When learning Japanese, understanding the passive form (受うけ身形みけい) is essential for expressing actions that happen to someone or something. Unlike English, Japanese often uses the passive voice to highlight how a person is affected—especially in formal or unfortunate situations.

In this blog post, you’ll learn how to make passive forms, how to use them naturally, and see plenty of examples to help you practice.

🧐 What Is the Passive Form?

In Japanese, the passive form is used when:

• The subject receives the action.
• The sentence focuses on what happened to someone.
• The speaker wants to express inconvenience, emotion, or formality.

Example:

• Active: 泥棒どろぼうが私わたしのかばんを盗ぬすんだ。
  (A thief stole my bag.)
• Passive: 私わたしのかばんは泥棒どろぼうに盗ぬすまれた。
  (My bag was stolen by a thief.)

See how the focus shifts to the item that was affected?

🔧 How to Make the Passive Form

Group 1 Verbs (Godan Verbs)

Change the final -u sound to the -a sound + れる.

🔸 Note: For verbs ending in う, replace it with われる (e.g., 買かう → 買かわれる)

Group 2 Verbs (Ichidan Verbs)

Drop る and add られる.

Irregular Verbs

🗣️ Sentence Structure

[Receiver] は [Doer] に [Passive Verb]

Examples:

聞きく – to hear/listen

• 私わたしは学生がくせいに話はなしを聞きかれました。
  (I was listened to by a student.)

盗ぬすむ – to steal

• 私わたしのかばんは泥棒どろぼうに盗ぬすまれました。
  (My bag was stolen by a thief.)

建たてる – to build

• ビルは建設会社けんせつがいしゃに建たてられました。
  (The building was built by a construction company.)

🤔 Why Use the Passive Form?

Japanese uses passive form more often than English. Here’s why:

• ✅ To focus on the person or thing affected by the action
• 😓 To express inconvenience or unpleasant experiences
• 📰 To sound more formal or objective, like in news or reports

🧠 Practice Time!

Try changing these active sentences into passive ones.

1. 子こどもが犬いぬを追おいかけた。
2. 誰だれかが窓まどを割わった。
3. 有名ゆうめいな画家がかが絵えを描かいた。

✨ Final Tips

• The passive form in Japanese often has a negative or emotional tone, especially in personal experiences.
• Practice identifying the receiver and the doer to form the sentence correctly.
• The more you read and listen, the more naturally you’ll start to understand passive constructions.

Keep practicing with everyday examples, and you’ll master this essential grammar step by step! 💪📘

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