This grammar shows that something happens to the subject. It's like saying "was done" in English.
Verb + られるPrimary
Verb + れる
This grammar shows that something happens to the subject. It's like saying "was done" in English.
私は弟にケーキを食べられた。
My cake was eaten by my little brother. (Implying I was negatively affected.)
この本は世界中の多くの人に読まれている。
This book is being read by many people all over the world.
会議では新しい方針が決定されました。
The new policy was decided upon at the meeting.
その事実はまだ誰にも知られていない。
That fact is not yet known by anyone.
NeutralProgressiveNegativeSentence EndingDeclarative
雨に降られて、服が全部濡れてしまった。
I was caught in the rain, and all my clothes got wet.
Sometimes, the passive form shows something bad happened to you. It feels like you "suffered" the action. Like when your brother eats your cake. You feel annoyed or sad about it.
This form is like the potential form for some verbs. You must use the sentence around it to tell them apart. The passive uses "ni" for the doer. The potential uses "ga" or "o" for the thing that can be done.
Don't use this when you want to say you did something yourself. For example, 'I ate the apple' is not a passive sentence. You change verbs differently based on their type. For Group 2 verbs, add 'られる' after the verb stem. For Group 1 verbs, change the last 'u' sound to an 'a' sound. Then add 'れる'. For 'suru', it becomes 'sareru'. For 'kuru', it becomes 'korareru'.
Use this when you want to state facts. You do not need to say who did the action. This makes your writing sound formal.
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