Causative-Passive Form (使役受身): "Was Made to Do" with ～させられる
The causative-passive form (使役受身, shieki ukemi) combines the causative ～させる ("to make somebody do something") with the passive ～られる. The result, ～させられる, means "to be made or forced to do something."1
Use it to report that you were the unwilling performer of an action someone else imposed.2
Overview
What it is: causative + passive stacked
The causative-passive is exactly what its name says: the causative form made passive. The verb is first conjugated to the causative and then passive, never the other way around.3
Because it stacks two forms you have already met, the cleanest way to understand ～させられる is as causative plus passive, not as a new conjugation to memorize from scratch.
The doer of the action is the person reporting that they were forced. Once させる has been made passive, "it loses its other meaning of 'to let someone do something,' and just keeps the meaning of being made to do something."1
J-Compass files させられる under N3, because it treats the form as a combination of two separately taught forms. Some references (Bunpro, JLPTsensei) place the same form at N4. Because the official JLPT publishes no binding grammar list, the split is a matter of editorial judgment rather than a settled fact.452
When you reach for it
Use the causative-passive when the subject was the unwilling performer of an action that someone else imposed. Adding the passive ～られる to ～させる lets the speaker say they were forced against their will to do something. It is not the form for an action they wanted to do anyway.1
The default emotional color is reluctance, imposition, or victimization. The subject is compelled to perform an action under someone else's instruction, doing something they did not want to do.2
毎日母に野菜を食べさせられる。5
"Every day, my mother forces me to eat vegetables."
How it is formed
Build it in two steps: causative, then passive
Form the causative-passive in two steps. First make the causative form (させる). Then make that causative form passive by replacing the final る with られる.1
The order is fixed. The verb is conjugated to the causative first and only then to the passive.3
A worked 一段 example shows both steps at once: 食べる becomes 食べさせる (causative), then 食べさせられる (causative-passive).3 A 五段 example works the same way: 行く becomes 行かせる, then 行かせられる.3
The diagram below traces this two-step stacking. The sequence, and its strict order, is the core mechanic of the whole form.
You can also state the recipe by verb class. For a 一段 verb, take the masu-stem (たべ) and attach させられる. For a 五段 verb, take the negative stem (よま, from よまない minus ない) and attach される, the contracted route described below.6
The four verb classes
The full causative-passive form by verb class is shown below. The forms are corroborated across multiple references.576
| Class | Dictionary | Causative | Causative-passive (full) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 一段 (ichidan) | 食べる / 見る | 食べさせる / 見させる | 食べさせられる / 見させられる |
| 五段 (godan) | 行く | 行かせる | 行かせられる |
| する (irregular) | する | させる | させられる |
| くる (irregular) | 来る (くる) | 来させる (こさせる) | 来させられる (こさせられる) |
Within the 五段 class, the pattern holds across every consonant ending: 描く→描かせられる, 泳ぐ→泳がせられる, 待つ→待たせられる, 死ぬ→死なせられる, 遊ぶ→遊ばせられる, 読む→読ませられる, 話す→話させられる, 帰る→帰らせられる.7
For the two irregular verbs, する becomes させられる and 来る becomes 来させられる (こさせられる).76
The 五段 contraction: ～せられる → ～される
For 五段 verbs only, the ～せられる ending contracts to ～される: 行かせられる becomes 行かされる.36 This contraction is central in everyday use.
The contracted ～される forms "are more common than the ～せられる forms," and the contracted ending "usually doesn't appear in textbooks."8 The full ～せられる ending stays grammatically correct for 五段 verbs, but the contracted route is the everyday default.8
家にいると母に手伝わされるから出かけた方がいい。6
"I would be forced to help my mother if I stay home, so I'd rather go out."
The contracted route applies to 五段 verbs only. 一段 and irregular verbs have no contracted causative-passive form.7
When the contraction is blocked: さ-stem 五段 verbs
The contraction is blocked for 五段 verbs ending in す. Contracting would produce a double さ (さされる), which the language does not allow.76 These verbs keep the full ～させられる form.
Only 五段 verbs not ending in す can have a short causative-passive form. 話す cannot contract, and 話さされる is incorrect.7 The valid path is 話す → 話させられる, never 話す → 話さす → 話さされる.3
Particles and sentence frame
The forcee is the subject, the forcer takes に
The sentence frame is (Forcee) は (Forcer) に [Object を] V-される／させられる.9 The forcee, the person being forced, takes は. The forcer, the person doing the forcing, takes に. The direct object keeps を.96
Imabi confirms the same role assignment: subject は as topic, agent or forcer に, object を.7
私は先生に宿題をさせられました。9
"I was made to do my homework by the teacher."
This is the mirror image of the plain causative, where the roles flip. In the causative, the forcer is the main subject (は). In the causative-passive, the forcee becomes the subject instead.9 The same situation can therefore be told from either side.
The pair below shows the flip in full sentences. The teacher is the subject in the causative; the speaker becomes the subject in the causative-passive.
私は先生に漢字を書かせられました。9
"I was made to write kanji by the teacher."
Nuance and usage contexts
The negative-experience default
Once させる is made passive, the "let" or "allow" reading drops out and only "was made to" survives.1 The form carries an obligatory adversative color: the action is framed as unwanted or burdensome, and it makes the performer's sense of victimization explicit.2
毎日、母に納豆を食べさせられます。1
"I'm made to eat natto every day by my mom."
There is one notable exception to the negative color. With thought and emotion verbs such as 考える, 驚く, 感動する, and びっくりする, ～させられる loses the victimization sense. Instead, it means that a feeling or thought welled up naturally.2 In that use, 考えさせられる means "was prompted or moved to think" rather than "was forced to think."
彼の斬新なアイディアには毎回驚かされる。2
"His innovative ideas amaze me every time."
Causative-passive vs. plain passive vs. plain causative
Three forms built on 食べる are close enough to be confused, so it helps to line them up. The forms are corroborated across references.531
| Form | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Plain passive | 食べられる | "is eaten" (and, with the same られる, "can eat") |
| Plain causative | 食べさせる | "make or let (someone) eat" |
| Causative-passive | 食べさせられる | "be made to eat" |
The られる that marks the passive here is the same られる that marks the potential ("can eat"). That overlap is the source of the multiple readings in the passive layer. The causative-passive is built on that same passive られる.1
Good to know
Why the contraction exists at all
The contracted ～される ending is not a separate grammar rule layered on top of the form. It is a shortened pronunciation of the same 五段 causative-passive. The contracted forms "are more common than the ～せられる forms" in everyday use, even though the longer ～せられる ending stays grammatically correct.8
Don't contract 一段 verbs
A common error is to contract a 一段 verb the way 五段 verbs contract. There is no form 食べさされる. The contraction is 五段-only. 一段 verbs, and the irregulars する and くる, have no contracted causative-passive form, so the full form stands.7
食べさせられる7
"to be made to eat" (the only valid causative-passive of 食べる)
Using させられる for something you wanted to do
The form carries an obligatory nuance of unwillingness or inconvenience, so using it for a welcome action misfires. To describe doing something you wanted to do, use a plain or volitional form instead. Save させられる for actions that were genuinely imposed.21
The neutral exception with thought and emotion verbs
With verbs of thought and feeling such as 考える, 驚く, and 感動する, the causative-passive drops its victimization sense. It means that a feeling or thought arose spontaneously. 考えさせられる means "was moved to think," so these uses should not be read as "forced."2
"Made passive, the causative can only 'make,' never 'let'"
The single most useful fact about meaning is this: once させる goes passive, the permissive "let" reading is gone and only the coercive "made to" remains.1 Keep that rule in mind, and you will not read させられる as a permission.
Politeness and the form
The polite layer is ～させられます, attached over the plain ～させられる.96 The grammatical form itself is register-neutral. What can sound casual is its content, since it is so often a complaint. As a result, it appears both in casual venting and in formal or written accounts of obligation, taking the ます ending where politeness is required.96
See also
- Causative Form (使役形): How to Say "Make" and "Let" Someone Do
- Passive Voice (受身形): Direct and Indirect Passives
- Potential Form: ～られる, ～える, できる
- Spontaneous Voice (自発): Happens by Itself
- Japanese Verb Groups: 一段, 五段, and Irregular