causative

A causative verb expresses that someone makes or allows someone else to perform an action. In Korean, causatives are often formed with suffixes like -이, -히, -리, -기, -우, -구, -추 (ex. 먹다 to eat → 먹이다 to feed/to make someone eat).

아이가 밥을 먹어요.

→ The child eats.

엄마가 아이에게 밥을 먹여요.

→ The mother makes the child eat. (The mother feeds the child.)

You might wonder if causative and passive forms could be confusing because they share some of the same suffixes(-이, -히, -리, -기). In practice, this overlap rarely causes problems. Even when forms are identical (ex. 보이다 can mean both ‘to be seen’ and ‘to make someone see’), the context usually makes the meaning clear.

Suffix 이, 히, 리, 기, 우, 구, 추

Causative sentences can also be made with the helping verb ‘~게 하다’(ex. 엄마가 아이에게 밥을 먹게 해요). This ‘먹게 해요’ conveys a more indirect approach, while ‘먹여요’ implies the mother is directly feeding the child with a spoon. For instance, the mother might verbally encourage the child to eat or prepare typically disliked food in a more appealing way to entice the child to eat it. You can check more details in the ~게 하다 page.