The causative form in a verb after another in 連用形


When do verbs in causative verbs affect the verbs before them? Like if you say
雨は花を食い溺らす (made up term), does the rain eat at the flowers and drown them, or
feed them too much and drown them? Like if you say "蹴り飛ばす", it's obvious
you're not making the object kick ().




When two verbs are connected using the 連用形 (and with no comma), it's called a
[複合動詞 (compound verb)](https://vvlexicon.ninjal.ac.jp/en/). In general, it
behaves as one verb, often with a special meaning. When せる/させる is attached to
a compound verb, the causative meaning is applied not to the first or second
verb but to the compounded meaning:

  * 食べ終えさせる: to make someone finish eating
  * やり直させる: to make someone retry
  * 思い出させる: to remind someone
  * 蹴り飛ばさせる: to make someone kick it away

You should not try to make a new compound verb such as 食い溺れる unless you really
want to go creative and coin a new verb. 食い溺れる is basically a nonsense phrase;
if you say it, the listener will be simply confused. The same is true with its
causative version, 食い溺れさせる. (溺らす is very rare and you should not use it in
contemporary Japanese.)




When two verbs are connected using the 連用形 (and with no comma), it's called a
[複合動詞 (compound verb)](https://vvlexicon.ninjal.ac.jp/en/). In general, it
behaves as one verb, often with a special meaning. When せる/させる is attached to
a compound verb, the causative meaning is applied not to the first or second
verb but to the compounded meaning:

  * 食べ終えさせる: to make someone finish eating
  * やり直させる: to make someone retry
  * 思い出させる: to remind someone
  * 蹴り飛ばさせる: to make someone kick it away

You should not try to make a new compound verb such as 食い溺れる unless you really
want to go creative and coin a new verb. 食い溺れる is basically a nonsense phrase;
if you say it, the listener will be simply confused. The same is true with its
causative version, 食い溺れさせる. (溺らす is very rare and you should not use it in
contemporary Japanese.)

