Lesson 79 - PASSIVE Form in Japanese (V-rareru)

The passive form is used to emphasize the direct object, or when the doer of the action is unknown. Ex: The money was stolen. In Japanese, there are 2 kinds of passive sentences: direct and indirect (also called “suffering passive”). Direct passive sentences use transitive verbs (e.g., eat, drink, see). Ex: The cake will be eaten by the children. On the other hand, suffering passive sentences can use transitive or intransitive verbs. The idea of the suffering passive is that someone did something to a person and that person is now upset. Ex: I was rained on. The passive conjugation of ru-dropping verbs is also the conjugation for potential/ability. Ex: “Taberaremasu” can mean “will be eaten” or “can eat.” The correct meaning would now depend on the context. Verbs conjugated in the passive and used in regular sentence structure are honorifics. All passive forms behave as ru-dropping verbs and can combine with other modalities/conjugations.
Examples:
• Direct Passive: The cake will be eaten by the children.　ケーキは子供達に食べられます。
• Indirect Passive: My brother ate my pizza and I’m upset.　私は弟にピザを食べられました。
• 寿司を食べられましたか。1) Ability - Were you able to eat sushi? 2) Honorific - Did you eat sushi? (addressed to a superior) 3) Suffering Passive - Did someone else eat your sushi?
• Passive + don’t want to: 僕は君に言われたくない。 (I don’t want to be told by you.)
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