Difference between the causative and passive

Question

Hey my name is AhmedI am just wondering what is the difference between causative and passive I don't know when I am talking about something done for me which one should I use For example --&gt; He Killed Mohamed ---( Mohamed was killed) I found it very similar to causative so that makes me upset I hope a simple answer and I will be gratefulThank you

AlpheccaStars · Accepted Answer

chalk cobra 724what is the difference between causative and passive

Any transitive verb (a verb with a direct object) can be written in passive voice.

The causative verbs are a limited set of catenative verbs. "Catenative" means it is followed by another verb. Causative verbs "cause" another action to happen. Here is a partial list.

- make
- have
- let
- allow
- permit
- require
- force
- enable

Causative verbs can be written in the passive voice or active voice.

chalk cobra 724For example --> He Killed Mohamed ---( Mohamed was killed)

That is active voice (Hassan killed Mohamed) and passive voice. (Mohamed was killed by Hassan.) It is not causative.

I think you might be asking about active voice and passive voice.

Here is an example of a causative verb in a sentence.

Mahmoud forced Hassan to kill Mohamed.

Here is that sentence with the causative verb in passive voice.

Hassan was forced by Mahmoud to kill Mohamed.

CalifJim · Answer

chalk cobra 724difference between causative and passive

When grammarians talk about causative verbs, they are talking mostly about special grammatical patterns used with the verbs have, make, and let. Sometimes help and get are included. Not all of the causative verbs actually cause things to happen, but most of them do. The reason they are all grouped together is that their grammatical patterns are the same or very similar. There is always a second verb associated with a causative verb.

We'll have the children sing.
We'll make the children sing.
We'll let the children sing.

They are going to have someone kill Mohamed.
They are going to make someone kill Mohamed.
They are going to let someone kill Mohamed.

See https://www.espressoenglish.net/causative-verbs-in-english-let-make-have-get-help/

You might say that the passive voice is the opposite of the active voice. If the active voice of a sentence has an object, you can form the passive voice of that sentence. The choice of verb is not limited in the same way as it is for causative verbs.

The most obvious characteristic of an active-passive pair of sentences is that the object of the active sentence is the same as the subject of the corresponding passive sentence.

Jason threw the ball. (active; object: the ball)
The ball was thrown by Jason. (passive; subject: the ball).

Hasan killed Mohamed.
Mohamed was killed by Hasan.

See https://www.grammarly.com/blog/active-vs-passive-voice/

CJ

Special note: You may be thinking of 'causative' as a description of the meaning of a verb. For example, in your sentence He killed Mohamed, the meaning is He caused Mohamed to die. This is not what we mean in grammar when we talk about causative verbs. We don't care whether a verb can be paraphrased with the verb cause or whether causation is part of the meaning of the verb. We only care about certain verbs that appear in special grammatical patterns as discussed above.

CJ

Difference between the causative and passive

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