Causative form

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A causative form, in linguistics, (a) is an expression of an agent causing or forcing a patient to perform an action or to be in a certain condition--salient cause, (b) is an expression of a patient involves in a non-volitional event that registers the changes of its state--salient effect, (c) is an expression of a grammatical modality in perfective (sequential) or subjenctive (hypothetical) or realis (non-hypothetical) state--perceptual salient. In Korean, this form is called 사동.

Forming causatives

Explaining the form with subject marker, object marker, etc.

이 Causative verb
Active verb Causative verb Examples
먹다 (to eat) 먹이다 (to feed)

Active- 나는 김치를 먹는다.(I eat Kimchi)

Causative- 나는 강아지에게 물을 먹인다.(I made my dog to drink water)

죽다 (to die) 죽이다 (to kill)

Active- 지진 때문에 많은 사람이 죽었다. (Many people died from the earthquake.)

Causative- 그는 사람을 죽였다. (He killed a person.)

붙다 (to stick to) 붙이다 (to stick)
끓다 (to boil) 끓이다 (to make something boil)

Active- 물은 100℃ 이상에서 끓는다. (Water boils in the temperature of 100℃ and over.)

Causative- 나는 김치찌개를 끓였다. (I boiled the Kimchi-jjigae.)

보다 (to see, to look, to watch) 보이다 (to show)

Active- 나는 영화를 보았다. (I saw a movie.)

Causative- 학생이 내게 사진을 보였다. (A student showed me a photograph.)

속다 (to be fooled, to be deceived) 속이다 (to trick, to deceive, to lie)

Active- 또다시 일기예보에게 속았다. (I am fooled by the weather forecast again.)

Causative- 절대로 사람을 속이지 마라. (Never deceive a person.)


히 Causative verb
Active verb Causative verb Examples
익다 익히다
읽다 (to read) 읽히다
입다 (to wear) 입히다
앉다 (to sit) 앉히다
눕다 눕히다
맞다 맞히다


리 Causative verb
Active verb Causative verb Examples
알다 알리다
울다 울리다
돌다 돌리다
살다 살리다
놀다 놀리다
걷다 걸리다


기 Causative verb
Active verb Causative verb Examples
벗다 벗기다
신다 신기다
웃다 웃기다
맡다 맡기다
감다 감기다
씻다 씻기다


우 Causative verb
Active verb Causative verb Examples
깨다 깨우다
서다 세우다
쓰다 씌우다
자다 재우다
타다 태우다


Creating causative form

The causative form can also be created using: See V + 게 하다

See also