Passive and causative

Formation of the Passive (受身, ukemi)

The passive is formed by conjugating a verb into its negative stem (the form that ends in あ for godan verbs, or the stem for ichidan verbs) and adding られる (for ichidan verbs) or れる (for godan verbs). For example:

• 書く（かく, kaku, to write）→ 書かれる（かかれる, kakareru, to be written）
• 食べる（たべる, taberu, to eat）→ 食べられる（たべられる, taberareru, to be eaten）

Note that られる is also used for the potential form of ichidan verbs (e.g., 食べられる can mean 'can eat' or 'is eaten'), so context is important.

For godan verbs, the passive is formed by changing the final u-sound to an a-sound and adding れる. For example, 行く（いく, iku, to go）becomes 行かれる（いかれる, ikareru, to be gone (by someone)）. For する (suru, to do), the passive is される (sareru, to be done). For 来る（くる, kuru, to come）, it is 来られる（こられる, korareru, to be come (by someone)）.

Formation of the Causative (使役, shieki)

The causative is formed by adding せる (for godan verbs) or させる (for ichidan verbs) to the same stem used for the passive. For example:

• 書く（かく, kaku）→ 書かせる（かかせる, kakaseru, to make/let someone write）
• 食べる（たべる, taberu）→ 食べさせる（たべさせる, tabesaseru, to make/let someone eat）

For する, the causative is させる (saseru, to make/let someone do). For 来る, it is 来させる（こさせる, kosaseru, to make/let someone come）.

Note that the causative can also be formed with しめる (shimeru) in formal writing, but せる/させる is standard in modern speech.

The Suffering Passive (迷惑の受身, meiwaku no ukemi)

Japanese has a passive construction that is often called the 'suffering passive' or 'adversative passive.' Unlike English, where the passive is neutral, in Japanese the passive often implies that the subject is negatively affected by the action. This is especially common with intransitive verbs, which normally cannot be made passive in English. For example:

• 雨に降られた（あめにふられた, ame ni furareta, literally 'I was rained on'）— This means 'It rained on me (and I suffered).'
• 隣の人に騒がれた（となりにひとにさわがれた, tonari no hito ni sawagareta, literally 'I was made noisy by the neighbor'）— This means 'My neighbor made noise and it bothered me.'

In these cases, the passive marks the speaker as the one who is inconvenienced. The agent (the person or thing causing the trouble) is marked with に (ni). This construction is used with both transitive and intransitive verbs, and it is a key difference from English.

The Causative-Passive (使役受身, shieki ukemi)

The causative-passive combines the causative and passive forms to express 'to be made to do something' or 'to be forced to do something.' It is formed by taking the causative form and then conjugating it into the passive. For example:

• 書かせる（かかせる, kakaseru, to make/let write）→ 書かせられる（かかせられる, kakaserareru, to be made to write）
• 食べさせる（たべさせる, tabesaseru, to make/let eat）→ 食べさせられる（たべさせられる, tabesaserareru, to be made to eat）

For godan verbs, there is a common contracted form: instead of 書かせられる, you often hear 書かされる (kakasareru). This is a shorter, colloquial form that is widely used in speech. For example, 行かされる (ikasareru, to be made to go) is more common than 行かせられる (ikaserareru) in everyday conversation.

For する, the causative-passive is させられる (saserareru, to be made to do). For 来る, it is 来させられる（こさせられる, kosaserareru, to be made to come）.

The causative-passive is often used to express that someone is forced to do something against their will, and it carries a strong sense of obligation or hardship. For example:

• 毎日残業させられる（まいにちざんぎょうさせられる, mainichi zangyō saserareru, 'I am made to work overtime every day.'）

This construction is a common source of confusion for learners because it combines two complex conjugations, but with practice it becomes natural.

Usage Notes

• The passive is also used to express politeness or to avoid direct blame, as in そう言われますと (sō iwaremasu to, 'if you say that') where the passive softens the statement.
• The causative can also mean 'to let someone do something' when used with permission, especially with させてください (sasete kudasai, 'please let me do').
• In the suffering passive, the agent is marked with に, but in the regular passive, the agent can be marked with に or によって (ni yotte) in formal writing.

For more on verb conjugation, see the grammar library. To practice conjugations, try the Conjugation Dojo. For related particles, see Particle Battle.