す/さす

Causative (Classical)

Level 6Sounds Like su/sasu (shieki)

In Classical Japanese（古文・こぶん）, す（す） and さす（さす） are auxiliary verbs that indicate either causation (making/letting someone do something) or extreme respect (honorific). They are the ancestors of the modern せる/させる.

How It Works

1. Attachment Rules
These auxiliaries attach to the 未然形（みぜんけい）:

  • す（す）: Attaches to 四段（よだん）, ナ変（なへん）, and ラ変（らへん） verbs.
  • さす（さす）: Attaches to all other classes, including 二段（にだん）, 一段（いちだん）, カ変（かへん）, and サ変（さへん）.
  • しむ（しむ）: Attaches to the 未然形（みぜんけい） of all verbs. It is primarily used in formal, literary, or Chinese-influenced 漢文訓読体（かんぶんくんどくたい） styles.

2. Conjugation
All three auxiliaries conjugate as 下二段（しもにだん） verbs:

  • 未然形（みぜんけい）: せ / させ / しめ
  • 連用形（れんようけい）: せ / させ / しめ
  • 終止形（しゅうしけい）: す / さす / しむ
  • 連体形（れんたいけい）: する / さする / しむる
  • 已然形（いぜんけい）: すれ / さすれ / しむれ
  • 命令形（めいれいけい）: せよ / させよ / しめよ

3. The Two Functions

  • 使役（しえき）: 'To make' or 'to let.'
  • 尊敬（そんけい）: Known as 二重尊敬（にじゅうそんけい） or 'Highest Honorific.' This occurs when the auxiliary is followed by an honorific verb like 給ふ（たまふ）.

4. The に（に） Particle Rule
To distinguish between causative and honorific uses when followed by 給ふ（たまふ）, look for the 'causee' (the person being made to do the action):

  • If a person is marked with the particle に（に） (or is clearly the recipient of an order), the auxiliary is Causative.
  • If there is no person marked with に（に） and the action is performed by a person of extremely high status (Emperor, etc.), it is Honorific.

Examples (3)

  1. 妻の媼に預けて養はす。

    He entrusted the child to his wife and made her raise it.

    Word by Word: Wife (possessive) old woman to entrust raise-cause.

    Here, 養はす（やしなわす） uses the causative す attached to the 未然形（みぜんけい） of the 四段（よだん） verb 養ふ（やしなふ）. It indicates the subject is making someone else perform the action.

  2. 御格子上げさせて、御簾を高く上げたれば、笑はせ給ふ。

    She had a servant raise the shutters, and when the blinds were lifted high, the Empress smiled.

    Word by Word: Shutters raise-cause, blinds (object) high lifted-because, smile-honorific-give.

    This sentence shows both uses. 上げさせて（あげさせて） is causative (making a servant raise shutters), while 笑はせ給ふ（わらわせたまふ） is the 'Highest Honorific' referring to the Empress's own smile.

  3. 主、人々に歌詠ませ給ふ。

    The Lord honorifically made the people compose poems.

    Word by Word: Lord, people (target) poem compose-cause-give.

    Even with 給ふ（たまふ）, if a causee marked by に is present (in this case 人々に), the meaning is 'Causative + Honorific' (The Lord honorifically caused the people to do it).

Common Mistakes

  • Assuming せ給ふ（せたまふ） is always a double honorific.

    帝、使ひを遣はせ給ふ。
    帝、使ひを遣はせ給ふ。

    The grammar is the same, but the meaning changes based on context. If the Emperor（帝・みかど） is sending a messenger（使ひ・つかひ）, he is 'making' the messenger go. This is Causative + Honorific, not just a Double Honorific for the act of sending.

  • Confusing the auxiliary す（す） with the サ変（さへん） verb す（す）.

    物す
    書かす

    The auxiliary す（す） must follow the 未然形（みぜんけい） of another verb. In 物す（ものす）, す（す） is the main verb 'to do' (forming a compound). In 書かす（かかす）, す（す） is the causative auxiliary attached to 書か（かか）.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

す/さすLevel 6Causative (Classical)

Learn This First

The classical causative 'す/さす' is the literary predecessor to the modern 'せる/させる'. To understand it, learners should already be familiar with the modern causative concept and have a basic grasp of how classical Japanese auxiliary verbs (助動詞) attach to different verb stems.

Words in This Pattern

さす