響かせる
ひびかせる
ichidan verb (transitive)
to make resound; to cause to echo; to spread (one's name/fame)
Conjugation
| Affirmative | Negative | |
|---|---|---|
| Present | 響かせる | 響かせない |
| Present polite | 響かせます | 響かせません |
| Past | 響かせた | 響かせなかった |
| Past polite | 響かせました | 響かせませんでした |
| て form | 響かせて | 響かせなくて |
| ている present | 響かせている | 響かせていない |
| ている polite | 響かせています | 響かせていません |
| ている past | 響かせていた | 響かせていなかった |
| ている past polite | 響かせていました | 響かせていませんでした |
| Conditional ば | 響かせれば | 響かせなければ |
| Conditional たら | 響かせたら | 響かせなかったら |
| Volitional | 響かせよう | — |
| Volitional polite | 響かせましょう | — |
| Potential | 響かせられる | 響かせられない |
| Passive | 響かせられる | 響かせられない |
| Causative | 響かせさせる | 響かせさせない |
| Imperative | 響かせろ | 響かせるな |
1.
to make (a sound) resound; to cause to echo
To deliberately produce a sound loud enough to fill or echo through a space. The causative/transitive counterpart of 響く (to resound).
ホールに歌声を響かせた。
She made her singing voice resound through the hall.
大きな声を響かせて応援した。
We cheered, letting our voices ring out loudly.
足音を響かせながら廊下を歩いた。
I walked down the hallway with my footsteps echoing.
オーケストラが力強い演奏でホール全体に音を響かせた。
The orchestra filled the entire hall with sound through its powerful performance.
2.
to spread (one's name, fame, voice) far and wide
Used figuratively in expressions about reputation, fame, or one's name spreading widely — e.g., 名を響かせる (to make a name for oneself).
彼は若くして世界に名を響かせたピアニストだ。
He is a pianist who made his name known around the world at a young age.
その研究は、学界に彼女の名を響かせるきっかけとなった。
That research became the catalyst that made her name resonate throughout the academic world.
響かせる is the transitive counterpart of 響く (to resound). It is morphologically a causative form (-ku verb's causative of せる) used as an established transitive verb in its own right. It is conjugated as a regular ichidan verb.
TRANSITIVITY PAIR:
- Intransitive: 音が響く (The sound resounds)
- Transitive: 音を響かせる (To make the sound resound)
USAGE:
- Sense 1 (literal sound): used for making voices, footsteps, music, applause, etc., fill a space.
- Sense 2 (figurative — reputation): mostly fixed in expressions involving 名 (name, reputation): 名を響かせる, 世に名を響かせる, etc.
COMMON COLLOCATIONS:
- 声を響かせる: to let one's voice ring out
- 音を響かせる: to make a sound resound
- 足音を響かせる: to make footsteps echo
- 笑い声を響かせる: to let one's laughter ring out
- 名を響かせる: to make a name for oneself; to become famous
- 名声を響かせる: to spread one's reputation
RELATED TERMS:
- 響く: intransitive counterpart — to resound, to echo, to resonate
- 響き: a resonance, an echo, a ring (noun)
- 鳴らす: to sound, to ring (transitive — for instruments, bells, alarms)
- 鳴り響く: to ring out (intransitive compound, more emphatic)
USAGE NOTE:
- 響かせる often connotes deliberate or impressive volume / reach, as opposed to incidental sound. 足音を響かせて歩く feels more dramatic than just 歩く.
- It can also be used reflectively in literary writing: 鐘が町に響き渡る (intransitive) vs. 鐘を町に響かせる (transitive — someone is ringing the bell).