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Be A-ed (Passive tense), when the action is directed at the subject.
When included, the agent of the action is marked with に
  1. Be A-ed (Passive tense), when the action is directed at the subject.
    When included, the agent of the action is marked with に
  2. A is done, A happens
    The action is not usually directed at the subject, but has a negative/undesirable connotation.
  3. A does B
    The passive form can be used as an honorific form, so A would be someone above the speaker (boss, customer, etc.)
さかな ねこ      
The fish was eaten by the cat.
32
この              
This car was made ten years ago.
30
          していた            
I was idly chatting in the middle of class, so I was warned by the teacher.
27
                  
Yesterday, my little brother was hit by my older brother and cried.
26
                ください  
If you're called by me, please present in front of the class.
46
                  
I'm called 'teacher' by the students.
25
この      使         
This number is not being used. (As in a phone company's recorded message)
32
                 
My mom got mad because I lied.
7
この                
This comic book is mainly read by women.
7
             
My little brother is loved by my grandfather.
5
                  もらわれていいた  
The puppies were, one by one, taken by acquaintances of my mother and father.
8
          さらわれてしまった  
A strong wind blew and my cap was swept away.
6
    また           
My older sister was dumped again by a guy.
7
          されて       
Yesterday my older brother was mean to me and I cried.
7
この    19           
This novel was written in the 19th century.
5
この                 
This story has been passed down from ancient times.
4
この                    
This dish had been made since the Edo period.

Getting the sentences
1. Determine if it's a godan or ichidan verb
How do I determine the type of the verb?
2. Conjugating the verbs
Godan verbs
1. Change the last character from its 'u' form to the 'a' form.
む (mu) => ま (ma)
す (su) => さ (sa)
う (u) => わ (wa)
ぬ (nu) => な (na)
つ (tsu) => た (ta)
ぶ (bu) => ば (ba)
く (ku) => か (ka)
ぐ (gu) => が (ga)
る (ru) => ら (ra)
Ichidan verbs
1. Change the る from the end of the verb to ら (ra)

Special cases
1a. する (to do) is changed to さ.
1b. くる (to come) is changed to こら.


2. Add れる to make the passive form.
Conjugation & examples
Usage: Person は Actor に Act (Action+Verb) におをたべられる I had my candy eaten by a friend. Let's conjugate the godan verb く/かく (to write):
Basic Examples
Before we start: かく
1. か -> か
2. かか -> かかれる (written by)

Now let's conjugate the verb べる/たべる (to eat), which is an ichidan verb:
Basic Examples
Before we start: たべる
1. たべ -> たべら
2. たべ -> たべられる (eaten by)
Where this grammar is found


User notes
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shirokitsune
Level: 1023
(8 years ago)
In the passive voice the subject is what would be considered the object in active voice.
An example would be: (Active) He broke the mirror. りました。
(Passive) The mirror was broken by him. られました。
You must be careful as Ichidan verbs are conjugated the same way as potential form (can).
You can tell the difference because the one doing the action in passive form (him/) is marked with the particle に.
17
 
A is done, A happens
The action is not usually directed at the subject, but has a negative/undesirable connotation.
  1. Be A-ed (Passive tense), when the action is directed at the subject.
    When included, the agent of the action is marked with に
  2. A is done, A happens
    The action is not usually directed at the subject, but has a negative/undesirable connotation.
  3. A does B
    The passive form can be used as an honorific form, so A would be someone above the speaker (boss, customer, etc.)
おんせん      むし     
I went to the hot springs, but I was stung by an insect.
19
                 
While I was playing outside it started to rain!
18
                
A robber broke in while I was gone.
6
        
My wallet was stolen!
9
              こと   
It's heart-breaking to have a person's life suddenly taken.
8
       その         
The man who was killed was a resident of that room.

Getting the sentences
1. Determine if it's a godan or ichidan verb
How do I determine the type of the verb?
2. Conjugating the verbs
Godan verbs
1. Change the last character from it's 'u' form to the 'a' form.
む (mu) => ま (ma)
す (su) => さ (sa)
う (u) => わ (wa)
ぬ (nu) => な (na)
つ (tsu) => た (ta)
ぶ (bu) => ば (ba)
く (ku) => か (ka)
ぐ (gu) => が (ga)
る (ru) => ら (ra)
Ichidan verbs
1. Change the る from the end of the verb to ら (ra)

Special cases
1a. する (to do) is changed to さ.
1b. くる (to come) is changed to こら.


2. Add れる to make the passive form.
Conjugation & examples
Usage: Person は Actor に Act (Action+Verb) におをたべられる I had my candy eaten by a friend. Let's conjugate the godan verb く/かく (to write):
Basic Examples
Before we start: かく
1. か -> か
2. かか -> かかれる (written by)

Now let's conjugate the verb べる/たべる (to eat), which is an ichidan verb:
Basic Examples
Before we start: たべる
1. たべ -> たべら
2. たべ -> たべられる (eaten by)
Where this grammar is found


User notes
 
A does B
The passive form can be used as an honorific form, so A would be someone above the speaker (boss, customer, etc.)
  1. Be A-ed (Passive tense), when the action is directed at the subject.
    When included, the agent of the action is marked with に
  2. A is done, A happens
    The action is not usually directed at the subject, but has a negative/undesirable connotation.
  3. A does B
    The passive form can be used as an honorific form, so A would be someone above the speaker (boss, customer, etc.)
1
          
He drove.
1
            
Mr. Tanaka sang.

Getting the sentences
Construction
(Elements in parentheses are optional.)
ANoun
は/が
BVerb: Passive
Basic Examples:
かれます (the boss goes)

Where this grammar is found


User notes
avatar
サイノ
Level: 204
(21 days ago)

This might help a little to differentiate honorific and passive:

Intransitive verb CANNOT be used in passive tense, but CAN be in the 2nd (negative connotation) and 3rd (honorific speech) usage.

2

Discussion about this grammar
avatar
Level: 1
What does うけみ (a unique furigana reading) at the top left of the page mean?
2
13 years ago
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fareastfurfaro
Level: 1
うけみ is passive voice in Japanese. The unique furigana reading just means that it's not a normal reading for these kanji. If I had no idea, I would have guessed じゅしん or something for this combination. Or is that not what you were asking?
4
13 years ago
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Level: 1
Thanks for your answer, but that's not exactly what I was asking.
Maybe it's just me, but I don't see any kanji right there. うけみ is just floating in the air somewhere around (Passive).
1
13 years ago
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fareastfurfaro
Level: 1
Oh, I can see the kanji. Michael!
0
13 years ago
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Level: 1
Michael seems to be away...
I think I've somehow managed to find it through the grammar library page. It's , right?
What browser do you use? Seems like only my Chrome doesn't display the kanji...
0
13 years ago
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fareastfurfaro
Level: 1
I'm using Chrome actually, strange. And yeah, that's the correct kanji.
0
13 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 256
Can you get a screenshot for me?
0
13 years ago
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Level: 1
Yep, here you are:
http://screencast.com/t/TrXQvbMh8Y
0
13 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 256
You're not on Chrome/Windows by chance, are you?
0
13 years ago
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Level: 1
Yes I am, how do you know? Chrome and Windows 7.
0
13 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 256
Chrome and Windows have...issues with certain Japanese text. It's a browser (and not site) bug, unfortunately. Let's see if this is the case - can you try on another browser on the same system?
0
13 years ago
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fareastfurfaro
Level: 1
Interesting. I'm on Chrome and Windows 7 and I have no problem. えりこ, is your browser in English mode or is it set to Japanese (mine is)?
0
13 years ago
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Level: 1
Tried on Firefox and IE 8, and no problem. Seems like it's really a browser bug.

My browser was originally in English mode. But even after changing it to Japanese mode, I still can't see any kanji: http://img690.imageshack.us/i/unbenanntwkv.jpg/
fareastfurfaro, do you use Chrome's version 10 (as I do)?
0
13 years ago
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Geckomayhem
Level: 1
I have the same bug: Chrome and Windows 7 and there is no kanji there, next to Passive. Strange.
1
13 years ago
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Level:
Firefox 17.0: [IMG]http://i47.tinypic.com/2n0muzr.png[/IMG]
1
11 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 256
Should be good now.
3
11 years ago
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Level:
Looks good. I suppose I'm not seeing the kanji since I haven't learned them yet on the site?
0
11 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 256
Yep - it's based on your kanji study settings (same as example sentences).
2
11 years ago
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Tanooki
Level: 13
Can you combine verbs in passive tense? Like べてみる Would it be べられてみる? Or would you change the miru too? Etc... Thanks!
0
11 years ago
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できるだけ
Level: 28
Yes, that's grammatically fine (though I'm not sure in what situation you'd say べられてみる  ;) ). Things like われてみれば are very common, though!
0
11 years ago
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マドゥリ
Level: 1
Does the so-called 'suffering passive' form come under any of the above categories? As far as I understood it, it needs an を before the passive verb - like かばんをまれました - and I don't see that in any of the patterns.
0
11 years ago
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mysticfive
Level: 1573
nope, if you're talking about the 'my bag was stolen,' like in your sentence there, it still uses が ー まれました would be correct there. It's just like in the English: My bag *was taken* - English passive voice.
1
11 years ago
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Shadd
Level: 1
Small correction to make, at the start of section 2. Conjugating the verbs (godan part): "Change the last character from it's 'u' form" should be "Change the last character from its 'u' form" (it's->its). :)
2
10 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 256
Fixed, thanks!
0
10 years ago
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Dabas
Level: 17

Some of the questions in the N4 area that exercise the passive form require knowledge of use of particles with the passive.

It would be nice if this page also had usage notes as to which particles are used in the passive form.


For example:

ひどい  ふぶき で  、  は  に  された 

I cannot find why the は-に is the correct answer to this question

0
7 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 256

In this case, there is a mix of two particle usages. The は is indeed described on the grammar page as the thing being acted upon - in this case, the road. The に however, isn't really part of the passive usage - it is the に usage for when you are changing something, like

にする (make it black)

オフにする (make/turn it off)

にする (make it easy/simple)


so, the めにされる is the passive form of めにする, or "to close to traffic", or "to make impassible by traffic" (sorry, the "perfect" English isn't coming to me at the moment).


I hope this helps!

0
7 years ago
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|マルコ|
Level: 110

I think the passive used as honorific speech is missing here :)

1
4 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 256

Thanks! Working in Japan, you hear that about 1000 times a day.

2
4 years ago
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|マルコ|
Level: 110

I think this page having 5 grammar points is making too many subtle distinctions that are making the learning of this harder because they add mental burden for something for which the distinction is not very clear.
I suggest redoing this page ^_^'
This is how I would present it:

1/3 Direct passive

Someone or something is/was/will be A'd. Note: (In direct passive, the verb is always transitive)

Example:
された。
Ichiro was deceived by Hanako.


2/3 Indirect passive

A
is affected (often in a negative way) by B doing action C. Note: (the verb is not directly affecting A)

Example:
マイコーはにビールをまれた。(negative)
Michael was annoyed by Taro's drinking beer.

さんはられてニコニコしている。(positive)
Literally: Mr. Takayama, having a pretty woman sit beside him, is smiling happily. (= A pretty woman sat beside Mr. Takayama and he is happy.))


3/3 Honorific passive
A does B. The passive form can be used as an honorific form, so A would be someone above the speaker (boss, customer, etc.)


Example:
されました。
He drove.

-------------

- Most examples are from DoBJG


0
2 years ago
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マイコー
Level: 256

Thanks for the suggestions. So, the original separations were made after referencing other grammar texts in addition to the DoBJG series. I cannot recall which, but one that I used many years ago explicitly split them apart simply because passive (even in ones native language) is so hard, that making assumptions and saying "oh, the user can see that there are actually two different uses in here" is somewhat dangerous.

Your 3/3 is already separate, so no need to consider that one.

For 1/3, I'd be in the most favor of blending these two. This looks like #1 and #2 on the current list of meanings

For 2/3, though, I feel like these are pretty different. (#3 and #4) #3 is dealing with some action taking place, without any nuance attached to it. #4 is specifically negative, and brings in a third party (unrelated to the action) and shows a negative effect on that third party (usually I).

So, once we finish this discussion, I'll be happy to blend #1/2. I don't feel convinced on #3/#4, though.

1
2 years ago
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|マルコ|
Level: 110

So, once we finish this discussion, I'll be happy to blend #1/2. I don't feel convinced on #3/#4, though.

ok, I've noticed something about point #3 - the whole separation hinges on the fact that the Agent (the one doing the action and marked by に/から) is not mentioned, and the example sentence for that point is られました。
But that sentence is an example of Direct Passive since it's using a transitive verbs, and it matches perfectly the description of my point 1/3 which is "Someone or something is/was/will be A'd. Note: (In direct passive, the verb is always transitive)"
, so we could simply add the note to 1/3 that the Agent (the one that does the verb) can be omitted.
So the sentence I had brought as an example for 1/3 could be
に/から)された。and the sentence currently in #3 would be (ホンダに/から)られました。(omitted Agent in parenthesis)

On that basis, making a distinction on 3 simply because something got omitted, considering that japanese already had the habit of omitting stuff (particles etc...) in many grammar points, seems excessive to me, a note on point 1/3 would be more than enough to remember that, I think :)

1
2 years ago
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Can someone please explain how the verb る would be used in passive form? I am a new student but have fallen down a conjugation rabbit hole and have seen the use of られる but am having trouble wrapping my head around how something can be ‘slept.’ Does anyone have an example? Thank you!

0
10 months ago
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マイコー
Level: 256

It wouldn't be passive in the sense that you're thinking of - rather, note that one of the usages of the passive voice in Japanese it to note an undesirable situation. So, it could be used in that situation so show that someone is sleeping and you're not too happy with it.

0
10 months ago
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