Learn English – Difference between ‘to cause to become’ and ‘to cause’

causativescomplementationlinking-verbs

[Random House Dictionary], s.v. make
3. to cause to be or become; render: to make someone happy.
8. to cause, induce, or compel: to make a horse jump a barrier.

What’s the difference between 3 and 8 in their meaning?

Best Answer

Both uses of make have the sense of causing something to be predicated of the Direct Object. There are a couple ways of parsing this, and it doesn't really matter how you represent it

[Subj] MAKE [non-finite clause [Subj2] [Pred] ] ... OR
[Subj] MAKE [arg1 [DirObj] ] [arg2 [Pred] ]

The difference between 3 and 8 is that in 3 the verb in [Pred] is omitted, because it is a copula (BE, BECOME or the like) and its 'sense' is already evident in MAKE, while in 8 the verb must be included because it is an action performed by [Subj2].

  1. I made the horse happy = I made the horse [become] happy.
  2. I made the horse jump the fence.

There are other constructions besides MAKE which have the same sense but call for different arguments. Where MAKE takes the unmarked infinitive in [Pred], CAUSE takes the marked infinitive and does not omit a copular verb in [Pred]. More elaborately, BRING IT ABOUT requires a finite that clause.

I caused the horse to become happy.
I caused the horse to jump the fence.
I brought it about that the horse became happy.
I brought it about that the horse jumped the fence.

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