How to use the passive form to say "This flower was watered."

Question

I would like to use the passive form in describing the fact that a flower has been watered.

Is この花は水をやられた correct? What difference does この花は水がやられた make or would that be incorrect?

A brief explanation of the use of が in passive phrases would also be appreciated.

Answer 1

We would say neither:

「この花は水をやられた。」

nor

「この花は水がやられた。」

for two reasons. These "sentences" sound far more unnatural and awkward to native speakers than you could probably imagine.

Reason 1:

While the "grammatical" passive-voice form of 「やる」 is certainly 「やられる」, the latter generally has a fairly negative connotation. "To have something undesirable done (to you)" is the usual meaning/nuance of 「やられる」.

Reason 2:

Inanimate subject -- 「この花」. It is not nearly as common in Japanese as it is in English.　Japanese-learners tend to use the inanimate subject in Japanese because they tend to translate directly from their native languages.

Thus, while "This flower was watered." is a perfectly natural English sentence, its literal counterpart 「この花は水をやられた。」 is not a sentence native Japanese-speakers would ever form under normal circumstances. It is that off. It sounds as if it were a big mistake to water that particular plant.

So, how would we say "This flower was watered."? I would use the unmentioned "I" and say:

「この花には（もう）水がやってある。」 or

「この花には（もう）水をやりました。」

Notice both are in active-voice. The passive-voice simply would not work here unless you wanted a stiff, wordy and unnatural sentence like:

「この花はすでに水を与{あた}えられています。」

You would sound like a robot (or Google Translate) if you said that.

A brief explanation of the use of が in passive phrases would also be appreciated.

This is what I take you to be talking about.

「Aは + Bが + [passive-voice verb]」

means:

"As for A, B has been ~~." ← B is part of A.

You can say things like:

「私は肝臓{かんぞう}がやられている。」 = "As for me, my liver is damaged."

↑ That is how you use 「やられる」.

「Aさんの家は、台風{たいふう}で屋根{やね}が吹{ふ}き飛{と}ばされてしまった。」 = "As for A's house, its roof has been blown off by the typhoon."

Answer 2

You should say この花には水がやってある or この花は水がやってある.
But この花は水をやられた and この花は水がやられた may be grammatically correct.
この花は水がやられた may sound like another flower may be poured a kind of liquid apart from water to.

私は腕を掴まれた。
私は腕が掴まれた。

Both mean “My arm was caught.” But second one sounds like Another one’s leg or hand may have been caught.