TOPIK II · LEVEL 3

-게 하다

-게 하다 means 'make / let someone do something' (or cause a state).

변화·피동·사동Change, passive & causative

Han: Someone making you do it is -게 하다, not -게 되다.

Examples

그 영화는 사람들을 울게 했다.That movie made people cry.
부모님은 저를 밤늦게 못 나가게 하세요.My parents don't let me go out late at night.
선생님이 학생들에게 책을 읽게 했어요.The teacher had the students read the book.

Don’t mix up

-게 하다vs-게 되다-게 하다 = someone causes it; -게 되다 = it happens to you: 가게 했어요 'made (them) go' vs 가게 됐어요 'ended up going'.

How to build it

V/A+게 하다

가다 → 가게 하다, 웃다 → 웃게 하다, 슬프다 → 슬프게 하다

  1. The person made to act takes 을/를, 에게 or 이/가: 동생에게 청소하게 했어요.
  2. Works with almost any verb, unlike the fixed causative suffixes.

Classic mistake

Wrong: 엄마가 저를 숙제하게 됐어요.

Right: 엄마가 저를 숙제하게 했어요.

Someone making you do it is -게 하다, not -게 되다.

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More level 3 grammar

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