Questions tagged [passive-voice]
受動態. Verb forms with the affix -(r)are-. Besides the passive meaning, this morpheme also has spontaneous, honorific, and potential meanings.
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Which form is the correct causative-passive 聞く?
There is an exercise in スピードマスターN4 to put verbs in the causative-passive form:
つまらない話を（聞いて）、眠くなった。
The answer key says the correct form should be 聞かされて. While, for example, JLPT Sensei lists it as ...
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How does たり + される work?
In a particular story, one character is getting tortured, and his friend, who was betrayed by him, says this:
普通敵にしたりされるようなことを友達にされるってのはどんな気分だ?
I can infer that the speaker is saying something along ...
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What does passive されてはねぇ means?
彼に迫る上であなたは利用価値が高い
こんなところで脱落されてはねぇ
"I can't allow you to be desert me"? or is ね particle? Why the passive?
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させられない: Causative passive or causative + potential?
そういう作業を彼にさせられないし そもそもこいつに出来る気がしない
My understand of the sentence is "I cannot let that guy handle that kind of job. To be begin with, I don't feel like he could do it."
させられる read as ...
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What does verb + 損 mean?
ただの殺され損ではないか
I'm stumbled on this meaning here. By context I can gather it seems to be akin as "Being killed is just a disadvantage, isn't it?" but why 殺され損?
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Why is passive used here? [duplicate]
珍しいですね 聖さんがお酒を飲まれるなんて
Sei who normally doesn't drink gets angry and starts drinking a lot of wine. The speaker is a maid and she thinks Sei is happy instead and says that.
I would have used 飲む. I ...
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What's the function of であられる?
I came across another confusing Japanese translation of the Qur'an. Here's the Arabic text:
قُلۡ هُوَ اللّٰهُ اَحَدٌ (the Qur'an chapter 112 verse 1)
Here's the English translation:
Say, He is ...
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"を奪{うば}われた" used incorrectly instead of "が奪{うば}われた"? (Bleach) [duplicate]
In Bleach Sennen Kessen-hen (S01,E04), (slight spoilers) captains have an ability called Bankai. They thought that the enemy could seal this ability. But as KB realizes, the enemy actually steals this ...
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Is "Watashitachi wa, donna shigoto wo shimasu ka" the best way to ask "what kind of job are we going to do?" in a job interview?
How could I ask "what kind of job are we going to do" in a Japanese job interview?
I could just simply use something like:
Watashitachi wa, donna shigoto wo shimasu ka
But for me it doesn'...
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Understanding "何が釣れましたか"
「何が釣れましたか」 evidently means "what were you able to catch (while fishing)?" in the context of https://youtu.be/7bLVtR7IgUo?t=172 at 2m52s.
But 釣れました ("was able to catch") is the ...
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Use of this passive in this sentence
上体だけを起き上がらせ、壁に身を預けていた彼の顔が落胆したように伏せられる。
Why would he use the passive for 伏せられる。? Is it because the narrator is "receiving" the 伏せられる? He's describing a character he's looking at
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Use of 多い to modify the noun in this sentence
そんなこんなで彼岸花には縁起でもなかったり『死』のイメージが強く、煙たがられることが圧倒的に多い花なのだ。
煙たがられることが圧倒的に多い花なのだ。
What exactly is the grammar of this sentence? It cannot be "numerous flowers" but it has to be "numerous ...
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Are these sentences of 思われる transformed from those of 思う natural?
The answers and comments of my question Understanding of a sentence from Death Note make me think about the use of 思われる and the particles before it. And I've read some questions about it:
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よう+とする in this sentece [duplicate]
I'm reading the book 魔女の宅急便 and this sentece show up.
目でそれを追いかけたキキは、オレンジ色の浮きぶくろに乗った坊やとジジが、大きな波にひきこまれようとしているのを見ました。
Now, I have always problem to understand the よう+とする pattern, but generally I ...
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る dropped from passive form? [duplicate]
I'm currently translating some song lyrics for my own understanding (境界線 by Amazarashi) - I had some confusion on the following line:
境界線の向こう側で 忘れ去られ
終わる定め そう知りながら
屈服することを 許さぬあの声は
かつての戦友か 己の心か
Per ...
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Parsing XをYにと請われた
ダンブルドアを大臣にと請われたんだがな、... (Japanese TL)
They wanted Dumbledore fer (for) minister ... (original Harry Potter)
The grammar of this sentence confuses me. Is 請う in passive form, or is this honorific? ...
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Use of Passive form + てみる
男が、そんなこと言われてみろ。一、二もなく、なついちまう
How to take the 言われてみろ?
"A guy being told that" + "try being"?
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Meaning of を with ようになる? [duplicate]
小学生の高学年の頃から、二人は関係を揶揄われるようになった。
What could this mean? Isn't ~ようになる intransitive?
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Why use 用いる and not 用いられる? Who’s the subject?
Source: 類語例解辞典
「または」は、二つのもののうちの一方を捨てて一方だけをとる場合や、どちらでもよいという許容を表わす場合に用いる。
So the subject of 用いる is the generic “one/you/people” or is it “we, the Japanese people”? I may have overthought this but I ...
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the が in 目が抉られるような痛み
目が抉られるような痛み
how would it change if i changed it to を? what the difference in nuance?
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Long sentence: passive form, subject, 前に and 後
So, I have 2 questions about this passage (a dialogue in chapter 11 of Tobira):
信長は日本統一のために室町幕府の将軍に会おうとして、京都の本能寺とういお寺に泊まっていたんだ。そこに明智が攻めてきて殺されそうになったから、自分で切腹して死んだんだよ。死ぬ前に、燃えるお寺の中で能を舞った後にね。
The use of ...
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why is this verb passive in this sentence?
まるで耳元で鳴かれているかのようだった。
Why is that? How would it change if i just said 鳴いている?
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Particle usage of transitive verb in the passive form (～を占める → ～で占められている)
店内は、外見のぼろっちさと同じように、古めかしい洗濯機や乾燥機で占められていた。
Looking at some example sentences of 占める, it's almost always in the natural form and the particle を is used to describe the direct object, and the particle で ...
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Do the passive forms of godan verbs have any sense of potentiality?
According to this answer https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/60055/55243
both the passive and potential sense of ichidan verbs derive from the root sense of "without someone's will".
It ...
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Why do we distinguish the spontaneous (自発) and passive (受身) forms?
Why do textbooks view 自発 and 受身 as two distinct forms?
Example:
[受身]: 誰かがりんごを食べる --> 誰かにりんごが食べられた
[自発]: 彼女が両親のことを思い出す --> 彼女に両親のことが思い出される
Grammatically, both forms take the noun marked by を, ...
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What does に indicate in "運転手に重大な過失は認められなかった"?
The following excerpt is from a reading comprehension exercise (page 214 of TRY! 日本語能力試験 N2 文法から伸ばす日本語).
交差点で車同士が衝突する事故が起きた。事故原因の調査では、運転手に重大な過失は認められなかった。
Is it correct to recognize 認められなかった as the (...
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This sentence 「君は何かに足をかじられたんだね」 looks really weird
I know the meaning of
「君は何かに足をかじられたんだね」
is "Something has bitten your leg" but is this sentence grammatically correct? (Probably yes because it's quoted from a book...)
But for me this ...
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How is the passive being used here? 「勝手な行動をとられると困るわ」
There is a conversation in the anime Darling in the franxx, and a higher up is telling this sentence to Zero Two so that she won’t go off acting on her own:
勝手な行動を取られると困るわ
My first guess would be ...
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Is it wrong to say お姉ちゃんに私のケーキを食べられた instead of 私はお姉ちゃんにケーキを食べられた ? (Passive voice)
I'm trying to better grasp the passive voice in Japanese based on these four sentences. So far I can tell that the first sentence is direct passive and the second and third one indirect passive.
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Confused about object of 迎える in this sentence
I am currently on lesson 9 of Japan Foundation's まるごと B1-1. There is a text about a woman celebrating Christmas for the first time at her American partner's home. It begins with the sentence "...
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Meaning of ご帰還あそばれなされた [duplicate]
Full sentence:
「俺様がご帰還あそばれなされたぞ！」
I think this sentence means something alike to: "I have returned!"
My main problem with this sentence is the usage of あそばれなされた.
From my understanding, this ...
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How to understand 取り上げ方をされており in a sentence
話し言葉によく現れる「なんか」は、日本語教育では中級以上の学生を対象としたテキストの会話文で取りあげられていることが多く、 「なんか」という語は辞書、文法書によって様々な取り上げ方をされており、その用法については「など」の口頭語として説明されたり、 「など」と同様に扱われているのが普通である。
Often occurring in spoken language, the word なんか is ...
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Understanding 軍服に着られた
威嚇のつもりかアサルトライフルを抱えた兵を二人も従えて、いかにも軍服に着られた貧相な士官が顎をしゃくる。どうでもいいが、後ろの兵のライフルは安全装置がかかったままで、しかも初弾が装塡されていない。それぞれの立ち位置も近すぎるから、やろうと思えば撃たせる前に全員制圧できる。意味がないのでやらないが。
86─エイティシックス─
安里アサト
Why is the bold part passive ...
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Using passive voice with transitive and intransitive verbs
What's the difference between using the passive voice with a transitive and an intransitive verb?
Take the examples:
パソコンがこわれられた ｖｓ パソコンをこわされた
(PS: I don't know if the particles I used in the ...
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why is passive used in this sentence instead of normal verb?
腰まで伸びたブロンドの髪が風になびかれサラサラと揺れていた。
靡く(なびかれ) is used in this sentence in the passive form. It means "bend" and it's an intransitive verb. So why is it in the passive form in this sentence? Why ...
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「ぶられる」とは「ぶる」の受動態？ What does it mean to be ぶる-ed? [duplicate]
I can't find a related discussion, not here, not on the Internet at large, so I am surprised this seemingly hasn't been asked or discussed.
純真ぶるのはやめろ。この数週間、僕たちはいつ情熱的なキスを交わしてもおかしくなかった。君もそれはわかっているはずだ。...
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Why are もらう、習う、教わる、借りる and 聞くthe only transitive verbs that behave like they are in passive conjugation? Is there a name for this category of verb?
もらう、習う、教わる、借りる and 聞く (in its "to hear from" meaning) and their honorifics I'm pretty sure are the only verbs where に and から are somewhat interchangeable in their active form, in that に ...
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Can「される」mean「させられる」?
Recently, I looked up「気が引ける」in 旺文社国語辞典
きがひける【気が引ける】
うしろめたい感じがして気おくれする。遠慮される。
It's odd to me that「遠慮する」is written in passive. I thought it was a typo at first then it occurred to me this「される」can be ...
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Xに 配られた = Distribute by/to X? [duplicate]
I came across this sentence on Tatoeba:
新しい毛布が貧民に配られた。
New blankets were distributed to the poor.
My question is, why doesn't this mean "distributed by the poor"? Why doesn't に here ...
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その小説には、夫に先に死なれた妻の悲しみが丁寧に書かれていた。
その小説には、夫に先に死なれた妻の悲しみが丁寧に書かれていた。
I was always taught that in a passive sentence like the one written above, the DOER in the action is marked by に, So in the case above the doer is the husband, correct? ...
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Do verbs in て form inherit the intransitivity of the main verb?
I'm trying to parse the sentence below.
みんなに見つめられて、困った。
Book translation: I didn't know what to do because everyone was staring at me
Here's my reasoning:
The sentence is in indirect passive because ...
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Ambiguity between potential causative and passive causative
I have this thought from time to time when I am trying to express an English thought in Japanese. Perhaps the sentence itself is unnatural so let me know.
It seems like we can make him come (to a ...
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Does the construction を言われたんだと mean that 'we told you something' or 'you said something'?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBXyC7cgfVI
Eri Tokunaga:
今、自分の発言の真意、あるいは説明不足の点を言われたんだと思いますけれども、大臣、もしそうだとしたら、なぜそのペーパーを見て発言しなければいけないのか分かりません。
御自分の説明をしているんですから、御自分の言葉で答えていただきたいと思いますが、いかがでしょうか。
Here is ...
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Is 売られる the potential form of 売る?
I came across this sentence:
米はキロ単位で売られる。
The translation given was "Rice is sold by the kilogram." I assume that 売られる's meaning is more like "is sold" or "to be sold" ...
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Change into intransitive form
How will the following sentence be written using intransitive verb. Will the verb 建てる use が or を
うちの前に高いビルを建てました。
Will it be:
うちの前に高いビルが建てられて日当たりが悪くなりました。
Or
うちの前に高いビルを建てられて日当たりが悪くなりました。
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Indirect Objects in Passive Sentences (Is に Ambiguous)
For verbs that typically use に in the dative sense (indirect object) like 送る (for example 手紙を先生に送った), is there any ambiguity in the function of に when the verb is used in the passive? For example, ...
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Function of に here?
Found this sentence:
両親が死んだというのに、悲しもうとすらしない俺に向けられる目が。クズみたいなニートに向けられる目、敵意。軽蔑。
That に in 「悲しもうとすらしない俺に向けられる目が」is acting as the indirect object or is it marking the doer? Since it's a passive sentence.
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Is the construction [されて終わりだ] grammatically correct?
I've found it in a parody website novel:
のそのそしてる間に攻撃されて終わりだよ。
I tried to separate grammatically 攻撃されて終わりだ, but it's seems wrong to me:
Passive voice in the て form + Aux-verb in the ます stem + だ ...
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する verbs with a passive translation
裁判で彼の無罪が確定しました。
His innocence was decided at the trial.
First problem: even though I've translated this sentence I still don't understand its meaning. Does it mean that the person was found innocent? ...
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Particle に in passive sentences? あいつから、例の本が彼女に渡された
From what I understand the particle に marks the doer in passive voice sentences, but I found this one in a book:
あいつから、例の本が彼女に渡された。
The に particle here as a "marking the doer" doesn't make ...