使 (shǐ): to make

Meanings

1 to make
2 to cause
3 to enable

Characters

使

shǐ

to make; to cause; to use; envoy

Examples

HSK 2

这件事使他很高兴。

Zhè jiàn shì shǐ tā hěn gāoxìng.

This matter made him very happy.

HSK 2

什么原因使你改变了想法？

Shénme yuányīn shǐ nǐ gǎibiàn le xiǎngfǎ?

What made you change your mind?

HSK 3

科技的发展使生活更方便了。

Kējì de fāzhǎn shǐ shēnghuó gèng fāngbiàn le.

The development of technology has made life more convenient.

Tips

grammar

使 is used in the pattern: A + 使 + B + adjective/verb. It's more formal than 让. In spoken Chinese, 让 is preferred; 使 appears more in writing.

usage

使 also appears in compound words: 使用 (to use), 大使 (ambassador), 使命 (mission).

Components

radical

亻 rén

person

Person radical anchors the original sense - to dispatch a person on a mission. That meaning still lives in 大使 ambassador, 使节 envoy, 使者 messenger. The causative 'to make/cause' grew naturally from the dispatching image: making someone do something is sending them to act.

phonetic

吏 lì

official

Right side carries the sound, with regular drift from lì to shǐ (lateral-to-sibilant alternation seen elsewhere). 吏 also leaks meaning: it pictures an official scribe and shares roots with 事 affair and 史 history. A person plus an official equals an envoy sent on duty - 使.