Let’s work on passive, causative, and causative passive forms! I will divide it into 3 posts to explain the grammar points on (1) passive, (2) causative, and (3) causative passive.
受身:他の人の行為や出来事の影響を受ける
Passive: To be affected by the behaviour of somebody or the impact of an event
動詞の活用 – Verb conjugation –
Examples
Group 1 (U-verb) | Group 2 (RU-verb) | Group 3 (Irregular) |
作る(つくる) TSUKURU ⬇︎ 作られる(つくられる) TSUKURARERU | 見る(みる) MIRU ⬇︎ 見られる(みられる) MIRARERU | する SURU ⬇︎ される SARERU |
言う(いう) IU ⬇︎ 言われる(いわれる) IWARERU | 食べる(たべる) TABERU ⬇︎ 食べられる(たべられる) TABERARERU | 来る(くる) KURU ⬇︎ 来られる(こられる) KORARERU |
書く(かく) KAKU ⬇︎ 書かれる(かかれる) KAKARERU | 伝える(つたえる) TSUTAERU ⬇︎ 伝えられる(つたえられる) TSUTAERARERU |
Point 1: The subject is either the speaker or someone who is emotionally close to the speaker
1
満員電車で足を踏まれてとても痛い。
Someone stepped on my foot on the packed train and it hurts so much.
2
友達の赤ちゃんを抱っこしたら、赤ちゃんに泣かれてしまいました。
I held my friend’s baby and the baby cried.
3
サッカーの試合で、途中までリードしていたのに最後に得点二点を決められて負けてしまいました。
In the football match, we were leading but the opponent scored twice at the end and we lost.
4
雨の予報だったのに傘を家に忘れて、帰り道雨に降られて濡れてしまいました。
Although the forecast said it would rain, I forgot to bring my umbrella and got wet on the way back.
5
夕飯の後に食べようと冷蔵庫にとっておいたプリンを弟に食べられてしまいました。
I was keeping a pudding in the fridge to eat after dinner but my little brother ate it.
※ These example sentences show the fact the speaker has a difficult or troubled situation as a result of the impact of an event.
However, in some situations, we cannot identify the speaker’s feelings whether it’s positive or negative – if that’s the case, we need to see the context, nuance, and maybe the voice tone of the speaker. Please see a few examples below.
田中さんにデートに誘われました。
Tanaka-san asked me to go on a date.
昨日、駅で友達を待っていたら、後ろから誰かに肩をたたかれました。
Yesterday, when I was waiting for my friend at the station, somebody tapped my shoulder.
Point 2: The subject is an inanimate object
1
2020年の夏季オリンピックは東京で行われる予定です。
The 2020 Summer Olympics has been planned to take place in Tokyo.
2
このレストランは、この街で一番美味しいレストランだと言われています。
It is said that this restaurant serves the most delicious food in this town.
3
日本酒は米から作られます。
Japanese sake is made from rice.
4
日本ではたくさんの車が生産されています。
A lot of cars are manufactured in Japan.
5
この本は英語で書かれています。
This book is written in English.
※ The passive form on point 2 is used when we talk about something without mentioning the “doer.” For example, the second example talks about the restaurant being said that it is the best in town. It’s obvious that “someone” said that the restaurant was good, but we can talk about it without mentioning who said so and the subject of the sentence is the restaurant.
In the next post, we will look at the causative form.
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