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LingakuLingakuResulting passive verb conjugates as a regular ichidan (る) verb.
The 受身形 (passive form) is used when the subject of the sentence receives an action rather than performing it. It corresponds roughly to the English passive voice ("is done," "was eaten," etc.), but Japanese also has a unique indirect passive (迷惑の受身) that expresses how someone is negatively affected by another's action.
V5 (godan) verbs: Change the final う-row kana to the corresponding あ-row kana and add れる.
V1 (ichidan) verbs: Remove る and add られる.
Irregular verbs:
The resulting passive verb conjugates as a regular ichidan (る) verb: 書かれる → 書かれます / 書かれた / 書かれない / 書かれている, etc.
The most straightforward use: the subject receives the action. The agent (the person or thing performing the action) is marked with に.
With inanimate subjects, によって is used instead of に to mark the agent, especially in formal or written contexts:
This usage is unique to Japanese. The subject is indirectly affected (usually negatively) by someone else's action. The verb itself may be intransitive – something that is impossible in English passive constructions.
In these sentences, the speaker is expressing that they were inconvenienced or adversely affected by the event. This nuance is important – using the passive often implies the speaker did not welcome the action.
に + passive: marks the agent who performs the action
Possession passive: A part of the body or a possession of the subject receives the action. The possessor is the subject, and the thing affected takes を.
For ichidan verbs, the passive form and the potential form are identical (たべられる食べられる can mean "is eaten" or "can eat"). Context usually makes the meaning clear. In casual speech, the potential is often shortened to たべれる食べれる (ら抜き言葉) to distinguish the two.