I'm wondering how sentences are typically made for the pattern "(some non human thing) makes me/you/etc (reaction)." For example, "reading this book makes me think." Or "going to school makes me happy." I suppose if you directly translated these it would be something using ～させる, like この本読むと考えさせる but I feel like that is usually unnatural in this case. It seems using words like ～たくなる and such are more common. What is the extent of ～させるs usefulness in this case and what is the most natural option?
1 Answer
You have partly answered your own question. Historically, Japanese has tended not to use an inanimate thing as a subject as if it had its own will. It's usually preferred to rephrase the sentence using a human as the subject. In your examples, you can say:
- この本を読むと考えさせられる。
(Literally, "When I read this book, I am made to think." Notice the causative-passive form. この本を読むと考えたくなる means "This books make me feel like thinking deeply", and this may be fine if the book is a certain type of self-help book.)- 学校に行くと楽しくなる。
(Lit. "When I go to school, I become happy.")
The following sentences are not wrong but tend to sound less natural in Japanese:
- この本は私に考えさせる。
(Lit. "This book makes me think.")- 学校に行くことは私を楽しくさせる。
(Lit. "Going to school makes me happy.")
See this question for similar examples: In Japanese, can we say an object asks a question?
This is also related: Does 考えさせられる小説 make sense?
