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When you are inconvenienced by something somebody else has
done, you can express your dissatisfaction using the passive
sentence.
Suppose, for example, that you were bothered by your
friend's unauthorized use of your car.
Compare (a) the objective description of the event
and (b) the passive version, which makes clear how you feel
about it: |
| 友達が 車を 使いました。 |
(a)
A friend of mine used my car. |
| tomodachi-ga kuruma-o tsukaimashita. |
|
| 私は 友達に 車を使われました。 |
(b)
I had my car used by a friend of mine (and I am mad/sad
about it). |
| watashi-wa tomodachi-ni kuruma-o tsukawaremashita. |
|
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As you can see from the above example, the basic makeup of a
passive sentence is like the following examples. |
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(victim)は (villain)に (evil act). |
| 私は 友達に 車を使われました。
|
I had my car used by a friend. |
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The "victim" is affected by an event. Marked with the particle は
- ha [wa] or が - ga.
The "villain" performs an action which causes the suffering. Marked with に
- ni.
The "evil" act is described with the passive form of a verb. |
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|
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Let us first examine what the passive form of a verb looks
like. |
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ru-verbs: Drop the final -ru and add -rare-ru
: |
| 食べる -> 食べられる |
to eat - eaten, eatable |
|
taberu - taberareru |
|
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u-verbs: Drop the final -u and add
-are-ru
: |
| 行く -> 行かれる |
to go |
| iku - ikareru |
|
| 話す -> 話される |
to speak, to talk -
spoken |
| hanasu - hanasareru |
|
| 買う ->
買われる |
to buy (* 1) - is bought |
|
kau - kawareru |
|
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irregular verbs: |
| くる -> こられる |
to come, to arrive |
|
kuru - korareru |
|
| する -> される |
to do |
| suru - sareru |
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You may have noticed that the passive forms
of ru-verbs and the irregular kuru is the same
as the potential verbs (see Lesson 13),
but the passive form of an
u-verb looks different
from the potential verb:
for the verb
よむ - yomu, the
passive is よまれる - yomareru.
while the potential is よめる -
yomeru. |
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Passive forms of verbs themselves conjugate as regular
ru-verb. |
|
読まれる
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short forms |
long forms |
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affirmative |
negative |
affirmative |
negative |
|
| present |
読まれる |
読まれない |
読まれます |
読まれません |
is read (by someone) |
| past |
読まれた |
読まれなかった |
読まれました |
読まれませんでした |
has been read (by someone) |
| te-form |
読まれて |
|
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Let us now turn to the ways in which these
forms are used in sentences.
In most passive sentences, the "victim" has been unfavorably
affected by the "villain's" act.
They may be unfavorably affected in various ways, such as
being angry, embarrassed, sad, and hurt. (* 2) |
| 私は となりの人に タバコを吸われました。 |
I was annoyed with the person sitting next
to me for smoking. |
| watashi-wa tonari-no hito-ni tabako-o suwaremashita. |
|
| たけしさんは メアリーさんに よく笑われます。 |
Takeshi is often laughed at by Mary. |
| takeshi-san-wa mearii-san-ni yoku warawaremasu. |
|
| 山下先生は 誰かに パスワードを盗まれたそうです。 |
I hear that Professor Yamashita had his
password stolen by someone. |
| yamashita sensei-wa dareka-ni pasuwaado-o nusumareta soo
desu. |
|
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*1
With the verbs that end with the hiragana
u, we see a "w" intervening, just as in the
negative short forms. |
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* 2 Since the passive only applies to a
verb, you cannot express your suffering from an adjectival
situation.
Thus you can say |
| 私は雨に降られました。 |
I was annoyed by the fact that it rained / I
was rained on. |
| watashi-wa, ame-ni furaremashita. |
because furu is a verb,
but you cannot use the passive to say something like
"I was annoyed by the fact that the weather was bad,"
because warui (bad) is an adjective. |
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You cannot express your suffering from
somebody failing to do something, either,
because you cannot add the passive suffix to an already
negated verb.
Therefore you cannot use the passive to say things like:
Professor Yamashita was annoyed because students did not
come to his class. |
|
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Compare the inadvertent/unfavorable focus of
a passive sentence
with the intended/ favorable focus of a
te morau
sentence (see Lesson 16). |
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|
| 私は 友達に 日記を 読まれました。 |
I was annoyed with a friend of mine for
reading my diary. |
| watashi-wa tomodachi-ni nikki-o yomaremashita. |
|
| 私は 友達に 手紙を 読んでもらいました。 |
I had a friend of mine read the letter for me.
|
| watashi-wa tomodachi-ni tegami-o yonde moraimashita. |
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Finally, we note that some passive sentences
are not perceptibly unfavorable. |
| 私は その人に デートに 誘われました。 |
I was asked out by that person for a date. |
| watashi-wa sono hito-ni deeto-ni sasowaremashita. |
|
| 私は 兄に 友達に紹介されました。 |
I was introduced by my big brother to a
friend of his. |
| watashi-wa ani-ni tomodachi-ni shookai-saremashita. |
|
| 私は 友達に パーティーに 呼ばれました。 |
I was invited by a friend to a party. |
| watashi-wa tomodachi-ni paatii-ni yobaremashita. |
|
| その人は みんなに 尊敬されています。 |
That person is looked up to by most
everyone. |
| sono hito-wa minna-ni sonkei-sarete-imasu. |
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When someone says these, they probably do
not mean that they were inconvenienced by how things have
turned out.
There are relatively few verbs that come out neutral in
their meaning when they are turned into the passive form. |
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* 3
There is another type of passive sentence, with
non-human subjects, which naturally lacks the implication
that the inanimate, non-sentient subjects are
inconvenienced. |
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The passive sentences of this type are found more commonly
in the written language than in the spoken language. |
| この公園は十年前に作られました。 |
This park was built ten years ago. |
| kono kooen-wa juu-nen mae-ni tsukuraremashita. |
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