N4 · Unit 11
Lesson 41Put the affected person or thing first
Use passive forms to describe an event from the affected party's viewpoint, including objective facts and personal impact.
What you learn
Use passive forms to describe an event from the affected party's viewpoint, including objective facts and personal impact.
Learning points
- Direct passive
- Affected-person passive
- Objective passive statements
Why this lesson comes now
This lesson connects what you can already say to a new way of expressing it. Hear the key sentences, understand the structure, then use it in a real situation.
Your next step
Listen to the key sentences, understand the pattern, finish the examples and vocabulary, then continue to the next lesson.
Open the interactive lessonCore pattern
名詞は 人に 動詞受身形 ・ 人は 人に 所有物を 動詞受身形 ・ 人は 人 / 雨に 動詞受身形 ・ 物は 動詞受身形 ・ 物は 人によって 動詞受身形Beginner explanation
Passive forms place the affected person or thing first. In a direct passive, the actor takes に. When someone's body or possession is affected, that person remains the topic and the body part or possession still takes を. Japanese also uses passives for indirect, often unwelcome effects from another person's action or rain. With an inanimate subject, the actor is often omitted; use によって to name a specific creator.
Understand these sentences first
- 私は 先生に ほめられました。watashi wa sensei ni homeraremashita
I was praised by my teacher.
- 私は 電車で 足を 踏まれました。watashi wa densha de ashi o fumaremashita
Someone stepped on my foot on the train.
- 旅行中、雨に 降られました。ryokōchū, ame ni furaremashita
I was caught in the rain during the trip.
- この 建物は 有名な 建築家によって 設計されました。kono tatemono wa yūmei na kenchikuka ni yotte sekkei saremashita
This building was designed by a famous architect.
Core vocabulary
- ほめますほめますpraise
- しかりますしかりますscold
- かみますかみますbite
- 踏みますふみますstep on
- 設計しますせっけいしますdesign
- 建てますたてますbuild
- 建築家けんちくかarchitect
- 被害ひがいdamage; harm
Grammar, one point at a time
Passive forms follow three verb-group patterns
Vない词干 + れる／られるFor group-1 verbs, replace ない in the negative form with れる. Group-2 verbs replace る with られる. 来る becomes 来られる and する becomes される. Passive verbs then conjugate like group-2 verbs.
Examples
- ほめる → ほめられるpraise → be praised
- 書く → 書かれるwrite → be written
- する → されるdo → be done
Direct passive: the affected person is the topic and the actor takes に
A は B に V(ら)れるAn active clause such as the manager praised Li can become Li was praised by the manager. A passive does not automatically express suffering; praise, invitations, and help can also be passive.
Examples
- 李さんは 部長に ほめられました。Li was praised by the manager.
- 森さんは 小野さんに 食事に 誘われました。Mori was invited to dinner by Ono.
Possession passive: the affected person is the topic while the body part or item keeps を
A は B に Nを V(ら)れるJapanese often says I was affected by someone stepping on my foot or breaking my camera rather than making the foot or camera the sole subject. The construction foregrounds the owner's involvement.
Examples
- 馬さんは 森さんに カメラを 壊されました。Ma had his camera broken by Mori.
- 私は 電車で 知らない人に 足を 踏まれました。A stranger stepped on my foot on the train.
Indirect adversative passive: another action or event affects the speaker
A は B に V(ら)れるAn independent event such as a bird escaped or the person beside me smoked can be recast with the affected person as topic. It often conveys trouble, inconvenience, or unexpected impact. Natural phenomena appear in forms such as 雨に降られる.
Examples
- 陳さんは 飼っていた小鳥に 逃げられました。Chen was affected when his pet bird escaped.
- 食事中、隣の人に たばこを 吸われました。The person beside me smoked during the meal, affecting me.
- 私たちは 雨に 降られました。We were caught in the rain.
Event passive with no specific actor: make the held, built, or discovered thing the subject
N が／は V(ら)れるThe actor may be omitted when unimportant, unknown, or clear from context. This is common in news, history, and exposition, but a material source should not be hidden merely by choosing passive voice.
Examples
- 会議は 来週 開かれます。The meeting will be held next week.
- 駅前に 新しいビルが 建てられました。A new building was constructed near the station.
- 新しい遺跡が 発見されました。A new archaeological site was discovered.
In event passives, によって often identifies a creator, discoverer, or institution
N は A によって V(ら)れるによって identifies an attributable agent and is common for invention, design, authorship, research, and publication. Ordinary daily actions usually take に instead.
Examples
- この建物は 有名な建築家によって 設計されました。This building was designed by a famous architect.
- 調査結果は 統計局によって 公表されました。The survey results were published by the Statistics Bureau.
Context, not passive morphology alone, determines whether the effect is adverse
V(ら)れるほめられる and 招待される are usually positive or neutral, while 盗まれる, 叱られる, and 雨に降られる are often adverse. Interpret the event and speaker stance before translating.
Examples
- 先生に ほめられて、うれしかったです。I was happy to be praised by the teacher.
- 財布を 盗まれて、困りました。I was in trouble after my wallet was stolen.
Expressions and situations
Quantity + とも means all of that number, often with a small count
二日とも means both days and 三人とも means all three people. It is common with counts under ten; larger groups often use 全員 or 全部.
- 2日とも 雨でした。It rained on both days.
- 社員は 3人いますが、3人とも 外出中です。There are three employees, and all three are out.
いやあ can mark surprise, admiration, embarrassment, or a softened reaction and is not a fixed gender rule
Older descriptions often label it male speech, but actual use varies with speaker, age, intonation, and setting. Beginners should recognise it without forcing it into their own speech.
- いやあ、参りました。Oh, that was really difficult.
- いやあ、久しぶりですね。Well, it has been a long time.
参りました can be humble came/went or an idiom meaning this is too much or I give in
Meaning depends on context. With a destination, it is often the humble form of go or come. With congestion, storms, or a difficult problem, it often expresses being overwhelmed.
- 北京から 参りました。I have come from Beijing. (humble)
- 渋滞に 巻き込まれて、参りました。The traffic jam was really too much.
巻き込まれる means being drawn into an incident, accident, or dispute
Active 巻き込む draws someone in; the passive highlights involuntary involvement. In reports, state the event and impact rather than replacing facts with dramatic language.
- 飛行機は 嵐に 巻き込まれました。The aircraft was caught in a storm.
- 汚職事件に 巻き込まれたそうです。I heard they were drawn into a corruption case.
Formal written Japanese often uses Sino-Japanese vocabulary and fewer casual spoken words
For example, reports may use 一昨年, 大量に, and 低価格 instead of おととし, たくさん, and 安い値段. More kanji is not automatically better; clarity, precision, and reader needs control.
- 一昨年から 大量に 生産されています。It has been produced in large quantities since the year before last.
Reports often use plain forms, である style, nominalization, and passive voice, while personal correspondence may retain です／ます
Keep register consistent within one document. Passive voice can foreground results, but the research body, method, and source must still be supplied rather than using agentless sentences to manufacture authority.
- 調査は 4月に 実施された。The survey was conducted in April.
- 回答者は 500人である。There were 500 respondents.
Loanwords and Japanese-made English compounds must be learned with their Japanese meanings
コストダウン means cost reduction and ネーミング means naming. English normally does not use ガソリンスタンド or ジェットコースター in the same way. Translate afresh for an international reader.
- 生産工程を 見直して、コストダウンを 図ります。We will review production processes to reduce costs.
Survey findings require purpose, population, period, method, sample, and limitations
Claims such as most popular or the market will grow are not evidence by themselves. Sample surveys contain sampling error and may also have coverage, measurement, nonresponse, and processing error.
- 調査対象と 回答数を 明記します。State the survey population and response count.
- 推定と 確認済みの 事実を 分けます。Separate estimates from verified facts.
Expo 2010 Shanghai is a completed historical event
The Bureau International des Expositions records the event from 1 May to 31 October 2010 under the theme Better City, Better Life. It now requires past tense rather than future-event wording.
- 上海万博は 2010年に 開かれました。Expo 2010 Shanghai was held in 2010.
What you should be able to do
- Convert 16 representative verbs to passive forms and change tense and polarity.
- Rewrite active clauses as direct passives with the affected person, actor, and object in the correct roles.
- Distinguish possession passive, indirect adversative passive, and ordinary direct passive.
- Decide whether to omit an agent in news or exposition and use によって when attribution is required.
- Rewrite three spoken passages into consistent formal prose without hiding information behind passives.
- Complete an original market-research summary stating purpose, population, sample, period, method, findings, error, privacy, and source.
Culture and real use
A research report is not advertising: the more objective the passive sounds, the clearer the source must be
Passive voice can foreground that a survey was conducted, results were published, or a product was developed, but objective tone does not amount to sufficient evidence. Japan's Statistics Bureau says a survey overview should state purpose, scope, population, period, method, aggregation, and publication. Sample surveys include sampling error and may also contain coverage, measurement, nonresponse, and processing errors. The ICC/ESOMAR Code further requires voluntary participation, data minimization, privacy protection, transparency, and accurate publication. The drink brands, sales rankings, low-price explanation, and growth forecast used in practice are only learning data for report structure, not real market statistics, and must not be presented externally as business findings. Time boundaries must also be updated: the Bureau International des Expositions records Expo 2010 Shanghai as held from 1 May to 31 October 2010, so it now requires past tense.
- 調査方法と 回答数を 明記します。I will state the survey method and response count.
- 推定は、確認された 事実と 分けて 書きます。I will write estimates separately from verified facts.
- 上海万博は 2010年に 開かれました。Expo 2010 Shanghai was held in 2010.