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Grammar Intermediate TOPIK II · Level 3–4 Intermediate Korean 1 · Unit 20

-게 하다

-게 하다: Make Someone Do It — Built Causative

Causative auxiliary: cause or have someone/something enter the state or action marked by -게.

Before this, make sure you know: -아요 / -어요 , -어 주다

How to form it

When Form Example
Verb / adjective stem -게 하다 오게 하다 / 조용하게 하다 / 준비하게 하다
하다 verbs -하게 하다 청소하게 하다 / 발표하게 하다
Polite -게 해요 / -게 하세요 다시 오게 하세요

-게 하다 is the built causative: you cause someone (or something) to do or become what the stem says.

Curriculum gloss: make someone do it — the causative built from scratch. Classroom Korean contrasts it with ready-made lexical causatives and with resultative -게 되다.

Shape

팀원에게 자료를 준비하게 했어요.
아이를 먼저 자게 했어요.
방을 조용하게 해 주세요.
다시 설명하게 할까요?
문을 열게 해 주세요.

하다 verbs: 청소하게 하다, 발표하게 하다.

Versus -게 되다

PatternDirection
-게 하다Causer → makes it so
-게 되다Situation → comes to be
발표하게 했어요.           had them present
발표하게 됐어요.           ended up presenting / came to present

Versus adverbial -게

-게 makes manner adverbs (빠르게). Same -게 syllable, different job when 하다 takes a causative seat:

빠르게 했어요.             did it quickly (manner)
빠르게 하게 했어요.        made someone do it quickly (causation + manner)
준비하게 했어요.           made someone prepare

Workplace unit

Meeting prep is full of mild causation / arranging:

신입에게 회의실을 예약하게 했어요.
모두 자료를 읽게 해 주세요.
질문을 미리 보내게 할까요?

Force ranges from soft arrangement to firm instruction — tone and verb choice carry that load.

Quick checks

  1. Stem + -게 하다.
  2. Causer present (often as 에게/한테 or context).
  3. Result-without-causer → check -게 되다 instead.

Ask: am I making or having someone bring about that action/state? If yes, -게 하다 is the productive tool.

Do not confuse it with

-게 되다

ending up that way — a change you did not choose

-게

turning an adjective into "how" something is done

-도록

so that, until, in such a way that (targeted outcome)

Taught alongside this

On the jabi learning path, this appears in 내일 회의 준비는 다 됐어요? (Are you ready for tomorrow's meeting?) — Intermediate Korean 1, Unit 20, on the theme of social life. These come with it:

-는다거나① quoting alternatives — saying this or that 보고 telling someone — the spoken particle for the person addressed

Words used above

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-게 하다-ge hadamake/have someone do; cause to be
사동sadongcausative
시키다sikidamake someone do (lexical)
지시jisiinstruction / direction
회의hoeuimeeting

Quick check

No sign-up, no score saved — just see if it stuck.

1. 자료를 준비하게 했어요 means…

2. -게 하다 vs -게 되다?

3. Which is the pattern?

Common questions

Make or let?

English splits them; Korean -게 하다 covers a range from strong make to milder have/let depending on verb and tone. Context decides force.

vs lexical causatives (먹이다)?

Those are built into the verb. This slot is the from-scratch -게 하다 pattern you can attach widely.

vs -도록?

dorok often marks purpose/result (‘so that’). -게 하다 more directly encodes causing someone to act.

Double causative?

Avoid stacking awkwardly (*먹이게 하다) unless you truly mean nested causation. Prefer one clear layer.