使/让/叫 pivot-causative sentences
A pivot sentence has a noun that is simultaneously the object of the first verb and the subject of the second:
Structure: S1 + 使/让/叫 + Pivot NP + VP2
| Word | Register | Typical use |
|------|----------|-------------|
| 让 ràng | everyday | let sb. do / make sb. feel |
| 叫 jiào | informal | ask/tell sb. to do (person → person) |
| 使 shǐ | formal | cause sth. to happen (abstract results) |
✅ 老师让我们回家复习。(Teacher had us review at home.)
✅ 他叫我帮他买东西。(He asked me to buy things for him.)
✅ 这件事使他非常难过。(This matter made him very sad — formal)
Contrast with 把/被: 把 = agent acts on definite object; 被 = passive; 使/让/叫 = one entity causes another to do/feel.
Worked examples
| Chinese | Pinyin | English | What it shows |
|---|---|---|---|
| 这件事情让她感到非常开心。 | Zhè jiàn shì qíng ràng tā gǎn dào fēi cháng kāi xīn. | This matter made her feel extremely happy. | 让 (everyday): thing → person → emotional state. Pivot: 她 is object of 让 and subject of 感到 |
| 他妈妈叫他去买了一些水果。 | Tā māma jiào tā qù mǎi le yī xiē shuǐ guǒ. | His mother asked him to go buy some fruit. | 叫 (informal, person-to-person task): mom tells son to do something concrete |
| 这次失败的经历使他深刻认识到了坚持的重要性。 | Zhè cì shī bài de jīng lì shǐ tā shēn kè rèn shí dào le jiān chí de zhòng yào xìng. | This experience of failure made him deeply realise the importance of perseverance. | 使 (formal/literary): abstract cause (失败经历) → person → abstract result (认识到重要性) |
What you need first
Every topic in GraphChinese names its own prerequisites, and these are the grammar points this one is built on. If a sentence here will not parse, one of them is why.
What this opens up
These patterns list 使/让/叫 pivot-causative sentences among their own prerequisites, so they become readable once this one holds.
使/让/叫 pivot-causative sentences is one topic of 829. GraphChinese teaches them in prerequisite order, so this pattern reaches you on the day everything it rests on is proven. The whole course, HSK 0 through HSK 6, is $49 once for lifetime access.
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