Passive Verbs

In Japanese, passive verbs can be used for a few main reasons. The first is just like English - to speak in the passive voice and describe an action that "was performed" rather than "somebody performing an action."

The second is to express annoyance, disappointment, or some other negative emotion due to the fact that this action was "inflicted" upon you (or some other subject). A good equivalent example in English would be something like "It rained" versus "I got rained on."

The conjugation rules for the passive form look rather similar to those for the potential form. In fact, they're identical for ichidan verbs. That's kind of a pain to deal with, but context should provide clues as to which form is being used when you're reading.

Ichidan verbs

• Drop る
• Add られる
• 起きられる
• 帰られる

Godan verbs

• Change the last う sound to the あ equivalent
• Add れる
• 泳がれる
• 買われる

Exceptions

• する -> される
• くる -> こられる

There's often a standard sentence structure for the passive form, as well. The subject who "received" the action is either omitted or specified at the beginning with は, while the person who performs the passive action is specified afterwards with に.

私は兄に店に連れて行かれた。
I was taken to the store by my brother.

あの男は泥棒にパソコンを盗まれたよ。
That man had his PC stolen by the burglar.

ファイルが机に置かれた。
The file was placed on the desk.

赤ちゃんに泣かれた。
The baby cried on me (and it was upsetting).

教室のドアが誰かに開けられた。
The classroom door was opened by somebody.

私はリーさんにケーキを食べられた。
My cake got eaten by Lee-san.