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This question is inspired by [this
one](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/48773/how-do-you-say-to-get-
someone-to-do-something-in-japanese) (unanswered at the time of writing).

> それは田中さんに教えてもらってください。  
>  Get Mr Tanaka to tell you that.  
>  それは田中さんに教えさせてください。  
>  Make Mr Tanaka tell you that.

I feel that in English there is a difference between 'make someone do
something' and 'get someone to do something'.

'make someone do something' feels like a stronger statement. It leaves no
doubt that you expect the person to do something. Whereas, 'get someone to do
something' feels more like a favour i.e. you can ask them to do something but
you shouldn't expect that they will do it.

How about my two Japanese sentences above? Is there a parallel argument when
choosing either causative or てもらう, or do these sentences feel the same?

_btw I'm never sure when to use に or を with causative form. Please correct me
if I got these sentences wrong._
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question
grammar causation giving-and-receiving
Difference in nuance between causative form and てもらう
～せる・させる used in the sense of 使役* can sound stronger and more forcible than
～てもらう and I think it usually leaves no doubt that you expect the person to do
it. ～てもらう sounds softer and less forcible but I think you'd usually still
expect that they will do it.

One more difference in your two sentences is, 教えてもらってください clearly shows that
the recipient of the favor is the hearer ("Get Mr. Tanaka to tell _you_
that"), while 教えさせてください sounds like the person taught by Mr. Tanaka will be
someone other than the hearer ("Make Mr. Tanaka tell _them_ that").

Another example:

> 田中さんに書いてもらってください。  
>  田中さんに書かせてください。

書かせる sounds stronger and forcible. You'd usually use this for someone of lower
status (e.g. 田中さん is your inferior/後輩 or subordinate/部下), but not for someone
of higher status. **

書いてもらう sounds softer and less forcible. You could use this for someone of
lower, equal or higher status, but I'd recommend using honorific
expression/尊敬語 for your boss/superior, e.g. 書いていただく**.

*～せる・させる used in the sense of 放任・許可 ("let someone do~; allow someone to do~") doesn't sound as strong, e.g. 「田中さんに書かせてあげてください。 / 書かせてさしあげてください。」 

**Exception: In business situation, you'd use ～せる・させる for someone of higher
status in your in-group when talking to someone of your out-group.)

* * *

As to when to use に or を with causative form: You're using it correctly.
Basically you use に when the verb is transitive (and also when the verb is
intransitive but takes を, as in 道を歩く). For more details: [Causative Form -
Difference between 子供に本を読ませる and
子供を本を読ませる](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/33510/9831)
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answer
I understand the question as to how to differenciate to express in Japanese
the differences in nuances of sentences using various causative verbs in
English.

Before answering your question, I visited the site
[here](http://www.englishpage.com/minitutorials/let.html) and learned how
causative verbs are explained in English.

＜quote＞

  * **Let**  
FORM: [let + person + verb]  
USE: This construction means "to allow someone to do something."

  * **Make**  
FORM: [make + person + verb]  
USE: This construction means "to force someone to do something."

  * **Have**  
FORM: [have + person + verb]  
USE: This construction means "to give someone the responsibility to do
something."

  * **Get**  
FORM: [get + person + to + verb]  
USE: This construction usually means "to convince to do something" or "to
trick someone into doing something."

**Get vs. Have**

Sometimes "get someone to do something" is interchangeable with "have someone
do something," but these expressions do not mean exactly the same thing.

Examples:

  * I got the mechanic to check my brakes.  
At first the mechanic didn't think it was necessary, but I convinced him to
check the brakes.

  * I had the mechanic check my brakes.  
I asked the mechanic to check the brakes.

＜unquote＞

If you read the explanation for the four causative verbs, you can see that it
is "make" and "get" that the expected results are executed, apart from the
person's feelings to execute something.

Therefore, I think the questioner is smart to list these two in the example of
comparison.

>   1. それは田中さんに教えてもらってください。 Get Mr Tanaka to tell you that.
>
>   2. それは田中さんに教えさせてください。 Make Mr Tanaka tell you that.
>
>

As for phrase 1 having " **let** " in it, "田中さんに教えてもらってください" is cosiderably
good as a Japanese translation, but I think it is insufficient whether the
expected result will surely be obtained or not in it. In order to ensure the
result and to give the nuance of "to convince to do something" or "to trick
someone into doing something" that was explained in the previous English
grammer textbook to it, "説得｛せっとく｝する", "納得｛なっとく｝さす", "言｛い｝い含｛ふく｝める" and
"言｛い｝い包｛くる｝める" and so on seems appropiate to be added to your attempt. But all
of these options are too exaggerated compared to the simple verb "get" in the
original phrase. So I think "是非｛ぜひ｝" or "是非｛ぜひ｝とも" is appropriate to be added
like "田中さんに是非とも教えてもらってください" to make it have a similar nuance that the original
English phrase has.

As for phrase 2 having " **make** " in it, the interpretation in Japanese
seems to have problems.

As is said in the Chocolate's answer, 教えさせてください sounds like the person taught
by Mr. Tanaka will be someone other than the hearer, and more, it sounds
unnatural for other reason. The reason that makes the Japanese interpretation
unnatural is the use of "教える", whose main meaning is, as you know, not " to
tell" but "to teach".

Because "何かを教える人 _a person to teach something_ " is generally in a position
respected by "教えられる人 _a person to be taught_ :", 教える人 is not compatible with
the nuance of "a person to be forced to do something". Therefore, in order to
force Mr. Tanaka "to tell you something", and also in order to surely obtain
the result from him, I would change expressively the Japanese translation for
"to make someone tell" like "言わす/言わせる", "伝えさす/伝えさせる" or "聞き出す" instead of
"教えさす".

As a translation to solve the two problems, one is what is pointed out in
Chocolate's answer and the other is the difference in a nuance between "教える"
and "tell", I propose the following interpretations like: "それは田中さんに言わさせてください"
or "それは田中さんから聞き出してください".
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answer