させてほしい details
write + make/let + (and…) + I want you to let me do it — asking to be the one who acts
kakasete hoshii
I want you to let me do it — asking to be the one who acts
meaning: want you to let me write
その件、もう少し考えさせてほしいな。
sono ken, mou sukoshi kangaesasete hoshii na.
I want you to let me think that one over a bit longer. casual
日曜日まで練習をさせないでほしい。
nichiyoubi made renshuu o sasenaide hoshii.
I want you not to make us practise right through to Sunday. neutral
- formal
- alternant
- colloquial
- past
- polite
- adverbial
- て-form
- humble polite
- asking not to be made to
- asking not to be made to, through もらう
Examples
I want you to let me do it — the speaker asks leave for something they will do themselves
その件、もう少し考えさせてほしいな。
sono ken, mou sukoshi kangaesasetehoshii na.
I want you to let me think that one over a bit longer. casual
来週の金曜日、半休を取らせてほしいんですが。
raishuu no kin'youbi, hankyuu o torasete hoshii n desu ga.
I'd like to be allowed to take a half day next Friday, if that's all right. neutral
新しい企画には、ぜひ私も参加させてほしい。
atarashii kikaku ni wa, zehi watashi mo sanka sasete hoshii.
I really want to be let in on the new project. neutral
恐れ入りますが、資料の一部を修正させていただきたいと存じます。
osoreirimasu ga, shiryou no ichibu o shuusei sasete itadakitai to zonjimasu.
I'm sorry to trouble you, but I would like to be permitted to revise part of the materials. formal
I want you NOT to make me do it — させない plus で turns the wish against being made to act
日曜日まで練習をさせないでほしい。
nichiyoubi made renshuu o sasenaide hoshii.
I want you not to make us practise right through to Sunday. neutral
同じことを何度も言わせないでもらいたいな。
onaji koto o nando mo iwasenaide moraitai na.
I'd rather you didn't make me say the same thing over and over. casual
Formation
{V-causative-te}ほしいattaches to causative て-form
Variant notes
- させていただきたい — humble いただく on the same causative base — 一言ご挨拶させていただきたいと存じます. The business and email tier.
- させてもらいたい — the same wish through もらう rather than ほしい — a shade stiffer, and it is the one that can climb to いただきたい.
- させてほしいんだけど — trailing hedge in speech, which is how the request is normally opened among friends — 明日、車を使わせてほしいんだけど。
Notes
(参加させてほしい, never ×参加しさせて), and 来る goes
来させてほしい.
Related patterns
Similar
させてください asks the listener directly and expects an answer on the spot; させてほしい states the wish and survives in reported speech, where the request form cannot go (次の企画は自分にやらせてほしいと言っていた), so a colleague can carry it to the person who actually decides.
させてもらう takes the permission as settled and announces the act (説明させてもらいます); させてほしい leaves it unsettled and asks for it, so it is the one that still fits before the decision is made.
Lookalikes
The same ほしい tail, and the causative flips who acts — 手伝ってほしい wants the listener to do the work, 手伝わせてほしい wants them to stand aside and let the speaker do it; miss the させ and the wish comes out backwards.