[Kim Tae](http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/causepass) tries to
explain the difference between the "make" and "let" usage of causative verbs.
I need a bit of help translating the various possibilities into English.

What would be the best translations in English for each of these sentences?

  1. 私は 僕が 食べさせる (tabesaseru)
  2. 私は 僕が 食べさせてくれる (tabesasetekureru)
  3. 私は 僕が 食べさせてあげる (tabesaseteageru)
  4. 私は 僕が 食べさせた (tabesaseta)
  5. 私は 僕が 食べさせてくれた (tabesasetekureta)
  6. 私は 僕が 食べさせてあげた (tabesaseteageta)
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2020-08-02T14:39:57.203
79925
2020-08-03T17:39:12.703
39873
question
verbs causation
Translating causative forms of 食べる (taberu)
As A.Ellet pointed out in a
[comment](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/79925/translating-
causative-forms-
of-%e9%a3%9f%e3%81%b9%e3%82%8b-taberu/79926#comment130304_79925), 「私は僕が」
doesn't make sense, so I modified some of the pronouns (or replaced them by
nouns) in your question to make the sentences valid. Also, note that I placed
pronouns that would be usually omitted in a natural conversation between
brackets [ ] . Finally, I also added some complements 野菜【やさい】/ アイスクリーム to make
the context clear, those complements wouldn't be necessary in a conversation
to figure out whether it's "make" or "let", as long as we could tell the
difference from other elements in the context. I added them just for clarity.

* * *

①[私が]子供【こども】に野菜【やさい】を食べさせる。

"I **make** the child eat vegetables" (context: children usually do not like
vegetables, so you "force" them to eat) .

②[私が]子供【こども】にアイスクリームを食べさせる。

"I **let** the child eat an ice cream" (context: children usually want to make
an ice cream, even if it's not so healthy, so you let them eat).

Note how ① and ② share the same structure, and even the same verb (食べる) and
the same person (子供【こども】) so whether it's "make" or "let", it has to be
determined purely by context. Therefore, if you don't add anything to your
original sentence, like the kind of food, etc., it can be either case
depending on the context.

* * *

③父【ちち】が[私に]アイスクリームを食べさせてくれる。

At ③, it can only be "my father **lets me** eat ice cream", because the
termination くれる means that someone else is doing something good, positive for
myself, for my own sake. It wouldn't make sense to use くれる if my father is
actually "forcing" me to eat vegetables.

Also note that くれる always means that someone does a favor to oneself (or your
own group), not to others. That's why you can **not** say
彼【かれ】に子供がアイスクリームを食べさせてくれる。(incorrect).

* * *

④[私が]子供【こども】にアイスクリームを食べさせてあげる。

At ④, it can only be "I **let** the children eat an ice cream", because あげる
means that _me_ (or someone in _my group_ ) is doing a favour or something
good for someone else's sake. Since it's a favor, it's "let" and it can not be
"make".

The difference with ③ is that in this case, it's me who does the favor to
another person.

* * *

⑤[私が]子供【こども】に食べさせ **た** 。 "I **made/let** the child eat."

⑥父【ちち】が[私に]アイスクリームを食べさせてくれ **た** 。 "My father **let (past)** me eat an ice
cream."

⑦[私が]子供【こども】にアイスクリームを食べさせてあげ **た** 。 "I **let (past)** the child eat an ice
cream."

Regarding the dicotomy make/let,

  * ⑤ is the same case than ① or ②
  * ⑥ is the same than ③
  * ⑦ is the same case than ④

but whereas ①, ②, ③ and ④ are in present/future tense, ⑥, ⑦, and ⑧ describe
past actions.

* * *

My suggestion is that you try to tackle the くれる/あげる dicotomy first without
causatives, and once you've mastered them, and only after that, then try to
see how the causative works with each of those terminations. Divide & conquer.

* * *

BONUS: させてもらう

Besides くれる and あげる, there's still another option to convey that someone does
something positive, for the sake of someone else: もらう. Therefore, using
させてもらう, will always be a "let" case of the causative form as well. The
difference between くれる/あげる and もらう is that the latter does not restrict the
doer and the receiver of the favor, they can be myself (or someone in my
group) or they can be someone else. It's more flexible:

  * ③(B) [私が]父【ちち】にアイスクリームを食べさせてもらう。"My father **lets me** eat ice cream."

  * ④(B) 私に子供【こども】がアイスクリームを食べさせてもらう。"I **let** the child eat an ice cream."

Note that the actors in ③(B) and ④(B) are the same than in ③ and ④
respectively. When using もらう, the doer of the favor is marked with に, and the
recipient of the favour is marked with が, so the particles に and が are swapped
between the sentences ④ and ④(B).

  * ⑨ お父【とう】さんに息子【むすこ】がアイスクリームを食べさせてもらう。"The father **lets** the son eat an ice cream."

As for ⑨, there is no intervention from you (or someone of your group), so
くれる/あげる are not valid options here. It could be seen as the same case than ②,
where the addition of もらう desambiguates the causative and gives a clue that
it's a "let" causative. Again, note that the particles between ② and ⑨ would
be swapped.
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2020-08-02T17:32:13.600
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2020-08-03T05:46:32.203
2020-08-03T05:46:32.203
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answer
In the Japanese language, there isn't the difference between the "make" and
"let" usage of causative verbs. We only judge it depending on the context.

For, example, 私は、無理やり子供に野菜をたべさせた is translated as "I made my child eat
vegetables (forcibly).", 私は、自由に子供にお菓子を食べさせた is translated as "I let my child
eat sweets (freely)."

させてくれる and させてあげる usually means "let" such as 彼は、いつも私に彼の車を運転させてくれる(He always
let me drive his car).", 私は、いつも彼に私の車を運転させてあげる(I always let him drive my car)."

食べさせる has also the meaning of "feed", so 食べさせてくれる(あげる) means "feed" rather
than "let someone eat". For example, 母は、病弱な祖母に、毎日食事を食べさせてあげる is translated as
"My mother feeds my sickly grandmother meals every day."
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2020-08-03T09:00:06.183
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2020-08-03T17:39:12.703
2020-08-03T17:39:12.703
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answer