B1 · Grammar reference
Make someone do—or cause something to happen.
Mandarin often places the affected person or thing between two predicates. The first verb sets the cause; the second gives the action or result.
Comparison
One frame, four different intentions.
Formal cause
Best for written, factual, or abstract cause and effect. It often introduces a resulting state.
Everyday make or let
The most flexible choice in conversation. Context tells you whether someone causes or permits the action.
Tell or have
Colloquial and often directive: one person tells or has another person do something.
Polite request
Asks or invites someone to act. It belongs to the same sentence frame, but adds politeness rather than force.
Reading the structure
Parse it in four beats.
Find the source
Who or what starts the cause?
Spot the causative
Is the tone formal, everyday, directive, or polite?
Name the affected part
Who acts, or what changes state?
Read the outcome
The final predicate gives the action, feeling, or result.
Examples (18)
他不听话，你叫我怎么办？
你儿子在学校的表现叫老师很头疼。
他偷偷约别的女孩，你叫我怎么想？
老板叫我们在会议室等他。
能不能请你明天照顾一下我的狗？
请老师再解释一遍这个语法点。
我想请你帮我一个忙。
你为什么不让我去？
那个老人让我想到了我爷爷。
他讲的故事让大家都笑了。
这部电影让人很感动。
请把窗户打开，让空气进来。
这段音乐使我慢慢平静下来。
经济危机使很多公司倒闭了，也使很多人失去了工作。
新的流程使我们的工作更有效率。
信息太多反而使决定变得更难。
连续的大雨使河水上涨了。
他的演讲使听众们非常激动。
Further resources
Learn from another explanation
- A concise animated lesson from Taiwan’s National Open University with spoken examples.
- A second worked explanation comparing the four verbs and their different tones.
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Primary reference: Causative verbs · Chinese Grammar Wiki · 使 grammar index. Page content and adapted sentence examples draw from the Chinese Grammar Wiki under CC BY-NC-SA 3.0; changes were made.