Chapter 3 — The Passive Form

The passive form in Japanese does far more than its English counterpart. In English, the passive is a structural rearrangement — "the book was read" instead of "someone read the book" — used to shift focus or obscure the agent. Japanese has this function too, but it adds something English lacks entirely: the adversative passive, where the speaker expresses that they were negatively affected by someone else's action. A sentence like 雨に降られた literally means "I was rained on" — not a structural rearrangement, but a way of saying "it rained, and I suffered because of it." This construction has no English parallel and is one of the features that makes Japanese uniquely expressive.

The passive also appears constantly in everyday Japanese in ways that would sound stilted in English. Japanese speakers use the passive far more casually and frequently than English speakers do. Recognizing and parsing passive constructions is essential for comprehension at the N4 level and beyond.

3.1 Formation of the Passive Form

五段 Verbs

For 五段 verbs, change the final う-row sound to the corresponding あ-row sound, then add れる.

Note the special case: verbs ending in う change to わ (not あ) before れる. 買う becomes 買われる, not 買あれる. This is the same あ-row shift you already know from the ない-form (買わない), so it should be familiar.

一段 Verbs

For 一段 verbs, drop the final る and add られる.

Yes, the 一段 passive form is identical to the 一段 potential form. 食べられる can mean either "can eat" or "is eaten." This is addressed in Section 3.6.

Irregular Verbs

される is extremely common. Every する compound verb can be made passive: 説明される ("to be explained"), 注文される ("to be ordered"), りょうりされる ("to be cooked").

Passive Verbs Conjugate as 一段

Like potential verbs, all passive verbs — regardless of the original verb class — conjugate as 一段 verbs. This means their further conjugation is straightforward.

3.2 Direct Passive — Agent Marked with に

The most straightforward use of the passive parallels English passive constructions. The person or thing that performs the action (the agent) is marked with に.

Active:

先生が　学生を　ほめた。 "The teacher praised the student."

Passive:

学生が　先生に　ほめられた。 "The student was praised by the teacher."

The direct passive rearranges the perspective: the person affected by the action becomes the grammatical subject (marked with が or は), and the agent moves to に. The meaning is the same — only the focus shifts.

More examples:

この　本は　たくさんの　人に　読まれている。 "This book is read by many people."

その　えいがは　せかいじゅうで　見られている。 "That movie is watched all over the world."

わたしは　先生に　名前を　呼ばれた。 "I was called by name by the teacher."

ともだちに　しゃしんを　とられた。 "A photo was taken of me by my friend." / "My friend took a photo of me."

Direct passive is natural and common in Japanese. It is used more frequently than in English, particularly in news reporting and formal writing, where agentless constructions (the agent is simply omitted) are preferred.

新しい　えきが　つくられた。 "A new station was built."

かいぎで　あたらしい　けいかくが　決められた。 "A new plan was decided at the meeting."

3.3 Indirect / Adversative Passive (迷惑の受身)

This is the passive construction unique to Japanese. The indirect passive (also called the adversative passive or 迷惑の受身, めいわくのうけみ — "passive of annoyance") expresses that the speaker was negatively affected by someone else's action, even when that action was not directed at them.

雨に　降られた。 "I was rained on." (I got caught in the rain and it was unpleasant.)

Rain does not "rain on" someone as a deliberate action. The sentence does not mean that the rain targeted the speaker. It means the rain fell, and the speaker suffered because of it. English has no clean way to express this — "I was rained on" is awkward and unusual. In Japanese, this construction is completely natural and common.

More examples:

となりの　人に　たばこを　すわれた。 "The person next to me smoked (and it bothered me)."

The speaker was not the object of the smoking — the neighbor was smoking their own cigarette. But the speaker was negatively affected (by the smell, the secondhand smoke). The adversative passive encodes this suffering.

電車で　子どもに　泣かれた。（なかれた） "A child cried on the train (and I suffered because of it)."

夜中に　赤ちゃんに　泣かれて、ねられなかった。 "The baby cried in the middle of the night (and because of that), I couldn't sleep."

彼女に　さきに　帰られた。（かのじょ、さき） "My girlfriend went home before me (and I was bothered by it)."

ともだちに　急に　来られて、こまった。（きゅうに） "My friend came over suddenly (and it was inconvenient for me)."

In the adversative passive, the agent (the person whose action causes the suffering) is marked with に, just as in the direct passive. The key difference is structural: in the adversative passive, the subject (the sufferer) is often not the grammatical object of the original active sentence. The child's crying, the rain falling, the girlfriend leaving — none of these actions are performed on the speaker. The passive construction adds the speaker as an affected party.

This construction is essential for natural Japanese. It appears constantly in conversation, storytelling, and writing. When you see a passive construction where the subject does not seem to be the logical object of the verb, you are looking at an adversative passive. The correct interpretation is always: "X happened, and the subject suffered because of it."

3.4 Creation Passive — によって for Agent

When describing who created something — wrote a book, composed a song, built a building, painted a painting — Japanese uses によって（による）instead of に to mark the creator.

この　小説は　なつめそうせきによって　書かれた。 "This novel was written by Natsume Souseki."

この　きょくは　ゆうめいな　さっきょくかによって　作られた。 "This piece was composed by a famous composer."

あの　てらは　十三世紀に　たてられた。 "That temple was built in the thirteenth century." (agent omitted)

The distinction between に and によって is not always rigid, but the general principle is: に marks the agent of an action, while によって marks the creator or originator of something that continues to exist as a result. A book exists because its author wrote it; a temple stands because its builders constructed it. In these cases, によって is natural.

によって also appears in formal or academic writing for agents in general, even without the creation nuance. In news articles and academic papers, you may see によって used where casual speech would use に.

けいさつによって　はんにんが　つかまえられた。 "The criminal was caught by the police."

3.5 Passive in Everyday Speech

Japanese uses the passive in many situations where English would not. Understanding this tendency is important for comprehension, because you will encounter passive constructions far more often than your English instincts might predict.

Describing general practices and customs:

日本では　おこめが　たくさん　食べられている。 "In Japan, a lot of rice is eaten."

この　ことばは　わかい　人に　よく　使われている。 "This word is often used by young people."

Describing events and decisions (agent unimportant or unknown):

かいぎの　日が　決められた。 "The date of the meeting has been decided."

あたらしい　ルールが　作られた。 "A new rule was created."

In news and reporting:

さくねん、新しい　びょういんが　たてられた。 "A new hospital was built last year."

たいふうで　多くの　いえが　こわされた。 "Many houses were destroyed by the typhoon."

In all of these cases, the passive sounds natural and appropriate in Japanese, even though some of them might be rendered as active sentences in English. As a comprehension strategy, when you encounter a passive verb, ask yourself two questions: (1) What is the action? (2) Who or what is affected? The answers will give you the meaning.

3.6 一段 Passive = Potential: Context Disambiguates

As noted in Section 3.1, the passive form of 一段 verbs (食べられる, 見られる) is identical to the potential form. This is a real source of ambiguity, but in practice, context almost always makes the meaning clear.

この　レストランで　おすしが　食べられる。 "Sushi can be eaten at this restaurant." (potential — the topic is ability/possibility)

さかなが　ねこに　食べられた。 "The fish was eaten by the cat." (passive — に marks the agent)

When に marks an agent performing the action, the construction is passive. When the sentence describes ability or possibility with no agent, it is potential.

The ambiguity is one reason ら抜き言葉 (Chapter 1) continues to spread. When a speaker says 食べれる (ら抜き), it can only be potential. 食べられる retains the ambiguity. In speech, the ら抜き form functionally resolves the overlap.

In written Japanese, where ら抜き is less common, you must rely on context. The following clues help:

• Agent marked with に → passive (ねこに食べられた)
• No agent, describing capacity → potential (ここで食べられる)
• Adversative nuance (suffering) → passive (食べられて残念だ)
• Paired with が for the action target → likely potential (さかなが食べられる "can eat fish")

3.7 Reading Passage

先週の　月曜日、大きな　じしんが　あった。その　じしんで　多くの　たてものが　こわされた。えきも　つかえなくなって、電車が　止められた。

しんぶんに　よると、この　じしんは　ごぜん　三時ごろに　おきて、多くの　人が　よなかに　おこされた。ひがいは　おもに　海の　ちかくの　まちで　見られた。

ボランティアが　ぜんこくから　あつめられて、食べ物や　水が　とどけられた。あたらしい　ひなんじょも　つくられた。テレビの　ニュースで　この　じしんの　ことが　毎日　つたえられている。

「まだ　じしんが　こわいです。夜中に　また　大きな　おとに　おこされるかもしれないと　思うと、なかなか　ねられません」と、ある　じゅうみんは　はなした。

Translation:

Last Monday, there was a large earthquake. Many buildings were damaged by the earthquake. The station also became unusable, and trains were stopped.

According to the newspaper, this earthquake occurred around 3 a.m., and many people were woken up in the middle of the night. Damage was mainly observed in towns near the sea.

Volunteers were gathered from across the country, and food and water were delivered. New shelters were also set up. News about this earthquake continues to be reported on television every day.

"I am still afraid of earthquakes. When I think that I might be woken up by a loud sound in the middle of the night again, I can hardly sleep," said one resident.

Reading Passage 2 — むかしばなし：つるの　おんがえし

Read the following retelling of a famous Japanese legend, narrated in the passive voice.

日本には「つるの　おんがえし」という　むかしばなしが　あります。この　お話は　日本じゅうで　知られています。

むかし、あるところに　おじいさんが　いました。ある　さむい　冬の　日、おじいさんに　よって、一羽の　つるが　たすけられました。つるは　わなに　はさまれていたのです。

その　夜、おじいさんの　家に　わかい　おんなの　人が　たずねてきました。おんなの　人は　おじいさんに　とめてもらいました。つぎの　日から、おんなの　人に　よって　うつくしい　ぬのが　おられました。その　ぬのは　まちで　たかい　ねだんで　買われました。

しかし、おじいさんは　おんなの　人に　「おっている　あいだは、けっして　見ないでください」と　言われていました。ある　日、おじいさんは　がまんできなくなって、へやを　のぞいてしまいました。なかで　見られたのは、つるが　自分の　はねを　ぬいて　ぬのを　おっている　すがたでした。

ひみつを　見られた　つるは、「もう　ここには　いられません」と　言って、空へ　飛んでいきました。

Translation

In Japan, there is a folktale called "The Crane's Return of a Favor." This story is known throughout Japan.

Long ago, in a certain place, there lived an old man. One cold winter day, a crane was saved by the old man. The crane had been caught in a trap.

That night, a young woman came to visit the old man's house. The woman was allowed to stay by the old man. From the next day, beautiful cloth was woven by the woman. The cloth was bought at a high price in town.

However, the old man had been told by the woman, "While I am weaving, please never look." One day, the old man could not resist any longer and peeked into the room. What was seen inside was the figure of a crane plucking its own feathers and weaving cloth.

The crane, whose secret had been seen, said "I can no longer stay here" and flew away into the sky.

Notes on the passage

つる（鶴）— "crane" (the bird). A symbol of good fortune in Japanese culture.

おんがえし（恩返し）— "returning a favor." A common theme in Japanese folktales.

わな（罠）— "trap." はさまれる is the passive of はさむ ("to catch, to squeeze").

ぬの（布）— "cloth, fabric." おる（織る）means "to weave."

けっして〜ないでください — "please never..." けっして with a negative means "absolutely not."

のぞく — "to peek." おじいさんは がまんできなくなって — "the old man could no longer endure it."

はね（羽）— "feather." ぬく（抜く）means "to pluck, to pull out."

3.8 Vocabulary List