Shorter Causative Form Popularity


How common is the shortened causative form, eg. 食べさす instead of 食べさせる.

Tae Kim says in his grammar guide
(<http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/causepass>) that the shorter
causative-passive form (行かされる instead of 行かせられる) is not used as often as the
longer version. However, I've read in genki and elsewhere that the shorter
form is actually used more often in conversation.

That makes me wonder how frequently the shorter causative form is used. Is
that also popular in conversational Japanese? In what contexts would you
expect to hear it?




Sometimes, one needs to take a statement by Tae Kim with a grain of salt. Kim
probably knows better than 99.9 % of all Japanese-learners, but still he is
not a native speaker.

**The short form is indeed used quite heavily in informal, daily conversations
among us native speakers. The more informal the speech, the more often you
will hear the short form.**

If, however, you used the shorter form in non-informal situations such as
business, school, etc., it would sound fairly inappropriate (or actually, even
more than inappropriate).

If you are at a level where you can **_freely and properly_** switch back and
forth between formal and informal, go ahead and use both like we do.

If you are not, one way to deal with it might be to use the longer form all
the time first and gradually start using both as you gain more confidence.




Sometimes, one needs to take a statement by Tae Kim with a grain of salt. Kim
probably knows better than 99.9 % of all Japanese-learners, but still he is
not a native speaker.

**The short form is indeed used quite heavily in informal, daily conversations
among us native speakers. The more informal the speech, the more often you
will hear the short form.**

If, however, you used the shorter form in non-informal situations such as
business, school, etc., it would sound fairly inappropriate (or actually, even
more than inappropriate).

If you are at a level where you can **_freely and properly_** switch back and
forth between formal and informal, go ahead and use both like we do.

If you are not, one way to deal with it might be to use the longer form all
the time first and gradually start using both as you gain more confidence.

