Japanese Passive Form: The Complete Guide for English Speakers

You've survived hiragana, katakana, and basic verb conjugation. Then your Japanese textbook drops this sentence on you: 財布（さいふ）を盗（ぬす）まれた. “My wallet was stolen” — except in Japanese, the literal structure is closer to “I suffered the stealing of my wallet.” Welcome to the Japanese passive form.

The passive voice in Japanese is simultaneously familiar and alien to English speakers. Some uses map cleanly onto English: “The letter was written by the teacher.” Others have no direct English equivalent at all: the so-called adversative passive, where you express that someone else's action caused you inconvenience or distress. Mastering the passive is essential for JLPT N4 and N3 — and for sounding natural in everyday Japanese conversation.

This guide walks you through everything: formation rules, the two main uses, formal register, the tricky overlap with the potential form, and the most common mistakes English speakers make.

📋 At a Glance: Japanese Passive Form
Japanese term	受身形（うけみけい）/ 受動態（じゅどうたい）
What it does	Expresses that the subject receives an action done by someone else
Two main uses	Direct passive (action happens to the subject) / Indirect passive (subject is adversely affected)
Group 1 verbs (godan)	Replace the final う-row sound with あ-row + れる (e.g., 書く → 書かれる)
Group 2 verbs (ichidan)	Replace る with られる (e.g., 食べる → 食べられる)
Irregular verbs	する → される / くる → こられる
Agent marker	に (by whom) — 先生（せんせい）にほめられた = was praised by the teacher
Register	Direct passive: neutral / Indirect passive: spoken, expressive / Formal passive: newspapers, announcements
JLPT relevance	N4 (formation + direct passive), N3 (indirect passive, formal use)
Key trap	〜られる is BOTH the passive and potential form for Group 2 verbs — context decides

How to Form the Japanese Passive

The passive form is built from the same base you use for the negative (ない形). Once you know your verb groups, the pattern is completely regular.

The Formation Rule at a Glance

Verb Group	Dictionary Form	Passive Form	Meaning
Group 1 (godan / う-verbs)	書（か）く (to write)	書（か）かれる	is written / be written
Group 1	飲（の）む (to drink)	飲（の）まれる	is drunk / be drunk
Group 1	話（はな）す (to speak)	話（はな）される	is spoken
Group 1	読（よ）む (to read)	読（よ）まれる	is read
Group 1	盗（ぬす）む (to steal)	盗（ぬす）まれる	is stolen
Group 1	呼（よ）ぶ (to call)	呼（よ）ばれる	is called
Group 2 (ichidan / る-verbs)	食（た）べる (to eat)	食（た）べられる	is eaten
Group 2	見（み）る (to see)	見（み）られる	is seen / is watched
Group 2	起（お）きる (to wake up)	起（お）きられる	is woken
Group 3 (irregular)	する (to do)	される	is done
Group 3	くる (to come)	こられる	is come (someone comes)

The Conjugation Logic

Group 1 verbs (godan): Change the final syllable to its あ-row equivalent, then add れる.

• 書く (kaku) → kakaれる → 書かれる
• 飲む (nomu) → nomaれる → 飲まれる
• 話す (hanasu) → hanasaれる → 話される
• 呼ぶ (yobu) → yobaれる → 呼ばれる
• 待つ (matsu) → mataれる → 待たれる

⚠️ One exception: verbs ending in う follow the pattern う → わ + れる (not う → あ + れる).

• 言う (iu) → iwaれる → 言われる (is said)
• 買う (kau) → kawaれる → 買われる (is bought)

Group 2 verbs (ichidan): drop the final る and add られる. This is the same ending as the potential form — more on that critical distinction later.

• 食べる → 食べられる
• 見る → 見られる
• 教える（おしえる）→ 教えられる

Once you have the passive base (e.g., 書かれる), you can conjugate it further like any other る-verb:

Form	Example (書く → 書かれる)	Meaning
Non-past plain	書かれる	is written / will be written
Non-past polite	書かれます	is written (polite)
Past plain	書かれた	was written
Past polite	書かれました	was written (polite)
Negative plain	書かれない	is not written
Te-form	書かれて	written (connective)

Direct Passive (直接受身): The Action Happens to the Subject

The direct passive (直接受身 / ちょくせつうけみ) is the closest to English passive voice. The subject of the sentence is the one directly receiving the action. The person or thing performing the action is marked with に.

Basic structure: [Subject] は/が [Agent] に [Passive verb]

Compare the active and passive versions:

Active	Passive
先生（せんせい）が私（わたし）をほめた。 The teacher praised me.	私は先生にほめられた。 I was praised by the teacher.
田中（たなか）さんが手紙（てがみ）を書いた。 Mr. Tanaka wrote the letter.	手紙は田中さんに書かれた。 The letter was written by Mr. Tanaka.
みんながその映画（えいが）を愛（あい）した。 Everyone loved that movie.	その映画はみんなに愛された。 That movie was loved by everyone.

Notice that in the direct passive, the subject (私, 手紙, その映画) is the grammatical focus. The agent (先生, 田中さん, みんな) is secondary and marked by に. This is a clean, parallel match with English passive constructions.

Direct Passive Example Sentences

Here are ten natural direct passive sentences covering a range of contexts. Study both the Japanese structure and the English translation carefully.

1. この本（ほん）は夏目漱石（なつめそうせき）に書かれました。
   This book was written by Natsume Soseki.
2. その曲（きょく）は世界中（せかいじゅう）の人々（ひとびと）に聴（き）かれている。
   That song is listened to by people all over the world.
3. 彼女（かのじょ）は上司（じょうし）に信頼（しんらい）された。
   She was trusted by her boss.
4. 子供（こども）のころ、よく母（はは）に叱（しか）られた。
   When I was a child, I was often scolded by my mother.
5. その発見（はっけん）は多くの科学者（かがくしゃ）に注目（ちゅうもく）された。
   That discovery attracted the attention of many scientists. (lit. “was paid attention to by many scientists”)
6. このルールは政府（せいふ）によって決（き）められた。
   This rule was decided by the government.
7. 私は友人（ゆうじん）に名前（なまえ）を呼ばれた。
   I was called by name by my friend.
8. その絵（え）は美術館（びじゅつかん）に飾（かざ）られている。
   That painting is displayed at the museum.
9. 彼は警察（けいさつ）に追（お）いかけられた。
   He was chased by the police.
10. このお菓子（かし）は子供たちにたくさん食べられた。
    This snack was eaten a lot by the children.

Grammar note on によって vs に: For institutional or abstract agents (governments, rules, historical events), Japanese often uses によって rather than just に. Both work with the passive, but によって sounds more formal and is common in written Japanese.

• 政府に決められた — decided by the government (neutral)
• 政府によって決められた — decided by the government (more formal/written)

Indirect Passive (間接受身): The Hardest Concept for English Speakers

Now we reach the part of Japanese passive that has no real equivalent in English: the indirect passive, also called the adversative passive (迷惑（めいわく）の受身 / 間接受身 かんせつうけみ).

In the indirect passive, the subject of the sentence is not the direct object of the action. Instead, the subject is a bystander who is affected — usually inconvenienced or harmed — by someone else's action. English has no clean way to express this, which is exactly why it trips up so many learners.

Key insight: In the indirect passive, the verb's original direct object stays in the sentence, often marked by を.

Look at this classic example:

	Japanese	Literal English	Natural English
Active	泥棒（どろぼう）が財布（さいふ）を盗んだ。	A thief stole the wallet.	A thief stole the wallet.
Direct passive	財布が泥棒に盗まれた。	The wallet was stolen by a thief.	The wallet was stolen by a thief.
Indirect passive	私は泥棒に財布を盗まれた。	I had my wallet stolen by a thief. (I suffered the thief stealing my wallet.)	My wallet was stolen (on me).

The indirect passive sentence 私は泥棒に財布を盗まれた has three key participants:

1. 私は — the affected subject (the victim; marked by は)
2. 泥棒に — the agent who performed the action (marked by に)
3. 財布を — the object of the original action (the wallet; marked by を)

The emotion encoded in the indirect passive is almost always negative: inconvenience, annoyance, sadness, or harm. This is why it's also called the “suffering passive” or “adversative passive.” It's the grammatical way Japanese speakers say “this bad thing happened to me as a result of someone's action.”

Indirect Passive Example Sentences

1. 雨（あめ）に降（ふ）られた。
   I got rained on. (The rain came down on me — an inconvenience.)
   Note: 雨が降る is intransitive, yet it can appear in the indirect passive to express being adversely affected.
2. 電車（でんしゃ）の中で隣（となり）の人に足（あし）を踏（ふ）まれた。
   Someone stepped on my foot on the train.
3. 夜中（よなか）に赤ちゃんに泣（な）かれて、眠（ねむ）れなかった。
   The baby cried in the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep.
4. 友達（ともだち）にパーティーに来（こ）られて、勉強（べんきょう）できなかった。
   My friend came over (uninvited) and I couldn't study.
5. 父（ちち）に日記（にっき）を読まれた。
   My father read my diary (without permission).
6. 上司に急（きゅう）に仕事を頼（たの）まれて、困（こま）った。
   My boss suddenly asked me to do work and it put me in a tough spot.
7. 彼女（かのじょ）に振（ふ）られた。
   I got dumped by my girlfriend/boyfriend.
8. 電車で財布を盗まれてしまった。
   I had my wallet stolen on the train.

Notice sentence 3 carefully: 赤ちゃんに泣かれた. The baby's action (crying: 泣く) doesn't have a direct object — 泣く is an intransitive verb. Yet the speaker still uses the passive to express that they were negatively affected by someone else's action. This intransitive adversative passive is uniquely Japanese and has no English equivalent at all.

Passive in Formal and Written Japanese

In newspapers, academic writing, announcements, and formal reports, the passive voice appears frequently for a different reason: it sounds more objective and impersonal. When the agent is unknown, unimportant, or deliberately left vague, Japanese writers reach for the passive just as English writers do.

Compare these two ways of delivering the same information:

Style	Japanese	English
Active (conversational)	政府が新しい法律（ほうりつ）を作った。	The government made a new law.
Passive (formal)	新しい法律が制定（せいてい）された。	A new law was established.
Active (conversational)	研究者（けんきゅうしゃ）がこの問題を発見した。	Researchers discovered this problem.
Passive (academic)	この問題は1990年代（ねんだい）に発見された。	This problem was discovered in the 1990s.

You will encounter formal passive constantly in:

• Newspaper headlines and articles: 〜が発表（はっぴょう）された (was announced), 〜が報告（ほうこく）された (was reported)
• Academic writing: 〜が証明（しょうめい）された (was proven), 〜が示（しめ）された (was demonstrated)
• Announcements and signs: 〜が禁止（きんし）されています (is prohibited), 〜が募集（ぼしゅう）されています (applications are being accepted)
• History textbooks: 〜が建設（けんせつ）された (was built/constructed)

A key feature of formal passive: the agent (に or によって) is often dropped entirely, making the sentence feel even more impersonal and authoritative. This is by design — formal writing in Japanese often prioritizes the event over the actor, just as it does in English formal writing.

Passive vs. Potential: The 〜られる Ambiguity Trap

Here is one of the most common sources of confusion for intermediate learners: for Group 2 (ichidan/る-verbs), the passive form and the potential form look identical.

Verb	Form	Reading	Possible Meaning
食べる	食べられる	taberareru	(1) can eat (potential) OR (2) is eaten (passive)
見る	見られる	mirareru	(1) can see (potential) OR (2) is seen/watched (passive)
起きる	起きられる	okirareru	(1) can wake up (potential) OR (2) is woken up (passive)
教える（おしえる）	教えられる	oshierareru	(1) can teach (potential) OR (2) is taught (passive)

How do you tell them apart? Context is the primary guide. But there are reliable grammatical signals too:

Signals That Point to Passive

• There is an agent marked by に (someone performing the action on the subject)
• The subject is clearly receiving the action, not performing it
• The sentence expresses being affected by someone else's action

Signals That Point to Potential

• The subject is the same person who would perform the action (the ability is theirs)
• The sentence is about ability, possibility, or capability
• Often accompanied by expressions like もう (anymore), まだ (yet/still), or question words like どのくらい

Side-by-Side Comparison

Sentence	Reading	Why?
このケーキは子供に食べられた。	Passive: The cake was eaten by the child.	子供に (agent) + cake as subject receiving the action
このケーキはもう食べられない。	Potential: I can't eat any more of this cake.	No agent; the speaker is expressing their own inability
彼女は先生に見られた。	Passive: She was seen/watched by the teacher.	先生に (agent who performed the watching)
ここから富士山（ふじさん）が見られる。	Potential: You can see Mt. Fuji from here.	No agent; expresses possibility/ability to see

Note on colloquial speech: In casual modern Japanese, many speakers drop the ら from Group 2 potential forms (食べれる instead of 食べられる, 見れる instead of 見られる). This “ら抜き言葉” (ra-nuki kotoba / ra-dropping speech) actually helps eliminate ambiguity in spoken language, since 食べれる can only be potential, never passive. However, ら抜き言葉 is considered non-standard in formal writing and JLPT tests.

Common Mistakes English Speakers Make

Mistake 1: Using Passive where Japanese Prefers Active

English speakers often over-use the passive because English uses it for subject-focus or stylistic variety. Japanese is generally more comfortable with active sentences, and using passive unnecessarily sounds unnatural or stiff.

Unnatural (forced passive)	Natural Japanese
❌ 私はコーヒーが飲まれた。	✅ 私はコーヒーを飲んだ。 (I drank coffee.)
❌ 映画がよく見られた by me.	✅ 私はよく映画を見た。 (I often watched movies.)

The rule of thumb: if the subject is the one doing the action, use active. The Japanese passive exists specifically for when the subject is receiving or affected by an action.

Mistake 2: Confusing Direct and Indirect Passive

This is extremely common at the N4 level. In the indirect passive, the original を-object of the verb stays in the sentence. Dropping it produces a very different meaning.

Sentence	Type	Meaning
財布が盗まれた。	Direct passive	The wallet was stolen. (Focus on the wallet)
私は財布を盗まれた。	Indirect passive	My wallet was stolen (and I suffered). (Focus on me as the victim)

Mistake 3: Forgetting the Agent Marker に

In English, the agent in a passive sentence uses “by.” In Japanese, the agent is always marked by に (or によって for formal/institutional agents). Using で or が instead of に is a very common error.

Incorrect	Correct
❌ 先生がほめられた。	✅ 先生にほめられた。 (I was praised by the teacher.)
❌ 犬で噛（か）まれた。	✅ 犬に噛まれた。 (I was bitten by a dog.)

Mistake 4: Applying Adversative Nuance to Direct Passive

Not every passive sentence expresses suffering. The direct passive is neutral — it simply describes who or what received an action. The adversative feeling comes specifically from the indirect passive construction, where the affected party is expressed as the subject with an object still present in the sentence.

• Neutral (direct passive): 私は先生にほめられた。— I was praised by the teacher. (This is a good thing!)
• Adversative (indirect passive): 私は先生に作文（さくぶん）を直（なお）された。— My essay was corrected by the teacher (and I found that uncomfortable).

Decision Flowchart: Which Passive (or Potential) Am I Dealing With?

When you encounter or want to produce a passive-looking sentence, use this flowchart to navigate the options:

Is the verb in 〜れる / 〜られる form?
           |
           YES
           |
    Is there an agent marked by に or によって?
    |                              |
   YES                            NO
    |                              |
    Is there also a を-object      → Is the sentence about ABILITY or POSSIBILITY?
    that belongs to the agent's       |               |
    original action?               YES               NO
    |          |                    |                 |
   YES         NO              POTENTIAL          FORMAL PASSIVE
    |          |             (can do X)          (agent omitted
    |          |                                  deliberately)
    |      Is the subject
    |      the DIRECT target
    |      of the action?
    |      |          |
    |     YES         NO
    |      |          |
 INDIRECT  DIRECT   (rare / check context)
 PASSIVE   PASSIVE
(adversative: (neutral: subject
 subject is   directly received
 affected     the action)
 bystander)

Quick Quiz

Test your understanding. For each sentence, identify whether it is (A) direct passive, (B) indirect passive, or (C) potential form. Then translate it into natural English.

1. 私は先生に日本語を教えられた。
2. この映画は世界中で見られている。
3. 雨に降られて、ずぶ濡（ぬ）れになった。
4. ここからは海（うみ）が見られる。
5. 弟（おとうと）に宿題（しゅくだい）を食べられた（by the dog… wait, by my brother）。
6. その論文（ろんぶん）は多くの研究者によって引用（いんよう）された。

Show Answers

1. (B) Indirect passive. “Japanese was taught to me by my teacher” — but the nuance is that the teacher corrected/taught me (and it may have felt uncomfortable or was unsolicited). The を-object (日本語を) stays in the sentence with me (私は) as the affected subject.
2. (A) Direct passive. “This movie is being watched all over the world.” The movie (この映画) directly receives the action of being watched.
3. (B) Indirect passive. “I got rained on and was soaked to the skin.” 降る is intransitive — there is no を-object — but the passive still expresses the speaker's suffering.
4. (C) Potential. “You can see the ocean from here.” No agent; expresses possibility. This is a classic potential sentence.
5. (B) Indirect passive. “My brother ate my homework” (lit. “I suffered my brother eating my homework”). 弟に (agent) + 宿題を (object still present) + 食べられた (passive verb).
6. (A) Direct passive (formal). “That paper was cited by many researchers.” Academic passive with によって marking the institutional agent.

Have you ever been caught off guard by the adversative passive — or do you find the 〜られる ambiguity trap trickier? Share your experience or any example sentences that confused you in the comments below. Other learners will benefit from hearing what tripped you up!

Keep Learning

The passive form is part of a family of verb conjugation patterns that all build off the same foundations. Once you are comfortable with passive, these related topics will come more easily:

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Japanese Verb Groups Explained: U-verbs, Ru-verbs, and Irregular Verbs (Complete Guide) Master the three Japanese verb groups — U-verbs (Group 1), Ru-verbs (Group 2), and irregular verbs — so you can conjugate ANY verb correctly. Essential foundation for all Japanese grammar.

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About the Author

Daisuke is the creator of JP YoKoSo — a Japanese learning site for English speakers. Every article is written to explain Japanese clearly, with real examples, grammar notes, and practical tips for learners at every level.

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