Direct Passive

Direct Passive

Direct passive (直接受身) is when the grammatical subject directly receives an action. This is similar to English passive voice: the thing acted upon becomes the sentence subject.

Active: 先生が学生を褒めた
"Teacher praised student"

Passive: 学生が先生に褒められた
"Student was praised by teacher"

Subject receives action
Agent marked by に
Standard passive structure

Formation

Basic conjugation

る-verbs: Drop る, add られる
食べる → 食べられる "be eaten"
見る → 見られる "be seen"

う-verbs: Change to あ-form, add れる
書く → 書かれる "be written"
読む → 読まれる "be read"
呼ぶ → 呼ばれる "be called"

Irregular:
する → される "be done"
来る → 来られる "be come to"

Regular patterns
Predictable formation

Particle Changes

Key transformations

Active sentence:
AがBを[verb]
"A does [verb] to B"

Passive sentence:
BがAに[verb]られる
"B is [verb]ed by A"

を → が (object becomes subject)
が → に (agent marked by に)

Particle shift crucial
Structural transformation

With Transitive Verbs

Most common usage

Active:
警察が犯人を捕まえた
"Police caught criminal"

Passive:
犯人が警察に捕まえられた
"Criminal was caught by police"

Transitive verbs natural in passive
Direct object becomes subject
Agent becomes に phrase

Agent Omission

Often implicit

この本は1950年に書かれた
"This book was written in 1950"

Agent not mentioned
Focus on book
Who wrote it unclear or unimportant

日本語が話されています
"Japanese is spoken"

Agent irrelevant
General statement
Common pattern

Common Uses

Descriptions

この建物は1900年に建てられた
"This building was built in 1900"

富士山は多くの人に愛されている
"Mt. Fuji is loved by many people"

日本語は世界中で学ばれている
"Japanese is studied around the world"

Factual descriptions
Historical information
General truths

Formal announcements

会議は3時に開かれます
"Meeting will be held at 3 o'clock"

試験は来週行われます
"Exam will be conducted next week"

Formal writing
Official statements
Professional contexts

Adversity Nuance

Sometimes unfortunate

Even direct passive can carry adversity:

私の財布が盗まれた
"My wallet was stolen"

彼は会社をクビにされた
"He was fired from company"

Negative situations
Unfortunate events
Victim perspective

With に as Agent

Marking doer

学生が先生に褒められた
"Student was praised by teacher"

泥棒が警察に捕まった
"Thief was caught by police"

に marks agent
Who performed action
Can be omitted if clear

Formality

More formal than active

Passive voice:
Generally more formal
Common in writing
Professional contexts

Active voice:
More direct
Common in speech
Everyday conversation

Passive = formal register
Choose appropriately

With される (from する)

Suru-verb passives

勉強する → 勉強される
"be studied"

利用する → 利用される
"be used"

開催する → 開催される
"be held"

Common pattern
Many compounds
Productive form

Potential Confusion

られる has multiple meanings

食べられる can mean:

1. "Can eat" (potential)
彼は納豆が食べられる
"He can eat natto"

2. "Be eaten" (passive)
魚が猫に食べられた
"Fish was eaten by cat"

Context determines
Particle pattern helps

With Inanimate Subjects

Things as subjects

その問題は簡単に解かれた
"That problem was easily solved"

新しい法律が作られた
"New law was made"

この歌は多くの人に歌われている
"This song is sung by many people"

Common pattern
Things receiving actions
Focus on object

Continuous Action

With ている

この製品は世界中で使われている
"This product is used worldwide"

日本語は何人に勉強されていますか
"By how many people is Japanese studied?"

Current ongoing state
Habitual action
Present relevance

Cannot Use with Intransitive

Only transitive verbs

❌ Cannot make passive:
行く "go" (intransitive)
来る "come" (intransitive)
寝る "sleep" (intransitive)

These have no direct object
Cannot become passive subject
Grammatically impossible

Exception: Indirect passive uses these
Different structure

Negative Passive

Not being done

その提案は受け入れられなかった
"That proposal was not accepted"

試験は延期されなかった
"Exam was not postponed"

Negative formation
Standard conjugation

Past Passive

Was done

手紙が書かれた
"Letter was written"

会議が開かれた
"Meeting was held"

Past tense
Completed action

Common Verbs in Passive

Frequently used

使われる "be used"
書かれる "be written"
作られる "be made"
建てられる "be built"
呼ばれる "be called"
見られる "be seen"
聞かれる "be asked/heard"
知られる "be known"
愛される "be loved"

Master these first
Very common
Daily usage

Comparison with English

Similar structure

English: Object → Subject
Japanese: Same transformation

English: "by" marks agent
Japanese: に marks agent

English: Common in formal writing
Japanese: Same tendency

Parallel usage patterns
Similar formality level

Common Mistakes

❌ Using を for subject
✗ 学生を褒められた

✓ Use が for passive subject
✓ 学生が褒められた

❌ Using が for agent
✗ 先生が褒められた (ambiguous)

✓ Use に for agent
✓ 先生に褒められた

❌ Passive with intransitive
✗ 行かれた (as simple passive)

✓ Only transitive verbs
Or indirect passive (different meaning)

Particle patterns critical
Structure must be correct

Practical Examples

Real-life usage

この本は去年出版された
"This book was published last year"

彼は皆に尊敬されている
"He is respected by everyone"

この製品は日本で作られています
"This product is made in Japan"

新しい法律が可決された
"New law was passed"

パーティーは中止された
"Party was canceled"

Formal descriptions
Official statements
News reports
Written language
Common in these contexts