strong` instead of `Something that made me make
something else strong`. Is this an instance where the natives' usage
contradicts the grammar? (Like in English how we like to say 'off of' in
speech where it's actually grammatically wrong)
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-23T19:29:56.853
97349
2022-11-24T21:34:28.440
39855
question
grammar usage verbs
強くさせてくれたこと and "The thing that made me strong"
So Google Translate is often wrong, and generally should not be trusted
regardless, but I do not think that is actually the issue in this case.

I think the fundamental issue here is that in Japanese, なる is usually only
used for things which happen without (substantial) external influence. 強くなる
means "to become strong", but it really means "to become strong" _through
one's own efforts or natural development, etc._ Therefore, using the causative
with なる just usually doesn't even make logical sense. In Japanese, you
technically cannot be "made to become something", because the act of making
something happen to someone else fundamentally makes what occurs not be
"becoming" (なる) anymore.

In general, when somebody else causes the development to occur instead of it
happening on its own, then する is used instead of なる:

  * 強くなる - "to become strong" (on one's own)
  * 強くする - "to make (something/someone) strong"

Another way of thinking about this is that in practice, the causative form of
なる effectively turns out to just be する, not ならせる. (This is why, as Eiríkr
Útlendi pointed out, ならせる would usually not even be interpreted as a form of
なる at all, but instead a form of 鳴らす.)

The difference between する and させる for many types of actions is also kinda
ambiguous, and in cases such as this where する is effectively already
expressing a causative action, する and させる can often be somewhat
interchangeable.

So I believe that in this case, 強くさせてくれたこと and 強くしてくれたこと both mean basically
the same thing, which is "the thing that made (someone) strong for me". The
"someone" here is unstated, so it technically does not _have_ to be the
speaker, but unless there's something to suggest otherwise, the general
assumption, I think, would be that since the speaker was receiving the favor
(くる) they were also the one who received the strengthening as well.
CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-11-24T21:34:28.440
97368
2022-11-24T21:34:28.440
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97349
answer