Japanese Passive Voice: Complete Conjugation Guide
Welcome to Chapter 10! So far, most of our sentences have been in the "active voice," where the subject performs an action (e.g., "The teacher praised me."). The Passive Voice (受身 - ukemi) flips this perspective, focusing on the person or thing that receives the action (e.g., "I was praised by the teacher.").
This is used to sound objective, to talk about a subject when the "doer" is unknown or unimportant, and for a special Japanese nuance called the "suffering passive."
Making the Passive Form
The rules for forming the passive voice depend on the verb group.
- Group 1 (u-verbs): Change the final 'u' vowel sound to the 'a' sound
and add れる (reru).
Example: 叱る (shikaru) → 叱られる (shikarareru) - Group 2 (ru-verbs): Drop the final る (ru) and add
られる (rareru).
Example: 褒める (homeru) → 褒められる (homerareru) - Group 3 (Irregular): する → される (sareru), 来る (kuru) → 来られる (korareru)
Note: Once a verb is in the passive form, it always conjugates like a Group 2 (ru-verb).
How to Use the Passive Voice
In a passive sentence, the person who performs the action is marked by the particle に (ni).
[Receiver] は [Doer] に [Verb (Passive Form)]。
Active: 先生が私を褒めました。(The teacher praised me.)
Passive: 私は先生に褒められました。(Watashi wa sensei ni homeraremashita.)
I was praised by the teacher.
The "Suffering" Passive (迷惑の受身)
This is a unique feature of Japanese. You can use the passive voice to describe a situation where you (or someone) were negatively affected or inconvenienced by someone else's action, even if you weren't the direct object of the action.
私は弟にパソコンを壊されました。
(Watashi wa otōto ni pasokon o kowasaremashita.)
I had my computer broken by my little brother. (This happened to me, and it was a problem.)
私は雨に降られました。
(Watashi wa ame ni furaremashita.)
I was rained on. (Literally: "I was fallen on by the rain," expressing the inconvenience.)