ISORI

〜れる / 〜られる

Conjugation:

passive

The passive: "is done" or "was done (by someone)". Japanese also uses it for things that happen to you and affect you, often in a way you did not want.

Conjugation rules

  • For godan verbs, start from the ない form and replace ない with れる: 書(か)かない becomes 書(か)かれる.
  • For ichidan verbs, replace る with られる.
  • する becomes される and 来(く)る becomes 来(こ)られる (irregular).
  • The result is an ichidan verb: 書(か)かれます, 書(か)かれた.
  • The person who does the action is marked with に: 先生(せんせい)に褒(ほ)められた (I was praised by the teacher).

Examples

godan
書(か)く(to write)書(か)かれる
言(い)う(to say)言(い)われる
ichidan
食(た)べる(to eat)食(た)べられる
irregular
する(to do)される
来(く)る(to come)来(こ)られる

Example sentences

私(わたし)は先生(せんせい)に褒(ほ)められました。

I was praised by my teacher.

電車(でんしゃ)で足(あし)を踏(ふ)まれました。

Someone stepped on my foot on the train.

この本(ほん)は多(おお)くの人(ひと)に読(よ)まれています。

This book is read by many people.

Notes

  • When something bothers you, Japanese often says it happened to you, even with verbs that take no object: 雨(あめ)に降(ふ)られた (I got caught in the rain).
  • For who made or created something, formal writing marks the maker with によって instead of に.
  • The ichidan passive has the same shape as the potential and the honorific. Context tells them apart.

Common mistakes

  • Marking the doer with が. 先生(せんせい)が褒(ほ)められた means the teacher is the one who was praised.

Same form, different meaning