Grammar Info

N4 Lesson 1: 15/18

れる・られる (Passive)Was done to ~ by ~, Done without consent, Done to one's dismay

Structure

Examples:
［る1］Verb ￫ 見(み)る + られる
［る⁵］Verb ￫ 座(すわ)る + られる
［う］Verb ￫ 歌(うた)う + われる
［く］Verb ￫ 歩(ある)く + かれる
［す］Verb ￫ 話(はな)す + される
［つ］Verb ￫ 打(う)つ + たれる
［ぬ］Verb ￫ 死(し)ぬ + なれる
［ぶ］Verb ￫ 飛(と)ぶ + ばれる
［む］Verb ￫ 休(やす)む + まれる
［ぐ］Verb ￫ 泳(およ)ぐ + がれる

Exceptions:
する→される
くる→こられる

Details

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About Verb［れる・られる］

In Japanese, there are several ways to express that something 'passively' happens. All of these are done with the auxiliary verbs れる and られる. Japanese verbs in the passive form behave in a slightly different way than they do in English, so we will examine this difference more closely later. For now, let's focus on れる, られる, and される (the form used with する verbs).

Passivity in Japanese means that the person (or thing) that is the target of the action will be the subject of the sentence, rather than the person that is 'doing' whatever verb is being used.

You can conjugate any Japanese verb into the passive form in the following way. For う-Verbs (godan verbs), simply replace the last kana with the equivalent あ sound kana from the same row (す becomes さ, つ becomes た, ぶ becomes ば, う becomes わ, like with ない, and so on), then add れる. For る-Verbs (ichidan verbs), just replace the る with られる.

する and くる behave slightly differently than most other verbs. For する, it will become される, while くる will become こられる.

As can be seen in these examples, the 'doer' of the verb will be marked with に, but から can also be used in cases where there is no physical contact with the subject.

Caution

られる can be used in several different situations. These are listed below.

Passive: 受(う)け身(み) - Something happens to the subject as a result of an external force (sometimes sounds negative).

Possible: 可能(かのう) - There is the possibility for something to be done.

Spontaneous: 自発(じはつ) - Something happens by itself, or 'without instigation'.

Respectful: 尊敬(そんけい) - You are respecting someone by making them the subject of the sentence, despite someone else actually performing the verb.

Fun Fact

In Japanese, passivity focuses on the lack of control of the subject of the sentence. Due to this, the subject will sometimes be called the なる人, while the doer of the verb is called the する人.

Traditionally, many textbooks use the term 'passive', simply because there is no equivalent verb type in English (passive is the closest). However, we would like to introduce the term 'displacement verb'. This just means that the subject of the sentence is being described in a similar way to what happens in keigo (polite speech).

Caution

But wait, what about れる with る-Verbs! Well, in Japanese, ら removal words 'ラ抜(ぬ)き言葉(ことば)' are very common. These are words that are able to use れる, instead of られる. The original meaning of both of these auxiliary verbs is exactly the same, but there are cases where ら may not be removed. The standard rules are as follows.

ら may be removed - る-Verbs and くる, when the meaning is 'possible'.

ら may not be removed - る-Verbs and くる, when the meaning is 'passive', 'spontaneous', or 'respectful'.

In both of these sentences, the meaning is exactly the same. However, ラ抜(ぬ)き may only be used when られる is being used to highlight 'possibility'.

Related

Examples

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    私(わたし)のアイスクリームを兄(あに)に食(た)べられた。

    My ice cream was eaten by my brother.

    変(へん)な話(はなし)を親(おや)に聞(き)かれた。

    My strange conversation was overheard by my parents.

    私(わたし)は部屋(へや)をきれいにして、褒(ほ)められた。

    I was praised for cleaning my room.

    宿題(しゅくだい)をしたけど、持(も)って来(く)るのを忘(わす)れた。何(なん)と言(い)われるかな。

    Even though I did my homework, I forgot to bring it with me. I wonder what will be said to me.

    私はあいつらに何(なに)をされてもいいけど、あいつらには絶対(ぜったい)に君(きみ)の名前(なまえ)を教(おし)えない。

    It doesn't matter what is done to me by them, I won't give up your name to them.

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Verb［れる・られる］ – Grammar Discussion

Most Recent Replies (31 in total)

  • windshadow

    windshadow

    honestly this is so complex i really don’t see anyway of learning this

  • casual

    casual

    I’d like to plug this blog post. It starts with a very clear explanation of different uses of られる and then goes into a hilarious rant.
    It’s in Japanese, so might be a little difficult at N4 level, but worth it.

  • Kasasagi

    Kasasagi

    Hi, I was wondering if anyone could clarify the use of を and verbs in the passive form.
    For example, the first and penultimate example sentences in the following page appear to be similar in construction, but the first example sentence uses “を + passive verb”, whereas the penultimate example sentence uses “が+ passive verb”.

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