The Passive Form (受け身 / ~られる)

Reading time: ~7 min · Level: JLPT N4 · Focus: verb conjugation & nuance

The passive is one of the first N4 patterns that feels genuinely different from English — not because the grammar is hard, but because Japanese uses the passive in situations where English simply wouldn't. Once you see the logic, though, it becomes one of the most natural-sounding tools you have. Let's take it slowly, at a cozy pace.

What the passive actually does

In an active sentence, the doer is the subject:

先生が私をほめました。 Sensei ga watashi o homemashita. "The teacher praised me."

In a passive sentence, we flip the camera around so the receiver of the action becomes the subject:

私は先生にほめられました。 Watashi wa sensei ni homeraremashita. "I was praised by the teacher."

Notice three things happen at once:

• The receiver (私) becomes the topic/subject → marked with は / が

• The doer (先生) gets marked with に

• The verb changes to its passive form (ほめる → ほめられる)

  
  

How to make the passive form

The passive ending is built around -areru / -rareru. Here's the rule by verb group.

Group 1 (u-verbs / 五段): change the final -u sound to its -a sound, then add れる.

• 書く → 書かれる — kakareru

• 読む → 読まれる — yomareru

• 話す → 話される — hanasareru

• 待つ → 待たれる — matareru

• 取る → 取られる — torareru

• 買う → 買われる — kawareru

Note: Verbs ending in -う become -わ, not -あ: 買う → 買われる, 言う → 言われる.

Group 2 (ru-verbs / 一段): drop る and add られる.

• 食べる → 食べられる

• 見る → 見られる

• 開ける → 開けられる

Irregular verbs:

• する → される

• 来る（くる） → 来られる（こられる）

Tip: The Group 2 passive (食べられる) looks identical to the potential form ("can eat") and the honorific form. Don't panic — context makes it clear which one is meant. We'll cover the potential form in its own article.

The three ways Japanese uses the passive

This is the part textbooks rush through, so let's give it room.

1. The plain (direct) passive

Something is done to someone, neutrally. The doer takes に.

弟は父にしかられました。 Otōto wa chichi ni shikararemashita. "My little brother was scolded by our father."

私はみんなに笑われた。 Watashi wa minna ni warawareta. "I was laughed at by everyone."

2. The "suffering" passive (迷惑の受身)

Here's the one English doesn't have. Japanese uses the passive to show that the subject was negatively affected by something — inconvenienced, bothered, or hurt — even when nothing was "done to them" directly.

雨に降られて、ぬれてしまった。 Ame ni furarete, nurete shimatta. "I got rained on and ended up soaked." (Literally: "I was rained-on.")

赤ちゃんに泣かれて、寝られなかった。 Akachan ni nakarete, nerarenakatta. "The baby cried on me and I couldn't sleep."

When someone does something to a thing you own or care about, that thing stays marked with を, and you become the (suffering) subject:

弟にケーキを食べられた。 Otōto ni kēki o taberareta. "My little brother ate my cake (and I'm not happy about it)."

どろぼうにお金を盗まれた。 Dorobō ni okane o nusumareta. "I had my money stolen by a thief."

If you said 弟が私のケーキを食べた ("my brother ate my cake"), it's just a fact. The passive version adds the feeling: this affected me. That emotional layer is the whole point.

3. The objective / "no doer needed" passive

For facts, news, history, and descriptions, when the doer is unknown or unimportant. The doer is often dropped entirely.

この寺は300年前に建てられました。 Kono tera wa sanbyaku-nen mae ni tateraremashita. "This temple was built 300 years ago."

会議は来週の月曜日に開かれます。 Kaigi wa raishū no getsuyōbi ni hirakaremasu. "The meeting will be held next Monday."

When you do want to credit a creator (a book, a song, a building), use によって instead of に:

『ノルウェイの森』は村上春樹によって書かれました。 "Noruwei no Mori" wa Murakami Haruki ni yotte kakaremashita. "Norwegian Wood was written by Haruki Murakami."

に or によって? A quick rule

• に — everyday passive, when a person affects you or acts on you.

• によって — creation and formal/written contexts (built, written, discovered, invented).

  
  

Common mistakes to watch for

1. Forgetting the う→わ shift: 買う → 買われる (not 買あれる).

2. Marking the doer with が: it should be に (私は犬***に***かまれた, not 犬が).

3. Confusing suffering-passive particles: in 弟にケーキを食べられた, keep を on the cake and に on your brother.

4. Over-using the passive for polite English "was done": for temples, events, etc., that's fine — but for "I was told," Japanese often prefers 言われた, so let the pattern guide you rather than translating word for word.

Mini practice

Try turning these active sentences into passive ones before checking.

1. 先生が私の名前を呼びました。 → ?

2. だれかが私の自転車を使いました。(and I'm annoyed) → ?

3. 100年前にこの学校を作りました。 → ?

Answers

1. 私は先生に名前を呼ばれました。 (I was called on by the teacher.)

2. 私はだれかに自転車を使われました。 (Someone used my bike on me.)

3. この学校は100年前に作られました。 (This school was built 100 years ago.)

Wrap-up

The passive isn't really about "being passive" — it's about choosing whose point of view the sentence takes, and often about signalling how something affected someone. Get comfortable with the suffering passive especially; it's everywhere in real conversation and it's what makes your Japanese sound lived-in rather than translated.

Next up in this series: the causative (使役 / ~させる) — how to say "make" and "let someone do something" — and then the boss-level combo, the causative-passive.

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Want a teacher to walk through these with you and check your sentences? I offer relaxed, English-friendly 1-on-1 lessons — book a session and we'll make N4 grammar click. — Naoki, cozykotobar