Japanese Grammar – That movie made me cry. 🇯🇵

その えいが は わたし を（なく）____。

The phrase その えいが は わたし を（なく）____. translates to "That movie made me cry." in English. The verb used here is 泣く (なく, to cry). In Japanese grammar, to indicate that something makes someone do an action, you use the causative form of the verb.

1. 泣く (naku) is the base verb meaning "to cry."
2. To form the causative, you typically change the verb ending:
– For godan (u-ending) verbs like 泣く, the causative form is made by changing the final -u to -a and adding せる for the short causative form.
– 泣く → 泣かせる (nakaseru) which means "to make someone cry."

Putting it all together:
– その えいが は (sono eiga wa, "that movie")
– わたし を (watashi wo, "me")
– 泣かせた (nakaseta, "made cry" in the past tense form)

The complete sentence is:
その えいが は わたし を 泣かせた (sono eiga wa watashi wo nakaseta).

This construction follows these steps:
1. Identify the base verb (泣く, naku).
2. Convert it to its causative form (泣かせる, nakaseru).
3. Adjust the causative verb to the appropriate tense (泣かせた, nakaseta for past tense).

Thus, "That movie made me cry." translates to:
その えいが は わたし を 泣かせた (sono eiga wa watashi wo nakaseta).

a few seconds ago