Kilo Lingo
Part of Chapter 26

CEFR B1-B2

9 min read

Test yourself (24 questions)

Mandarin Causatives 使 (shǐ), 令 (lìng) and 让 (ràng): Making Someone Feel or Do Something

Two jobs, one English word

Before choosing a marker, decide which of these two sentences you are actually building.

  1. A cause produces a state. Something happened, and as a result somebody feels or becomes something. 'The news made me happy.' Nobody gave an order.
  2. Somebody imposes an action. One person gets another person to do something, or lets them. 'I made him leave.' 'Mum won't let me go out.'

English calls both of these 'make'. Mandarin does not. Job 2 is 让 (ràng) territory, full stop. Job 1 can be done by 让 (ràng) in speech, but in writing it belongs to 使 (shǐ) and 令 (lìng).

All three share the same skeleton:

Cause + marker + experiencer + result

  • 这件事我很生气。 (Zhè jiàn shì ràng wǒ hěn shēng qì.) - This made me really angry. (Spoken.)
  • 这件事我很生气。 (Zhè jiàn shì shǐ wǒ hěn shēng qì.) - This made me very angry. (Written.)
  • 这件事我很生气。 (Zhè jiàn shì lìng wǒ hěn shēng qì.) - This angered me. (Written, one notch more literary.)

Three sentences, one meaning, three registers. That is the whole lesson in miniature.

让 (ràng): the spoken all-rounder

让 (ràng) is the causative you will hear a hundred times a day. It takes a PERSON as the thing being caused, and what follows can be an action, not just a feeling.

  • 我他走。 (Wǒ ràng tā zǒu.) - I told him to go / I let him go.
  • 妈妈不我晚上出去。 (Mā ma bú ràng wǒ wǎn shang chū qù.) - Mum doesn't let me go out in the evening.
  • 老师我们写一篇文章。 (Lǎo shī ràng wǒ men xiě yì piān wén zhāng.) - The teacher had us write an essay.
  • 我看看。 (Ràng wǒ kàn kan.) - Let me have a look.
  • 别他知道。 (Bié ràng tā zhī dào.) - Don't let him know.

Notice that 让 (ràng) covers both 'make' and 'let'. Mandarin does not separate compulsion from permission here; context and tone do that work. 我让他走 (wǒ ràng tā zǒu) can be an order or a release, and only the situation tells you which.

让 (ràng) also does job 1 perfectly well in speech, with an abstract cause at the front:

  • 这个消息大家都很高兴。 (Zhè ge xiāo xi ràng dà jiā dōu hěn gāo xìng.) - The news made everyone happy.
  • 他的话我很不舒服。 (Tā de huà ràng wǒ hěn bù shū fu.) - What he said made me really uncomfortable.

So 让 (ràng) is the wide one. It is not wrong in an essay, it just reads as conversation on the page.

使 (shǐ): the written cause

使 (shǐ) is job 1 only. Its subject is normally a thing, an event, or an idea, not a person handing out instructions, and what follows the experiencer is a state or a change of understanding rather than a command.

  • 这我很高兴。 (Zhè shǐ wǒ hěn gāo xìng.) - This makes me very happy.
  • 运动人健康。 (Yùn dòng shǐ rén jiàn kāng.) - Exercise makes people healthy.
  • 这次经历我明白了很多。 (Zhè cì jīng lì shǐ wǒ míng bai le hěn duō.) - This experience made me understand a great deal. (经历 (jīng lì) = an experience one has lived through.)
  • 网络我们能够跟世界上的人交流。 (Wǎng luò shǐ wǒ men néng gòu gēn shì jiè shang de rén jiāo liú.) - The internet enables us to communicate with people around the world.

That last shape, 使 (shǐ) + person + 能够 (néng gòu) 'be able to', is a staple of formal written Chinese and worth learning whole.

What 使 (shǐ) cannot do is boss people about:

  • 我他走。 (Wǒ ràng tā zǒu.) - RIGHT.
  • 我使他走 (wǒ shǐ tā zǒu)。 - WRONG. 使 (shǐ) does not issue instructions.
  • 妈妈使我出去 (mā ma shǐ wǒ chū qù)。 - WRONG. Use 让 (ràng).

The test: if you could rewrite the English as 'X caused Y to become / to feel / to be able to', 使 (shǐ) is available. If the English is 'X told Y to' or 'X let Y', it is not.

令 (lìng): one step more literary

令 (lìng) sits in the same slot as 使 (shǐ) and means much the same thing, but it leans harder towards feelings and reactions, and it sounds more literary still. In modern prose it is far more restricted than 使 (shǐ).

  • 这个消息我很失望。 (Zhè ge xiāo xi lìng wǒ hěn shī wàng.) - The news left me very disappointed.
  • 他的话我很不高兴。 (Tā de huà lìng wǒ hěn bù gāo xìng.) - His remarks displeased me.
  • 这件事大家很担心。 (Zhè jiàn shì lìng dà jiā hěn dān xīn.) - The matter worried everyone.

Where 使 (shǐ) happily reports a physical or practical result (运动使人健康 (yùn dòng shǐ rén jiàn kāng)), 令 (lìng) prefers an emotional one. And the place it is genuinely alive in everyday written Chinese is not the free construction above but the fixed frame below.

The 令人 (lìng rén) pattern: a ready-made adjective

This is the highest-value thing on the page. 令人 (lìng rén) means 'causes people to feel', and 令人 (lìng rén) plus a two-syllable feeling word behaves as a single adjective:

ChineseEnglish
(lìng rén shī wàng)disappointing
(lìng rén mǎn yì)satisfying
(lìng rén jīng yà)surprising
(lìng rén dān xīn)worrying
(lìng rén gǎn dòng)moving
(lìng rén nán wàng)unforgettable
(lìng rén hài pà)frightening
(lìng rén gāo xìng)gladdening

It works in both of the places an adjective works. As a predicate:

  • 这个结果。 (Zhè ge jié guǒ lìng rén shī wàng.) - The result is disappointing.
  • 他的表演。 (Tā de biǎo yǎn lìng rén gǎn dòng.) - His performance was moving.

And in front of a noun, with 的 (de):

  • 一个的结果 (yí ge lìng rén shī wàng de jié guǒ) - a disappointing result
  • 一次的旅行 (yí cì lìng rén nán wàng de lǚ xíng) - an unforgettable trip

The spoken equivalent is 让人 (ràng rén), and it is extremely common: 这个结果让人失望 (zhè ge jié guǒ ràng rén shī wàng). Same frame, everyday register. 使人 (shǐ rén) also exists (使人放心 (shǐ rén fàng xīn) 'reassuring') but it is much rarer than the other two, so learn 令人 (lìng rén) for writing and 让人 (ràng rén) for speech and you have the pair covered.

One restriction: what follows 令人 (lìng rén) must be a REACTION a person can have. 令人满意 (lìng rén mǎn yì) works because people can be satisfied. 令人去 (lìng rén qù) 'makes people go' does not work at all, because going is an action, not a reaction.

Choosing between them

MarkerRegisterCauseWhat follows the personEveryday frequency
(ràng)speech, informal textanythingan action OR a stateconstant
(shǐ)written, formala thing, event, ideaa state or abilitycommon in writing
(lìng)written, literarya thing or eventa feelingmostly in
(lìng rén)written, formalfixed framea two-syllable feeling wordvery common
(ràng rén)speechfixed framea two-syllable feeling wordvery common

A quick way to decide: if there is a person giving instructions, it is 让 (ràng) and nothing else. If it is a cause and a feeling and you are speaking, 让 (ràng). If it is a cause and a feeling and you are writing, 使 (shǐ), or 令人 (lìng rén) when the feeling word is one of the set phrases above.

Negation

Negation goes in front of the marker, as it does in front of 把 (bǎ) and 被 (bèi):

  • 妈妈我去。 (Mā ma bú ràng wǒ qù.) - Mum won't let me go. (General rule or standing refusal.)
  • 老师我们写。 (Lǎo shī méi ràng wǒ men xiě.) - The teacher didn't make us write it. (One past occasion.)
  • 他知道。 (Bié ràng tā zhī dào.) - Don't let him know. (Imperative.)

使 (shǐ) and 令 (lìng) are rarely negated directly. With the 令人 (lìng rén) frame, the usual move is to put the negation INSIDE the feeling word rather than on the marker:

  • 这个结果。 (Zhè ge jié guǒ lìng rén bù mǎn yì.) - The result is unsatisfactory.
  • 他的态度。 (Tā de tài dù lìng rén bù ān.) - His attitude is unsettling.

不令人满意 (bú lìng rén mǎn yì) does turn up in formal writing and is not an error, but the negation-inside version is the more idiomatic default.

Worked examples

  1. 这个消息我们非常高兴。 (Zhè ge xiāo xi shǐ wǒ men fēi cháng gāo xìng.) - The news made us extremely happy. Written register, abstract cause, resulting state.
  2. 妈妈不我一个人去。 (Mā ma bú ràng wǒ yí ge rén qù.) - Mum won't let me go on my own. Person controlling person, negation before 让.
  3. 这个结果失望。 (Zhè ge jié guǒ lìng rén shī wàng.) - The result is disappointing. Fixed frame as a predicate adjective.
  4. 运动人健康。 (Yùn dòng shǐ rén jiàn kāng.) - Exercise makes people healthy. Formal cause and effect, generic 人 as the experiencer.
  5. 老师我们写一篇文章。 (Lǎo shī ràng wǒ men xiě yì piān wén zhāng.) - The teacher had us write an essay. An action follows, so only 让 will do.
  6. 那是一次的旅行。 (Nà shì yí cì lìng rén nán wàng de lǚ xíng.) - That was an unforgettable trip. Fixed frame in front of a noun with 的.

Common mistakes

  1. Using (shǐ) to give orders. 我使他走 (wǒ shǐ tā zǒu) is wrong; 使 (shǐ) causes states, not obedience. Say 我让他走 (wǒ ràng tā zǒu).
  2. Putting an action after (lìng rén). 令人去 (lìng rén qù) and 令人吃饭 (lìng rén chī fàn) are not sentences. The frame takes a reaction word only: 令人满意 (lìng rén mǎn yì), 令人担心 (lìng rén dān xīn).
  3. Inserting (shì). 这是使我很高兴 (zhè shì shǐ wǒ hěn gāo xìng) is wrong. The causative marker is the verb of the sentence, so there is no room for the copula: 这使我很高兴 (zhè shǐ wǒ hěn gāo xìng).
  4. Reaching for (zuò). 'Make' in the causative sense is never 做 (zuò). 这做我高兴 (zhè zuò wǒ gāo xìng) is not Chinese.
  5. Writing (ràng) all the way through a formal piece. It is grammatical but it flattens the register. In an essay, alternate 使 (shǐ) and the 令人 (lìng rén) frame.
  6. Dropping (hěn) before the adjective. The result slot obeys the ordinary rule for adjectives: 这使我很高兴 (zhè shǐ wǒ hěn gāo xìng), not a bare 这使我高兴 (zhè shǐ wǒ gāo xìng), unless you are drawing a contrast.
  7. Forgetting that (ràng) has a second life as a passive. 我的钱让他拿走了 (wǒ de qián ràng tā ná zǒu le) is not 'my money made him take it' but 'my money got taken by him'. The affected thing at the front is the giveaway.

See also

Practise: test yourself

Fill in the blank

0/8

Fill each gap with the causative the register calls for: 让 for people and speech, 使 for an abstract cause in writing, 令 or the fixed 令人 for the formal feeling pattern.

  1. 妈妈不我晚上出去。 (Mum doesn't let me go out in the evening) (spoken permission, one person controlling another)

    mā ma bù ___ wǒ wǎn shàng chū qù 。 (Mum doesn't let me go out in the evening)

  2. 这个消息我们非常高兴。 (written: this news made us very happy) (an abstract cause producing a state, in writing)

    zhè ge xiāo xī ___ wǒ men fēi cháng gāo xìng 。 (written: this news made us very happy)

  3. 这个结果失望。 (the result is disappointing) (the fixed two-character frame before a feeling word)

    zhè ge jié guǒ ___ shī wàng 。 (the result is disappointing)

  4. 老师我们写一个故事。 (the teacher had us write a story) (a person telling people to do something)

    lǎo shī ___ wǒ men xiě yí gè gù shì 。 (the teacher had us write a story)

  5. 运动人健康。 (written: exercise makes people healthy) (formal cause and effect, no one is giving orders)

    yùn dòng ___ rén jiàn kāng 。 (written: exercise makes people healthy)

  6. 他的表演人很感动。 (his performance moved people) (the literary marker, here before 人)

    tā de biǎo yǎn ___ rén hěn gǎn dòng 。 (his performance moved people)

  7. 别他知道这件事。 (don't let him know about this) (spoken, and the marker also means 'to let')

    bié ___ tā zhī dào zhè jiàn shì 。 (don't let him know about this)

  8. 这次经历我明白了很多。 (written: this experience made me understand a lot) (an event as the cause, formal register)

    zhè cì jīng lì ___ wǒ míng bái le hěn duō 。 (written: this experience made me understand a lot)

Pick the right one

0/8

Pick the causative that fits the job and the register. 让 for people and everyday speech, 使 for an abstract cause in writing, 令人 for the fixed formal adjective.

  1. Telling a person to do something, in conversation.

  2. An abstract cause producing a state, in a written argument.

  3. 'Disappointing' as a ready-made written adjective.

  4. 妈妈我早点回家。 (Mum makes me come home early)

    mā ma ___ wǒ zǎo diǎn huí jiā 。 (Mum makes me come home early)

  5. 这件事我们看到了问题。 (formal: this matter made us see the problem)

    zhè jiàn shì ___ wǒ men kàn dào le wèn tí 。 (formal: this matter made us see the problem)

  6. 这个故事感动。 (the story is moving)

    zhè ge gù shì ___ gǎn dòng 。 (the story is moving)

  7. 我他先走。 (I told him to go on ahead)

    wǒ ___ tā xiān zǒu 。 (I told him to go on ahead)

  8. 科学生活更方便。 (written: science makes life more convenient)

    kē xué ___ shēng huó gèng fāng biàn 。 (written: science makes life more convenient)

Mark the pattern

0/8

Mark the parts of each causative sentence: the cause, the marker, the person or people affected, and the result the marker delivers.

C = cause, M = causative marker (使 / 令 / 让), E = experiencer (who feels or acts), R = result (a state, a feeling or an action)

  1. 这 件 事 使 我 很 高兴。

    zhè jiàn shì shǐ wǒ hěn gāo xìng 。

    Select the cause

  2. 这 个 消息 令 我 很 失望。

    zhè gè xiāo xī lìng wǒ hěn shī wàng 。

    Select the cause

  3. 妈妈 让 我 早点 回家。

    mā ma ràng wǒ zǎo diǎn huí jiā 。

    Select the cause

  4. 运动 使 人 健康。

    yùn dòng shǐ rén jiàn kāng 。

    Select the cause

  5. 他 的 话 令 人 生气。

    tā de huà lìng rén shēng qì 。

    Select the cause

  6. 老师 让 我们 写 一 个 故事。

    lǎo shī ràng wǒ men xiě yī gè gù shì 。

    Select the cause

  7. 这 次 经历 使 我 明白 了 很多。

    zhè cì jīng lì shǐ wǒ míng bái liǎo hěn duō 。

    Select the cause

  8. 这 个 结果 令 人 满意。

    zhè gè jié guǒ lìng rén mǎn yì 。

    Select the cause

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