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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How to differentiate ～られる conjugation between passive form and potential form?
For verbs of group 2, whose ～ます form is formed by dropping the ending ～る from the plain form, both the passive and potential forms have the same conjugation: ～られる. Example:
食べられる
1. to be eaten
...
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Passive-transitive-verb vs. Intransitive-verb （他動詞の受け身 vs. 自動詞)
I think I know the answer to this, but it still creeps up in my mind all the time; something I'd like to research more. I want to know technical differences as well as common usage.
When do you use ...
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Passive form - The exact difference between を and が
I've seen this question asked before, but i feel the answer didn't quite answer all my questions, so here goes.
Now, I am rather sure that this:
ケーキが食べられた
Means:
The cake was eaten. (by ...
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How to distinguish between passive and potential forms of the verb?
I've read that potential form of the ru-verb is formed by replacing る with られる, which is exactly the same for the passive form of ru-verbs. How can we tell the passive form and potential apart in this ...
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Meaning of volitional passive form
お姉ちゃんに何を言われようが、まる子はウキウキ気分なのであった。
What was said by her sister ???? but, Maruko felt cheerful.
I can't think of any way in which something which is passive can also be volitional. How do I understand ...
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How does one make potential passive in Japanese?
For ichidan verbs, potential form is made by changing the ru to rareru. The same is done to change them to passive.
e.g taberu -> taberareru (can eat; also, be eaten)
For godan verbs, potential is ...
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Fun with synonyms - "to grab/catch/capture"
Here's a question for you experts. I've actually asked this to my Japanese friends, but I want to see how you guys answer too.
Explain the differences in the following verbs and which one(s) appear ...
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Difference between passive form and てある
I'm confused about the difference between the passive form and the てある form.
飲み物はもう買ってあります。
The drinks have already been bought.
飲み物はもう買われました。
The drinks were already bought.
Are my translations ...
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How to interpret indirect passives?
While looking up some grammar points I stumbled across this paper which describes something that it calls "indirect passives". I can't think of anything similar in English, and I'm having ...
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Causative-Passive Verbs: Vせられる and Vされる
Looking at the answer to this question, it seems that both 行かせられる and 行かされる are valid forms of the causative-passive of 行く. I've only been taught the first usage, so I have a number of related ...
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私に言われても versus 私が言われても
I am aware that "言われる" means "to be told". My impression would be that "私に言われても" means "Even if I told you..." while "私が言われても" means "Even if I am told...".
But this site answer seems to suggest that ...
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Passive verb forms for intransitive verbs
Okay, so I'm confused about passive verbs.
From how I understand it, the verb is performed on the subject.
but how come you can say something like
明日の会議に行かれるんですか？
Are you going to tomorrow's ...
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Likely Sentences (Nuance in use of 〜てもらう vs Passive form)
Our professor gave us some problems where you are suppose to circle which statement the person is more likely to say. Below is an example.
おまわりさん
よく道を聞かれます。
よく道を聞いてもらいます。
I think this means ...
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発する, 罰する, 反する, etc. taking strange conjugation せられる for the passive form
I am sure this has been asked before, but due to this form's similarity to the causative-passive (e.g. 行かせられる), I simply cannot find anything except for some thick Japanese explanations complete with ...
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Does indirect passive allow for the を in "四方を海に囲まれる"
My textbook has this example:
四方を海に囲まれる。
Is it the indirect passive that allows for the を direct object marker to be used in that passive voice example?
This sentence matches my understanding of ...
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How to use the passive form to say "This flower was watered."
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 ...
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「を」 object marker in this 受身形{うけみけい} sentence [duplicate]
A native speaker told me that:
泥棒{どろぼう}に、お財布{さいふ} を 、盗{ぬす}まれた。
is correct.
However, I sure think that:
泥棒に、お財布 が 、盗まれた。
is correct.
Moreover, I am pretty sure that using the object marker, 「を」, in ...
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Causative-Potential or Causative-Passive
Does a verbal form like this exist.
I found this sentence while reading.
一体どこの誰に、今のこいつを黙らせられるっていうのか。
Or should I say, who the hell could be able to silence her.
I think the meaning is this, but ...
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The personal agent and indirect object in a passive sentence
I came across this sentence:
私はどんな動物に例えられるの？
And i was wondering how do you express the personal agent (the one who is doing the comparing) in this sentence? Are they also marked by に? Or does the ...
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How does うんざり work in the Present Indicative, Causative, Passive, and Causative-passive tenses
Consider the following:
そいつはひどく鼻持ちならないやつで、私をすっかりうんざりさせる。(That guy is so obnoxious that he really turns me off.)
あなたをうんざりさせるものは何ですか？(What turns you off?)
痛み以上に私をうんざりさせるものはない。(Nothing turns me off ...
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Grammar and meaning of 凝りに凝って出された
The author complains that when men cook they only put one dish (type of food) on the table:
なぜならその一品は、素材を選び抜いて、奮発して、時間をかけて、腕によりをかけて、凝りに凝って出された逸品なのだから。
If (you ask) why that one dish, it's because ...
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causative passive potential form
I've been reading into a little bit of more advanced grammar and am trying to get my head around the causative and the passive form. (yes yes N1 people. That's not actually advanced.)
The causative I ...
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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 初めて with the passive
I was wondering how a passive sentence like:
トムさんに話しかけられた。
Tom started talking (to me).
could be changed to express that it was the first time that it happened. My attempt was:
トムさんに話しかけられたのは、...
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Shorter Causative Form Popularity
How common is the shortened causative form, eg. 食べさす instead of 食べさせる.
Tae Kim says in his grammar guide (http://www.guidetojapanese.org/learn/grammar/causepass) that the shorter causative-passive ...
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What forms of verbs (potential or passive) are more frequent in Japanese?
A simple question to those speaking and the native ones. What of the two forms (potential verbs or passive voice verbs) in Japanese verbs is more frequent?
This question may seem strange, but I need ...
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two levels for teiru and rare
What would be the interpretation of verbs that have two levels of 'teiru' and 'rare' in them? I figure that the 'teiru' will be one for stative/perfective and the other for progressive, and the 'rare' ...
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がる passive form
In the following sentence, the verb がる appears to be used in passive form when the speaker is describing herself as a child:
私は少し奇妙がられる子供だった
What does がる indicate when used in passive form? ...
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Why can't passive be used to express dissatisfaction from somebody failing to do something?
From Genki II:
You cannot express your suffering from somebody failing to do something either, because you cannot add the passive suffix to an already negated verb. Therefore you cannot use the ...
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What does やられてる mean in this sentence?
I came across this line today which left me a bit confused:
彼らには子分を二人もやられてる。
The speaker is referring to men from a gang. I've struggled with the meaning of やる outside of its most basic usage, but ...
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Is there a good etymological reason why the potential form in Japanese requires the が particle?
Is there a good etymological reason why the potential form in Japanese requires the が particle?
When dealing with the -たい suffix, which also requires the -が particle for what in other languages would ...
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Why 気にされる instead of 気にする?
These two characters are discussing ヒューバート in the below, and about how he lacks self awareness. However I am not sure why 気にされる was used instead of 気にする here. I know that される can be used as an ...
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How to say “I let him do X to me”?
If I said “he did X to me,” I would probably say 彼にXされた. On the other hand, if I said “I let him do X,” I would say 彼にXさせた. But if I were to combine the two and say 彼にXさせられた, that would mean “he made ...
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Meaning of 小せェもんに縛られてる
Context: in a flashback, a Cuban boxer is thinking back to when he was in Cuba before seeking asylum (亡命) and migrating to America. He had just won a gold medal for his country in the Olympics.
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How to say "by ___"
How do I say an action was performed "by" someone?
For example:
I was rejected by him.
I was laughed at by him
Sorry if I'm not making sense.. basically when someone else does something to ...
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Difference between 〜に限らない and 〜に限られていない?
I'm a bit puzzled by the use of 〜に限らない vs 〜に限られていない. Here are example sentences from a textbook:
日本語を勉強している学生は、日本語専攻に限りません。
最近、プロの相撲の力士は日本人に限られていない。
These both mean "not limited to", and ...
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Subject and object of a passive sentence are interchangeable?
I am a bit confused with passive sentences in Japanese. For example, when I want to say "My back was pushed by someone on the train.", if I am correct, the Japanese version can be phrased in 2 ...
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What is the difference between 捕まえられた and 捕まった?
Consider the following sentences:
A: 私が警察に捕まえられた。
B: 私が警察に捕まった。
Both mean I was caught by the police.
Question
What is the difference between 捕まえられた and 捕まった ?
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逃げられた (full sentence)
A girl ties up a cat and puts it in the corner. She's not paying attention and it escapes. When she looks in the corner she sees the ropes, and she sees that the cat is gone, and she says "逃げられた".
Is ...
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Verbs which are more frequently used to built the honorific passive forms
I'd like to ask you a question about this honorific form. I will give an example as detailed as possible to make this question clear.
The verb yomu is often used in passive form to show respect:
...
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Combination of causative-passive and intransive verb with a direct object?
I am struggling to understand this sentence’s structure:
宿題を時間内に終わらせられなかった。
I think I get the idea of causative-passive as in “I was being made to finish the homework”. However, I noticed that we ...
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Differing explanations of 〜ところを
My textbook has this example sentence:
試験中、となりの人の答えを見ているところを先生に注意された。
The interpretation of this sentence hinges around ところを, and I'm not 100% sure what that means. The textbook simply indicates ...
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Why is the passive form used in this sentence?
The following sentence uses 感じられ which I understand to be the continuative passive form of the verb 感じる - "to feel". Why is this form used here?
たった１分がものすごく長く感じられ
時間は
はっきりとした悪意をもって
...
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Please help me understand 注がれた in this sentence and its conjugation
信じられないほど青い目、まるで淡いサファイアのようだ。その目がハリーを観察している。そして額の傷にじっと注がれた。
Why did they use passive form in this sentence and what does it mean when coming after noun + に ?
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Do you always need the passive voice when saying what happened to you?
For example if I wanted to say “He told me what I needed to know.”
would I say
彼に知らなきゃことを教えられた？
Or would it be something different?
And do I always need to use it if I’m telling someone what ...
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How to understand this use of "sareru" in 「植物が成長を妨げられる」?
What does this mean?
植物が成長を妨げられる。
Can I get a more detailed overlook of 貰わせる and rareru and saseru and all those things depending on whether wo ni ga or whatever is used. It's really frustrating ...
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Passive Verb + みる
A comment in one of my previous questions (Why is a verb in the past (た形) contradicted with ～ていない?) contained the following sentence (fragment?):
言われてみると不思議...。
I'm not entirely certain what this ...
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can 美化語{びかご} create implied subjects?
As mentioned in the Addressing strangers without knowing the name thread, 敬語{けいご} often communicates the implied actors in a sentence. The thread titled using 美化語 in 謙譲語 verb forms does not make sense,...
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Function of に in this passive construction
I understand the basics of the "suffering passive". For example, it's my understanding that in a sentence like 友達にビールを飲まれた, "tomodachi ni" marks the person who drank your beer.
ぼくにもんくいわれても困る
Who ...
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