Sparky: What happened Mr. Maru? You look a little sad.

Mr. Maru: Well, I've started teaching a new class. The kids in the class are so rude!

Sparky: I see. What do they do?

Mr. Maru: They throw spitballs at me and never do their homework.

Sparky: You should let them do detention.

Mr. Maru: I don't think they want to do detention though.

Sparky: You have to be strong with them! Or, you could make them have candy if they act nicer.

Mr. Maru: Make them have candy? I don't think that is allowed.

Sparky: You have a difficult job. Thank goodness I'm not a teacher!

Are you stumped by causative verbs? Today, we will go over the causatives make and let. We went over causative verbs have and get in an earlier Teacher Stumpers.

The Causative Verb Make

You can use 'make' when you are forcing someone to do something. The person doing the action usually doesn't want to do the action. You have more power than the person doing the action.

Basic Form of the causative make -

subject + make + object + verb

The teacher made the students stand up.

For example,

The boss made his employees stay late. (The boss has more power than his employees. He can tell them to stay late and they will do it because he has power.)

Her brother made her cry because he embarrassed her in front of her friends. (The brother had power because he could do something and force her to feel bad.)

He made the toy car drive through the maze. (He had control of the toy car. He commanded it to drive through the maze.)

Be Careful! You do not give money to the person doing the action. Please use the causative have for this:

He had the mechanic fix his car. (He paid the mechanic to fix the car. It was the mechanics job.)

The Causative Verb Let

You can use 'let' when you are allowing someone or something to do what they want to do. You still have more power than the person doing the action. This is a casual term.

Basic Form -

subject + let + object + verb

The teacher let the students eat candy.

For example,

The boss let his employees go home early. (The boss said it was okay to leave early. The employees don't have to leave early, but they can.)

Her brother let her play with his toy car. (He allowed her to play with the car. It was okay that she played with the toy car.)

Causatives quiz

1) Mother ______ us play video games all day.

A) had

B) made

C) let

2) Father _____ the plumber fix the sink.

A) had

B) made

C) let

3) My brother ______ me wash his car after I spilled coffee on him.

A) had

B) made

C) let

Answers

1) C) - playing video games is fun!

2) A) - Father paid the plumber to fix the sink, so we can't use 'made.'

3) B) - My brother has more power. He is bigger and stronger.

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