せる

See also: セル

Japanese

Etymology 1

From Classical Japanese す (su), which followed 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”).

Suffix

せる (ichidan conjugation, rōmaji -seru)

  1. (jodōshi) Used to form the causative of verbs.
    1. Expresses causation: to make ... do ...
      子 (こ)供 (ども)に本 (ほん)を読 (よ)ませる
      kodomo ni hon o yomaseru
      to make children read books
Conjugation
Conjugation of "せる" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)
Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形) せ -se
Continuative (連用形) せ -se
Terminal (終止形) せる -seru
Attributive (連体形) せる -seru
Hypothetical (仮定形) せれ -sere
Imperative (命令形) せよ¹
せろ²		 -seyo¹
-sero²
Key constructions
Passive せられる -serareru
Causative － －
Potential せられる
せれる³		 -serareru
-sereru³
Volitional せよう -seyō
Negative せない
せぬ
せん		 -senai
-senu
-sen
Negative continuative せず -sezu
Formal せます -semasu
Perfective せた -seta
Conjunctive せて -sete
Hypothetical conditional せれば -sereba
¹ Written imperative
² Spoken imperative
³ Colloquial potential
Usage notes

Attaches only to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of Group I (godan) verbs and the irregular verb する (suru). The result is conjugated like an ichidan verb.

  • 書 (か)く (kaku) → 書 (か)かせる (kaka-seru), 書 (か)かせます (kaka-semasu), etc.
  • 呼 (よ)ぶ (yobu) → 呼 (よ)ばせる (yoba-seru), 呼 (よ)ばせます (yoba-semasu), etc.
  • 言 (い)う (iu) → 言 (い)わせる (iwa-seru), 言 (い)わせます (iwa-semasu), etc.
  • する (suru) → させる (sa-seru), させます (sa-semasu), etc.

The passive form of verbs from other conjugation classes are formed with させる (-saseru) instead of せる (-seru).

In colloquial speech, せる (-seru) can be contracted to す (-su), which follows 五段活用 (godan katsuyō, “quinquigrade conjugation”).

See also

Etymology 2

Verb

せる (godan conjugation, rōmaji seru)

  1. 迫る:

Etymology 3

Verb

せる (godan conjugation, rōmaji seru)

  1. 競る, 糶る:
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