Indirect Passive (Suffering)
Indirect passive (間接受身) or suffering passive (迷惑の受身) expresses being indirectly affected by someone else's action, usually negatively. This is unique to Japanese and has no direct English equivalent.
雨に降られた
"Was rained on" = "It rained on me (unfortunate)"
Not literal passive
Expresses being affected
Usually negative impact
Japanese-specific structure
Key Difference from Direct
Indirect nature
Direct passive:
財布が盗まれた
"Wallet was stolen"
Wallet is directly stolen
Indirect passive:
(私が)財布を盗まれた
"I had my wallet stolen"
I am affected by stealing
Different focus
Different structure
Different feeling
Formation
Same conjugation, different structure
Same られる/れる forms:
死ぬ → 死なれる
降る → 降られる
来る → 来られる
But sentence structure different
Subject is affected person
Original action remains
Basic Pattern
Structure
[Affected person]が [Agent]に [Action]られる
私が弟に泣かれた
"I was cried to by brother"
= "My brother cried (and it affected me)"
母が父に死なれた
"Mother had father die on her"
= "Father died (affecting mother)"
Experiencer is subject
Agent marked by に
No direct object transformation
With Intransitive Verbs
Can make "passive"
Unlike direct passive:
来る → 来られる
友達に来られた
"Friend came (at bad time)"
行く → 行かれる
先に行かれた
"(They) went ahead (leaving me behind)"
降る → 降られる
雨に降られた
"Was rained on"
Intransitive verbs possible
Expressing being affected
Unique to indirect passive
Adversity Implied
Usually negative
子供に泣かれた
"Child cried (causing me trouble)"
隣の人にタバコを吸われた
"Neighbor smoked (bothering me)"
犬に死なれた
"Dog died (on me)"
Inconvenience
Trouble caused
Negative impact
Not always super negative
But implies some difficulty
Possessive Relationship
With ownee
私は財布を盗まれた
"I had my wallet stolen"
弟は自転車を壊された
"Little brother had his bike broken"
妻に逃げられた
"Had wife run away (on me)"
Affected person loses something
Possession connection
Personal impact
With Transitive Verbs
Object remains
Structure:
[Affected]が [Agent]に [Object]を [Verb]られる
私が泥棒に財布を盗まれた
"I had my wallet stolen by thief"
姉がいとこにCDを借りられた
"Sister had her CD borrowed by cousin"
Object kept in sentence
を remains
Additional layer of passivity
Weather and Nature
Common pattern
雨に降られた
"Was rained on"
雪に降られた
"Was snowed on"
台風に来られた
"Typhoon came (at bad time)"
Natural phenomena
Causing inconvenience
Very common usage
Death and Separation
Losing someone
父に死なれた
"Had father die"
妻に逃げられた
"Had wife run away"
友達に行かれた
"Had friend leave"
Loss and abandonment
Emotional impact
Left behind feeling
Timing Issues
Inconvenient actions
忙しいときに来られた
"(Someone) came when I was busy"
疲れているときに話しかけられた
"Was talked to when tired"
勉強しているときに遊ばれた
"Was played around when studying"
Bad timing
Inconvenient for speaker
Disruptive
Cannot Be Positive Usually
Negative nuance
❌ Unnatural:
友達に助けられた (use direct passive or てもらう)
✓ For positive, use:
友達に助けてもらった
"Had friend help me"
Indirect passive = adversity
Positive actions use different structures
Important limitation
Emotional Distance
Feeling affected
Shows speaker's perspective:
泣かれた "was cried to"
Implies: Annoying, troublesome
笑われた "was laughed at"
Implies: Embarrassing, uncomfortable
Emotional component
Speaker's feelings matter
Subjective experience
Regional Variation
More common in some areas
Standard in written Japanese
Common everywhere
But frequency varies
Some regions use more
Others less
All understand it
Universal structure
Varying frequency
Common Verbs
Frequently used
死なれる "have (someone) die"
泣かれる "be cried to"
来られる "have (someone) come (inconveniently)"
行かれる "have (someone) go (leaving me)"
降られる "be rained on"
笑われる "be laughed at"
言われる "be told (something unwanted)"
見られる "be seen/watched (uncomfortably)"
Learn these patterns
Very common
Daily usage
Contrastive Examples
Direct vs Indirect
Direct passive:
財布が盗まれた
"Wallet was stolen"
Focus on wallet
Indirect passive:
財布を盗まれた
"I had wallet stolen"
Focus on me being affected
私は先生に呼ばれた
"I was called by teacher" (direct or indirect, context-dependent)
彼に来られた
"He came (inconveniencing me)" (clearly indirect)
Structure and context reveal type
With Causative-Passive
Complex form
させられる form (causative-passive):
食べさせられた "was made to eat"
Different from indirect passive
Forced action
Different meaning
Don't confuse
Separate grammar
Formality
Neutral formality
Can use in:
- Casual speech: 泣かれた
- Polite speech: 泣かれました
- Written: 泣かれた
Not inherently casual/formal
Common in conversation
Natural expression
Common Mistakes
❌ Using for positive events
✗ 友達に助けられた (indirect passive)
✓ Use てもらう for positive
✓ 友達に助けてもらった
❌ Confusing with direct passive
Structure matters
Particles reveal type
✓ Understand difference
Direct = object becomes subject
Indirect = affected person is subject
❌ Missing adversity nuance
Always implies some difficulty
Not neutral description
✓ Recognize feeling
Inconvenience implied
Negative impact