When a Japanese speaker chooses the passive
An English speaker reaches for the passive to keep the receiver of an action at the front of the sentence or to avoid naming the doer: the report was submitted, my bag was stolen. A Japanese speaker has other tools for both of those jobs, so the passive is chosen for narrower reasons. In writing and broadcasting it reports a fact about an event with the event as the topic. In conversation it says that someone else's action reached the speaker, and it very often adds that the speaker minded.
That second use is the one that matters for speaking. Ame ni furaremashita does not mean the rain was fallen, which is nonsense in English. It means I got caught in the rain, with a small sigh built into the grammar. Once you hear that sigh, the passive stops being a translation exercise and becomes a way of telling stories about your day. If you have already worked through the basic conjugation patterns, the passive is the next form that changes what you can say.
Building the passive from the dictionary form
| Verb class | Dictionary form | How to build it | Passive | Polite passive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Godan | 書く kaku | Final u to a, then add reru | 書かれる kakareru | 書かれます kakaremasu |
| Godan | 読む yomu | Final u to a, then add reru | 読まれる yomareru | 読まれます yomaremasu |
| Godan | 取る toru | Final u to a, then add reru | 取られる torareru | 取られます toraremasu |
| Godan in u | 言う iu | Final u to wa, then add reru | 言われる iwareru | 言われます iwaremasu |
| Godan in su | 話す hanasu | Final u to a, then add reru | 話される hanasareru | 話されます hanasaremasu |
| Godan in tsu | 待つ matsu | Final u to a, then add reru | 待たれる matareru | 待たれます mataremasu |
| Ichidan | 食べる taberu | Drop ru, then add rareru | 食べられる taberareru | 食べられます taberaremasu |
| Ichidan | 見る miru | Drop ru, then add rareru | 見られる mirareru | 見られます miraremasu |
| Irregular | する suru | The whole verb becomes sareru | される sareru | されます saremasu |
| Irregular | 来る kuru | Stem shifts to ko, then add rareru | 来られる korareru | 来られます koraremasu |
The godan rule is the same one that builds the plain negative. If you can say kakanai, replace nai with reru and you have kakareru. The u-ending verbs are the only trap: iu becomes iwareru and kau becomes kawareru, with the same w that appears in iwanai and kawanai.
Every passive ends in reru or rareru, so from that point it behaves as an ichidan verb. Kakareru gives kakaremasu, kakarenai, kakarete and kakareta with no further rules. Compound suru verbs follow suru: happyō suru becomes happyō sareru, and shōkai suru becomes shōkai sareru.
Marking the agent with ni
The person or thing that did the action takes ni, and the person it happened to becomes the subject, usually marked with wa when they are the topic. Sensei ni homeraremashita puts the teacher after ni and leaves the praised person, you, understood. Because ni also marks time and destination, a sentence can contain two ni phrases, one for the agent and one for the time, and listeners separate them by meaning without effort.
Formal writing uses ni yotte instead of ni when the agent created or caused something: a novel written by an author, a bridge built by a company, damage caused by a typhoon. In speech you will mostly hear plain ni, and very often no agent at all. Japanese drops the agent whenever it is obvious or unimportant, which is most of the time.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 私は先生に褒められました。 | Watashi wa sensei ni homeraremashita. | I was praised by my teacher. |
| 弟は母に叱られました。 | Otōto wa haha ni shikararemashita. | My younger brother was told off by our mother. |
| 友達に道を聞かれました。 | Tomodachi ni michi o kikaremashita. | A friend asked me the way. |
| この小説は有名な作家によって書かれました。 | Kono shōsetsu wa yūmei na sakka ni yotte kakaremashita. | This novel was written by a famous author. |
| この橋は二百年前に作られました。 | Kono hashi wa nihyaku-nen mae ni tsukuraremashita. | This bridge was built two hundred years ago. |
The neutral passive of writing and reports
News, signs, textbooks and company announcements use the passive to state what happens to a thing without any feeling attached. The thing is the subject, the agent is usually left out, and the sentence reads like a caption. Meetings are held, results are announced, words are used, and sake is made from rice. This is the passive that looks most like English, and it is the one you will read constantly.
You will speak it too, but in a narrow band: describing how things are done in general, explaining a process, or giving a formal update. Notice that the material something is made from takes kara, while the agent takes ni, and that a habit or general truth uses the te imasu form of the passive rather than the plain present.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 会議は十時に開かれます。 | Kaigi wa jū-ji ni hirakaremasu. | The meeting will be held at ten. |
| 結果は明日発表されます。 | Kekka wa ashita happyō saremasu. | The results will be announced tomorrow. |
| この言葉は若い人によく使われています。 | Kono kotoba wa wakai hito ni yoku tsukawarete imasu. | This word is used a lot by young people. |
| 日本酒は米から作られます。 | Nihonshu wa kome kara tsukuraremasu. | Sake is made from rice. |
| 新しい駅が来年作られます。 | Atarashii eki ga rainen tsukuraremasu. | A new station will be built next year. |
The suffering passive of everyday speech
In conversation the passive nearly always means that someone else's action affected the speaker, and the default colouring is annoyance. Grammar books call it the adversative or suffering passive. Its signature is that it works with verbs that cannot be passive in English: intransitive verbs such as furu, naku and kuru, where the subject is not the thing acted on but the person left holding the consequences.
It also produces a possessor version. Saifu o nusumaremashita keeps the wallet as an object with o and makes the speaker the subject who was stolen from. English would say my wallet was stolen; Japanese says I was wallet-stolen. The same pattern covers having your foot trodden on, your photo taken without permission, or your name misspelt.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 雨に降られました。 | Ame ni furaremashita. | I got caught in the rain. |
| 財布を盗まれました。 | Saifu o nusumaremashita. | I had my wallet stolen. |
| 電車で足を踏まれました。 | Densha de ashi o fumaremashita. | Someone trod on my foot on the train. |
| 夜中に赤ちゃんに泣かれました。 | Yonaka ni akachan ni nakaremashita. | The baby cried in the middle of the night and I had to deal with it. |
| 試験の前に友達に来られました。 | Shiken no mae ni tomodachi ni koraremashita. | A friend turned up right before my exam, which was the last thing I needed. |
| 隣の人にタバコを吸われました。 | Tonari no hito ni tabako o suwaremashita. | The person next to me smoked, and I had to breathe it. |
| 大変でしたね。 | Taihen deshita ne. | That sounds awful. |
| それは困りましたね。 | Sore wa komarimashita ne. | That must have been a real nuisance. |
The last two lines are what a listener says back. Once you can produce a suffering passive, expect sympathy in return, and be ready to reply with sō nan desu yo, it really was, before moving the story on. A learner who fires off the passive and then falls silent misses the exchange the form is designed to start.
Neutral or adversative: the same form side by side
| Neutral passive | Adversative passive | What separates them |
|---|---|---|
| 新しい駅が作られました。Atarashii eki ga tsukuraremashita. A new station was built. | 家の前に駅を作られました。Ie no mae ni eki o tsukuraremashita. They went and built a station right in front of my house. | The neutral version makes the station the subject with ga. The adversative keeps it as an object with o and makes the speaker the affected party. |
| 会議は延期されました。Kaigi wa enki saremashita. The meeting was postponed. | 直前に会議を延期されました。Chokuzen ni kaigi o enki saremashita. They postponed the meeting on me at the last minute. | Same verb. The second names the inconvenience with an adverb of timing and o, and the listener hears the complaint. |
| この曲はよく歌われています。Kono kyoku wa yoku utawarete imasu. This song is sung a lot. | 隣の人に夜中まで歌われました。Tonari no hito ni yonaka made utawaremashita. The neighbour sang until midnight and I had to listen. | A general fact about the song against a person who suffered somebody else's singing. |
| 友達が来ました。Tomodachi ga kimashita. A friend came. This is active, because kuru has no neutral passive. | 友達に来られました。Tomodachi ni koraremashita. A friend turned up and it was a problem. | An intransitive verb has no neutral passive at all. The passive of kuru can only be adversative or, with a respected subject, honorific. |
Read down the middle column aloud and let the tone drop slightly at the end. That falling, slightly weary delivery is how native speakers deliver the adversative passive, and it is what makes the listener reply with taihen deshita ne rather than treating the sentence as a news item.
Why Japanese speech uses the passive less than English
English leans on the passive because English word order is rigid. If you want the report at the front of the sentence, you must make it the subject, and if you do not know who submitted it, the passive is the only clean escape. Japanese has neither problem. Wa can put any noun at the front while the verb stays active, and subjects vanish whenever they are known or irrelevant. Kaigi wa jū-ji ni hajimarimasu needs no passive and no agent.
Japanese also has hundreds of paired verbs where one member is transitive and the other intransitive. English opens a door and a door is opened; Japanese has akeru and aku, and the intransitive aku already describes the result without anyone in the picture. A learner who translates every English passive ends up saying akeraremashita where every native speaker would say akimashita, and it sounds as if someone forced the door.
There is a politeness reason as well. Using the passive with a respected agent, as in sensei ni oshieraremashita, treats the teacher's kindness as something that merely happened to you. Japanese prefers to frame it as a favour received, sensei ni oshiete itadakimashita, which is why the giving and receiving verbs cover so much ground that the passive covers in English.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 会議は十時に始まります。 | Kaigi wa jū-ji ni hajimarimasu. | The meeting starts at ten. |
| 窓が割れました。 | Mado ga waremashita. | The window got broken. |
| 先生に教えていただきました。 | Sensei ni oshiete itadakimashita. | My teacher kindly taught me. |
The natural alternatives to reach for first
| English passive | Japanese speakers usually say | Why it works |
|---|---|---|
| The door was opened | ドアが開きました Doa ga akimashita | The intransitive partner describes the result with no agent |
| The date has been decided | 日程が決まりました Nittei ga kimarimashita | Kimaru is the intransitive partner of kimeru |
| The keys were found | 鍵が見つかりました Kagi ga mitsukarimashita | Mitsukaru reports the outcome; mitsukerareru would sound forced |
| The room has been prepared | 部屋が準備してあります Heya ga junbi shite arimasu | Te aru shows a state someone deliberately set up |
| I was helped by a friend | 友達に手伝ってもらいました Tomodachi ni tetsudatte moraimashita | Te morau frames the action as a favour, not something done to you |
| This book was written by Tanaka | この本は田中さんが書きました Kono hon wa Tanaka-san ga kakimashita | Wa fronts the book while the verb stays active |
| The shop is closed at nine | 店は九時に閉まります Mise wa ku-ji ni shimarimasu | Shimaru is the intransitive partner of shimeru |
The first column is a list of sentences that beginners routinely put into the passive because English does. Try the second column in a conversation for a week and notice how rarely the passive is missed. When you do need to name an unwanted event that reached you, the passive is still there, and it will sound stronger for being rarer.
The passive as a softener in business Japanese
In meetings and emails the passive has a job that has nothing to do with suffering. Verbs of thinking and judging go into the passive to present an opinion as something that arises by itself rather than something the speaker asserts. To omowaremasu, it would seem, and to kangaeraremasu, it can be considered, let you state a view while leaving the listener room to disagree. The same move exists in English report writing, and in Japanese it is ordinary spoken politeness at work.
Formal announcements also prefer the passive because it removes the person giving the instruction. Shiryō wa ashita haifu saremasu says the materials will be distributed tomorrow without anyone appearing to command. Use these forms in workplace roleplay with a manager or a client, and keep them out of chats with friends, where they sound like reading from a memo.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| この案が一番いいと思われます。 | Kono an ga ichiban ii to omowaremasu. | This proposal appears to be the best option. |
| 来月には完成すると考えられます。 | Raigetsu ni wa kansei suru to kangaeraremasu. | It is expected to be completed next month. |
| この点については、もう少し検討が必要だと思われます。 | Kono ten ni tsuite wa, mō sukoshi kentō ga hitsuyō da to omowaremasu. | On this point, it seems a little more consideration is needed. |
| 資料は明日配布されます。 | Shiryō wa ashita haifu saremasu. | The materials will be distributed tomorrow. |
| 変更が必要とされています。 | Henkō ga hitsuyō to sarete imasu. | Changes are considered necessary. |
The same form as honorific speech
The conjugation you have just learned is also a mid-level honorific. Kaeraremashita can be an adversative passive, someone went home and left you in the lurch, or it can mean that a respected person went home. Nobody is confused in practice, because the two readings have different shapes. In the honorific, the respected person is the subject, marked with wa or ga, and there is no agent marked with ni. In the passive, the speaker or someone close to them is the subject, and the other person sits after ni.
The pair below changes only the particle after sensei and flips the meaning completely. Sensei wa miraremashita raises the teacher, who did the looking. Sensei ni miraremashita lowers the speaker, whose notebook was looked at when they would rather it had not been. For ichidan verbs the same form is also the textbook potential, mirareru meaning can see, which is why many speakers say mireru for the potential in casual speech and keep mirareru for passive and honorific work.
| Japanese | Romaji | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 部長はもう帰られました。 | Buchō wa mō kaeraremashita. | The section head has already gone home. (honorific) |
| 先生は何時に来られますか？ | Sensei wa nan-ji ni koraremasu ka? | What time will you be coming, Sensei? (honorific) |
| 社長はこの本を読まれましたか？ | Shachō wa kono hon o yomaremashita ka? | Have you read this book, sir? (honorific) |
| 先生は私のノートを見られました。 | Sensei wa watashi no nōto o miraremashita. | The teacher looked at my notes. (honorific) |
| 先生に私のノートを見られました。 | Sensei ni watashi no nōto o miraremashita. | The teacher saw my notes, and I wish she had not. (passive) |
A short routine to make the passive automatic
- Take ten verbs you already use and say the polite passive of each in one breath: kakaremasu, yomaremasu, taberaremasu, saremasu, koraremasu.
- Tell one bad-day story a day using three adversative passives, and finish each with a falling tone so the complaint is audible.
- For every passive you are about to say, ask whether an intransitive partner exists. If it does, say that instead and keep the passive for the version with a victim.
- Practise the two readings of one verb back to back: Sensei wa yomaremashita, then Sensei ni yomaremashita, until the particle alone tells you the meaning.
- In a workplace roleplay, give one opinion with to omowaremasu and one announcement with saremasu, then check that you did not carry those forms into casual conversation afterwards.