Explanation
Use a bare infinitive after some special verbs, such as "make", "let", and "help". A bare infinitive is the plain verb form, with no "to".
In "My mother made me clean my room.", "My mother" is the subject, "made" means caused, "me" is the person affected, and "clean" is the bare infinitive. Japanese often uses "〜させる" or "〜してもらう", but English keeps the second verb in its plain form. Do not say "made me to clean"; after "make", "let", and often "help", the verb comes without "to".
「make」「let」「help」のあとでは、「to」をつけない原形動詞を使います。bare infinitive は「to のない動詞の形」です。
例えば "My mother made me clean my room." では、"My mother" が主語、"made" が「させた」、"me" が「私に」、"clean" が bare infinitive、"my room" が clean の目的語です。日本語では「母は私に部屋を掃除させた」と言いますが、英語は 2つ目の動詞を原形のまま置きます。"My mother made me to clean my room." は誤りで、"to" はいりません。
Examples
- My mother made me clean my room. 母は私に部屋を掃除させました。
- Can you help me carry this box? この箱を運ぶのを手伝ってくれますか。
- Let the dog out. 犬を外に出して。
- Please don't make me wait. どうか私を待たせないでください。
- Why did you let him go alone? どうして彼を一人で行かせたのですか。
- We didn't let the kids go outside. 私たちは子どもたちを外に出しませんでした。
Common Mistakes
Japanese learners often add "to" after "make", "let", or "help": "My teacher made me to rewrite it." -> "My teacher made me rewrite it." They also write "Let's to go." -> "Let's go." After these verbs, use the plain verb form with no "to".
日本人学習者は「make」「let」「help」のあとに「to」を入れがちです。例：「My teacher made me to rewrite it.」→「My teacher made me rewrite it.」。また「Let's to go.」→「Let's go.」のような誤りも多いです。これらの動詞のあとでは、「to」なしの原形を使います。