How common is the shortened causative form, eg. 食べさす instead of 食べさせる.
Tae Kim says in his grammar guide (http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/causepass) that the shorter causative-passive form (行かされる instead of 行かせられる) is not used as often as the longer version. However, I've read in genki and elsewhere that the shorter form is actually used more often in conversation.
That makes me wonder how frequently the shorter causative form is used. Is that also popular in conversational Japanese? In what contexts would you expect to hear it?
Answer
Sometimes, one needs to take a statement by Tae Kim with a grain of salt. Kim probably knows better than 99.9 % of all Japanese-learners, but still he is not a native speaker.
The short form is indeed used quite heavily in informal, daily conversations among us native speakers. The more informal the speech, the more often you will hear the short form.
If, however, you used the shorter form in non-informal situations such as business, school, etc., it would sound fairly inappropriate (or actually, even more than inappropriate).
If you are at a level where you can freely and properly switch back and forth between formal and informal, go ahead and use both like we do.
If you are not, one way to deal with it might be to use the longer form all the time first and gradually start using both as you gain more confidence.
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