To make someone do: 〜をして〜させる
Person + をして + causative verb（〜させる／〜しめる）
Person + をして + causative (させる, しめる): a thing leads someone, often even a demanding person, to act or speak. 言わしめる = 言わせる. Very written register.
In short
〜をして〜させる is a literary causative: a thing (a work, a feat, a situation) leads a person, often someone remarkable, to do or say something. 彼をして天才と言わしめた is “a work that made even him call it genius”. Very written register.
- その演技は、厳しい批評家をして「見事だ」と言わしめた。そのえんぎは、きびしいひひょうかをして「みごとだ」といわしめた。That performance drew the word “magnificent” from even the harshest critics.
- 何が彼をしてそこまで追い詰めたのだろうか。なにがかれをしてそこまでおいつめたのだろうか。What could have driven him to such extremes?
- 彼女の熱意は、反対していた両親をして留学を認めさせた。かのじょのねついは、はんたいしていたりょうしんをしてりゅうがくをみとめさせた。Her passion eventually led her parents, who had been against it, to agree to her studying abroad.
The basics
In the ordinary causative, the person made to act is marked with に or を (子どもに野菜を食べさせる). The literary construction 〜をして replaces that particle and gives the sentence a solemn tone.
The subject is almost always a thing: a work, a feat, a passion, an event. And the person who reacts is often someone not easily impressed (a critic, a master, reluctant parents): there's frequently an implicit “even” — English “drew praise even from…”.
That performance drew the word “magnificent” from even the harshest critics.
- noun
- particle
- other
- verb
- 彼の努力は、あの頑固な監督をして考えを改めさせた。かれのどりょくは、あのがんこなかんとくをしてかんがえをあらためさせた。His efforts led even that stubborn coach to change his mind.
How to form it
Person + をして, then the verb in the causative. In classical style, the causative is 〜しめる, which attaches to the ない-form: 言う → 言わしめる, 知る → 知らしめる. 言わしめる (“to make say”) is by far the most common.
| Verb | Modern causative | Classical causative |
|---|---|---|
| 言う | 言わせる | 言わしめる |
| 知る | 知らせる | 知らしめる |
| 考える | 考えさせる | 考えしめる (rare) |
| 驚く | 驚かせる | 驚かしめる (rare) |
- この勝利は、日本の実力を世界に知らしめた。このしょうりは、にほんのじつりょくをせかいにしらしめた。This victory made the whole world aware of Japan's strength.
- その一言が、私をして作家への道を歩ませた。そのひとことが、わたしをしてさっかへのみちをあゆませた。It was that one remark that set me on the path to becoming a writer.
をして, the ordinary causative, the causative-passive
The ordinary causative (〜に／を〜させる) is neutral and used when one person makes another act: 先生が学生に本を読ませる. 〜をして is reserved for formal writing, often with an abstract subject.
In the same formal register, the sentence is often turned around with the causative-passive: 考えさせられる (“to be led to reflect”). A work that 考えさせる is described as a 考えさせられる作品 — English “thought-provoking”.
| Construction | Example | Nuance |
|---|---|---|
| に + causative | 子どもに本を読ませる | neutral, a person makes someone act |
| をして + causative | 読者をして考えさせる | literary, a thing acts on someone |
| causative-passive | 考えさせられる作品 | you feel led to |
- 先生は生徒に毎日日記を書かせている。せんせいはせいとにまいにちにっきをかかせている。The teacher makes the pupils write a diary every day. (ordinary causative)
- 戦争の悲惨さについて、改めて考えさせられる映画だった。せんそうのひさんさについて、あらためてかんがえさせられるえいがだった。It was a film that makes you think afresh about the horrors of war.
Common mistakes
- Forgetting the causative: をして necessarily calls for させる or しめる. “彼をして言った” makes no sense.
- Confusing をして with にして (“even, at this stage”) or として (“as”).
- Using it for an ordinary instruction (“部下をしてコピーさせた”): it's grandiloquent; say 部下にコピーさせた.
8 exercises on this point
Particles to choose, sentences to put back in order, translations: marked straight away, then reviewed at the right time. This JLPT N1 point is on the Tōhoku Line (The essay and the travel account) of the Shinkansen.