Verb passive form

[Passive Form]

Connection: Verb passive form

The passive form expresses that the subject receives an action rather than performs it. Japanese has three types of passive: direct passive, indirect/suffering passive, and honorific passive.

Conjugation Table:

| Verb Group | Rule | Examples | |------------|------|----------| | Group 1 (五段) | Change u-sound → あれる | 書く → 書かれる (be written)<br>読む → 読まれる (be read)<br>話す → 話される (be spoken)<br>買う → 買われる (be bought) | | Group 2 (一段) | Change る → られる | 食べる → 食べられる (be eaten)<br>見る → 見られる (be seen) | | Irregular | Memorize | する → される (be done)<br>くる → こられる (be come to) |

Three Types of Passive:

1. Direct Passive (same as English):

• 本が読まれた (The book was read)
• この歌は世界中で歌われている (This song is sung all over the world)

2. Indirect/Suffering Passive (unique to Japanese):

• Someone is affected by an action (often negatively)
• 雨に降られた (I was rained on [suffered from rain])
• 友達に来られて困った (My friend came [and it was inconvenient for me])

3. Honorific Passive:

• Used to show respect (same form as passive)
• 先生が話されました (The teacher spoke [honorific])
• 社長が言われた (The president said [honorific])

Examples: この本は多くの人に読まれています。(This book is read by many people.) 昨日、雨に降られて困りました。(Yesterday I got rained on and was troubled.) 先生は何と言われましたか。(What did the teacher say? [honorific])