～させてあげる (Bonus Unit A)
Well, causative form endings conjugate like ichidan verbs.
For example, here are the causative forms of 飲む (のむ // to drink) and 食べる (たべる // to eat):
飲ませる (のませる // to make/let [someone] drink)
食べさせる (たべさせる // to make/let [someone] eat)
Since causative verbs conjugate like ichidan verbs, the て-form is made by leaving the stem unchanged and just switching the final ～ る to a ～ て, as so:
飲ませて (のませて // to make/let [someone] drink [and])
食べさせて (たべさせて // to make/let [someone] eat [and])
We're powering up now. We've already learned that we can use て-form verbs when making requests, yeah? Therefore, in a certain context, the above verbs could be translated like this:
飲ませて。
のませて。
Let me drink (it).
Literally: "let (me) drink (it)."
食べさせて。
たべさせて。
Let me eat (it).
Literally: "let (me) eat (it)."
In another context, we might instead translate them like this:
飲ませて。
のませて。
Let him/her drink (it).
Literally: "let (him/her) drink (it)."
食べさせて。
たべさせて。
Let him/her eat (it).
Literally: "let (him/her) eat (it)."
As we've seen time and time again, context is king, yeah?
Let's take it a step further: We can add the verb あげる, which means "(I) give (you/him/etc.)" to a verb in て-form when describing an action that we do for the benefit of another.
The full explanation is a bit more complicated than that, and we'll explore it more in a future JLPT N5 lesson, but, yeah, that's the gist of it. Thus, in a certain context, we can use the following sentences:
飲ませてあげる。
のませて あげる。
I'll let you drink (it).
Literally: "let (you) drink (it) (and) + give (you)."
食べさせてあげる。
たべさせて あげる。
I'll let you eat (it).
Literally: "let (you) eat (it) (and) + give (you)."
↑ That's the pattern we're looking at in our audio loops:
