使 / 使得【shǐ / shǐde】

使 + someone + result says a cause brings about a result in someone or something. It is formal and written. The cause is often not a person at all – an event, a change, a new technology – and the result is a change of state: knowing more, becoming easier, feeling something.

使得 works the same way, mostly before a whole clause, in writing about cause and effect.

使 or 让

让 is spoken and does everything 使 does, plus more: "let", "allow" and "ask someone to". 使 has none of those meanings. It only causes.

• × 妈妈不使我出去 → 妈妈不让我出去
• × 老师使我们写作业 → 老师让我们写作业

For feelings in formal writing, 令 is the closer match: 令人失望.

The result is a verb or adjective

English "made him a good teacher" has a noun as the result. After 使 the result has to be a verb or an adjective, often 成为 "become".

• × 这些经历使他一个好老师 → 这些经历使他成为一个好老师