受け身と視点Passive and Perspective
Chapter Objectives
By the end of this chapter, you will be able to:
- Explain the difference between describing an event with an active verb and describing it with a passive verb.
- Form and use the direct passive to describe an event from the point of view of the person or thing it happens to.
- Form and use the indirect ("adversative" or affected-bystander) passive to describe how an event affected someone, even when that person is not the grammatical object of the original action.
- Mark the agent of a passive sentence with に, and recognize when the agent is omitted because it is unknown, unimportant, or already understood.
- Choose between an active and a passive sentence based on whose perspective and experience the sentence is meant to foreground.
- Read and listen to short notices, news items, and personal accounts that use passive forms, and identify who is affected and how.
- Write and narrate a short account of an incident or experience using passive forms to express affectedness and perspective.
Communication Scenario
Emma's discussion group meets at a community center, and this week the group's usual room has been closed for repairs after a small water leak. A printed notice about the change was posted on the bulletin board, and Yuki tells Emma that her bicycle was also affected — it was parked near the flooded area and got splashed, delaying her morning. Emma wants to understand the posted notice, ask Yuki about what happened, and later write a short message to the rest of the discussion group explaining the situation from everyone's point of view — what happened to the room, and how it affected the group's plans. This chapter's Practical Performance Task asks you to read or listen to an account of an incident, then narrate and write your own account of an event and its effect on you or someone else, using both direct and indirect passive forms.
- The writer or speaker uses a direct passive form to describe what happened to an object, place, or announcement.
- The writer or speaker uses an indirect passive form to describe how the event affected a specific person.
- The writer or speaker marks the agent with に only where the agent is relevant and known.
Core Vocabulary
This chapter's vocabulary supports incidents, experiences, notices, procedures, news, and personal affectedness. All items below are productive for this chapter and recycle in Chapters 8 through 10.
| Function | Japanese | Reading | English meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| Incident / event | 事件 | じけん | incident; case |
| Incident / event | 被害 | ひがい | damage; harm suffered |
| Notice / announcement | 発表 | はっぴょう | announcement; publication |
| Notice / announcement | 掲示 | けいじ | posted notice |
| Discovery / decision | 発見 | はっけん | discovery |
| Discovery / decision | 決定 | けってい | decision |
| Procedure / response | 対応 | たいおう | response; handling (of a situation) |
| Procedure / response | 修理 | しゅうり | repair |
| Personal affectedness | 迷惑 | めいわく | trouble; nuisance (something one is bothered by) |
| Personal affectedness | 影響 | えいきょう | effect; influence |
These items combine with the direct and indirect passive patterns introduced in this chapter's Grammar section, especially 迷惑 and 影響, which frequently appear with the indirect passive.
れんしゅう — Practice: Choose four words from the table and write one plain-style active sentence with each, describing an incident, a notice, or a decision.
Script and Kanji Focus
This chapter introduces kanji for event, notice, damage, discovery, decision, publication, and response, consistent with the Kanji Recognition and Kanji Production Matrices for this volume. Furigana is provided for these new kanji on first appearance in this chapter and reduced in later readings once the chapter has established them; furigana remains available for names and any unscheduled readings.
The character 発, meaning roughly "to send out" or "to bring about," appears in several words active in this chapter and beyond: 発表 (announcement), 発見 (discovery), and later in the volume, 発達 (development) and other compounds. Recognizing 発 as a recurring component can help you predict the general meaning area of a new compound, but the exact reading and precise meaning of each word must still be checked individually, since the same component does not guarantee the same reading in every compound.
In this chapter's readings, only names, unfamiliar loanwords, and this chapter's new kanji on first appearance receive furigana.
れんしゅう — Practice: Write the readings for 事件, 被害, 発見, 決定, 発表, and 対応. Then find one other word you already know that also contains 発, and write its reading and meaning.
Pronunciation Focus
Several words in this chapter contain the small っ, which lengthens the following consonant by one full mora. This chapter's vocabulary makes these contrasts especially important, since dropping the small っ can produce a different word or an unintelligible sequence.
- 発見 (はっけん): the small っ before け must be held as its own timing unit, distinct from はけん (which has a different meaning).
- 発表 (はっぴょう): the small っ before ぴ, followed immediately by the contracted sound ょう; keep both features distinct and do not shorten either.
- 迷惑をかけられました: a common phrase from this chapter's Grammar section; practice keeping the moraic ん in 迷惑 and the passive ending's own vowel length distinct from each other.
Practice reading the Model Dialogue aloud, paying particular attention to holding each moraic and geminate unit for its full length, even at a natural conversational pace.
Grammar and Sentence Patterns: Passive and Perspective
Japanese passive sentences do more than reverse the subject and object of an active sentence, as an English passive often does. Japanese has two related passive constructions: the direct passive, which describes an event from the point of view of the person or thing the action was done to, and the indirect passive (sometimes called the adversative or affected-bystander passive), which describes how an event affected someone even when that person was not directly acted upon at all. Both constructions shift the sentence's point of view toward the person who experiences the event, which is why this chapter treats passive forms and perspective together.
Forming the passive
Purpose: to build the passive form of a verb before using it to shift perspective.
- 読む → 読まれるto read → to be readGroup 1 (u-verb): change final -u to -a, add -れる
- 見る → 見られるto see/look at → to be seen/looked atGroup 2 (ru-verb): drop -る, add -られる
- する → されるto do → to be doneirregular
- 来る → 来られるto come → (someone) coming (on the speaker)irregular; frequently indirect passive
The passive form is itself a Group 2 (ru-verb) once built, so it conjugates like 見られる in all further tenses and forms: 読まれます, 読まれました, 読まれない, and so on.
The direct passive — describing what happened to something
Purpose: to describe an event from the point of view of the person, place, or thing the action was done to, especially when the agent is unknown, unimportant, or best left unstated.
- 今朝、事件のニュースが発表されました。News of the incident was announced this morning.agent omitted — the announcer is not the focus
- その掲示は先週、担当者によって貼られました。That notice was posted last week by the person in charge.agent marked with によって — common in formal/written passive
- 古い自転車が公園で発見されました。An old bicycle was discovered in the park.agent omitted — the discoverer is unimportant to the point
The agent of a direct passive is normally marked with に in ordinary speech and writing (先生に褒められました, "I was praised by the teacher"), while によって is common in more formal, written, or news-style passives, especially when the agent is an organization, institution, or unspecified party rather than an individual person.
The indirect passive — describing how an event affected someone
Purpose: to describe how an event affected a person, even when that person did not directly experience the original action — often, though not always, an inconvenience, disruption, or unwelcome effect.
- 雨に降られて、予定が変わりました。I got rained on, and my plans changed. (lit., I was rained on, and...)intransitive verb 降る + passive; the speaker is affected by the rain, not "acted upon" by it
- 隣の部屋の工事に困っています。いつも音を出されて、集中できません。I'm troubled by the construction in the next room. Noise is constantly made, and I can't concentrate.the speaker is affected by an action performed by someone else, without being its direct target
- 友達に急に予定を変えられて、困りました。My friend suddenly changed our plans on me, and I was troubled by it.transitive verb 変える + passive, with the affected party as the topic rather than the person who changed the plans
The indirect passive can be built from both transitive and intransitive verbs — a flexibility that the direct passive does not share, since the direct passive normally requires a transitive verb with a clear object.
Active or passive: choosing the sentence's perspective
Notice that 閉められて foregrounds the room's condition (direct passive), while 濡らされて and 困りました foreground how the situation affected the group and Yuki personally (indirect passive) — the same underlying event, told twice from different points of view.
Grammar Practice
- Change 先生が学生を褒めました。 into a direct passive sentence with 学生 as the topic.
- Change 誰かが私の傘を使いました。 into an indirect passive sentence describing how this affected you.
- Write one sentence with によって describing a formal decision or announcement made by an organization.
- Write one sentence using 雨に降られる or another intransitive-verb indirect passive to describe something that happened to you.
- Write a two-sentence account of a small incident, using one direct passive sentence and one indirect passive sentence to describe the same event from two angles.
Model Dialogue
Setting: Emma and Yuki meet at the community center and notice the posted notice about the closed room.
ないようりかい — Comprehension questions:
- What was discovered last week, according to Yuki?
- What has been announced about the room situation?
- What indirect passive form does Yuki use to describe what happened to her bicycle, and what does it foreground?
Guided Practice
タスク１ — Identify the passive type. Read five sentences provided by your instructor or partner and decide whether each uses a direct passive, an indirect passive, or no passive at all.
タスク２ — Build direct passives. Rewrite three active sentences as direct passive sentences, marking the agent with に or によって only when it matters to the sentence.
タスク３ — Build indirect passives. Rewrite three active sentences, including at least one with an intransitive verb, as indirect passive sentences describing how the event affected a specific person.
タスク４ — Two viewpoints, one event. Choose one small incident (a spilled drink, a cancelled bus, a noisy neighbor) and write it twice: once foregrounding what happened to the object or place, and once foregrounding how it affected a person.
タスク５ — Plan your account. Using the Building Block pattern from the Grammar section, outline a short account of your own, on a topic such as a minor incident, a change in plans, or a notice you have seen or received.
Listening Practice
Ask your instructor, a partner, or a text-to-speech tool to read the following passage aloud at a clear, moderate pace.
きくタスク — A short local news item
今日の午前中、市民センターの一階で水漏れが発見されました。原因はまだ調査されていますが、担当者によると、来週中に修理が終わる予定だそうです。この水漏れによって、いくつかの部屋が一時的に使えなくなり、利用者が影響を受けています。センターでは、利用者に迷惑をかけないよう、別の部屋への案内が発表されました。詳しい情報は、センターの窓口で確認できます。
聞くタスク — Listening task: Identify (1) what was discovered and where, (2) who is investigating the cause, (3) when the repair is expected to finish, (4) one direct passive form and one indirect passive form used in the report, and (5) what the center announced to reduce inconvenience for users.
This script combines this chapter's productive direct and indirect passive patterns with formal によって marking in a realistic local-news context.
Speaking Practice
コントロールされた練習 — Controlled practice: Quick transformation prompts
- 「先生が学生を褒めました」を受け身にしてください。
- 「隣の人が夜遅くまで音楽をかけました」を、影響を受けた人の視点で受け身にしてください。
- 「雨が降りました。予定が変わりました」を、雨に降られての形を使って一文にしてください。
コミュニケーションタスク — Partner interview
With a partner, take turns describing a small inconvenience that happened to each of you recently — a delayed bus, noisy construction, a cancelled event. Use at least one indirect passive form to describe how the event affected you, and ask your partner at least one follow-up question.
ひとりでもできる練習 — Solo practice: A rehearsed incident report
Prepare and record a thirty-to-sixty-second spoken account of a real or invented incident, such as the one in the Communication Scenario. Include at least one direct passive sentence describing what happened and one indirect passive sentence describing who was affected and how. Listen back and check your pronunciation of geminate consonants and moraic ん.
Reading Practice
Read the following posted notice, then answer the questions below.
お知らせ — A Posted Notice at the Community Center
利用者の皆様へ 先週、一階の会議室で水漏れが発見されました。現在、修理が行われており、来週の水曜日まで一階の会議室はご利用いただけません。ご不便をおかけして、誠に申し訳ございません。この件については、担当者によって別の部屋が用意されることが決定されました。詳しい部屋の割り当ては、受付にて発表されますので、ご確認ください。ご協力のほど、よろしくお願いいたします。
This notice combines formal によって marking with productive direct passive patterns and the fixed keigo expressions introduced in Chapter 6.
ないようりかい — Comprehension questions:
- What was discovered, and where?
- Until when will the first-floor meeting room be unavailable?
- What has been decided about an alternative room, and by whom?
- Identify one direct passive form and one formal によって phrase used in the notice.
Writing Workshop
In this workshop you will draft the written portion of your Practical Performance Task: a short account of an incident or experience, told from two angles using both direct and indirect passive forms.
- Choose a real or invented incident: something that happened to an object, place, or notice, and something that affected a specific person as a result.
- Describe the event itself using at least one direct passive sentence, marking the agent with に or によって only if it matters.
- Describe the effect on a person using at least one indirect passive sentence, choosing a transitive or intransitive verb as appropriate.
- Connect the two parts of your account with an appropriate clause connector from earlier chapters, such as ので or が.
- Revise your draft using the checklist below.
チェックリスト — Editing checklist:
- My account includes at least one direct passive sentence describing what happened.
- My account includes at least one indirect passive sentence describing how someone was affected.
- I marked the agent with に or によって only where it is relevant and known.
- I chose active or passive sentences deliberately based on whose perspective I wanted to foreground.
- I did not force a direct passive onto an intransitive verb without an available indirect-passive reading.
- I checked this chapter's new kanji readings without relying on furigana where possible.
Culture and Communication
Japanese public notices, news reports, and institutional announcements frequently use the passive voice, often with によって, to describe decisions, discoveries, and actions without naming an individual responsible party. This is not primarily a way of avoiding responsibility; it reflects a common convention in formal and institutional writing, where the organization or process, rather than a specific person, is usually the more relevant piece of information for the reader.
Many languages have some way of expressing that someone was affected by an event without being its direct target, though the grammatical tools differ: some languages use dative or reflexive constructions, others use idiomatic phrases, and Japanese uses the indirect passive. Comparing how your own language expresses "something happened to me" without a direct object can help clarify what is functionally similar to the Japanese indirect passive and what is distinct to it.
Unlike the keigo forms introduced in Chapter 6, ordinary passive forms are not inherently more formal or more polite than their active counterparts; they simply describe events from a different point of view. A casual conversation between friends can use the indirect passive just as naturally as a formal news report, so choose the passive based on perspective and affectedness, not as a general politeness strategy.
Common Mistakes to Avoid
Error: *このニュースは誰かに発表されました。 forcing an unnecessary or vague agent phrase onto a passive sentence where the agent is not relevant.
Correction: このニュースは発表されました。 — omit the agent entirely when it is unknown or unimportant to the point of the sentence.
Error: *私は雨が降られました。 attempting to build a direct passive from an intransitive verb without the correct indirect-passive structure.
Correction: 私は雨に降られました。 — the indirect passive of an intransitive verb marks the affected person as the topic and uses に, not が, for the event itself.
Error: *友達によって助けられました。 using the formal によって to mark an ordinary personal agent in casual conversation.
Correction: 友達に助けられました。 — reserve によって mainly for formal, written, or institutional agents, and use に for ordinary personal agents in everyday speech and writing.
Chapter Review
Section A — ごい (Vocabulary)
1. Use 事件, 被害, 発見, 決定, and 影響 each in one original sentence about an incident or a decision.
Section B — もじ (Script)
1. Write the readings for all four new kanji words in the Script and Kanji Focus section from memory, then check them against that section.
Section C — ぶんぽう (Grammar)
1. Complete the five Grammar Practice items above, if you have not already done so.
2. Explain, in your own words, the difference between a direct passive sentence and an indirect passive sentence, and give one original example of each.
Section D — どっかいりかい (Reading comprehension)
1. Look again at the notice in the Reading Practice section. Write two sentences summarizing what was discovered and what has been decided, using at least one passive form of your own.
Section E — かくこと (Writing)
1. Complete your account of an incident, following the Writing Workshop steps, as part of the Practical Performance Task below.
Section F — はなすこと (Speaking)
1. Present your rehearsed incident report and complete the partner interview task, as part of the Practical Performance Task below.
Practical Performance Task
パフォーマンスタスク
受け身と視点 — Narrating an incident from two points of view
Prepare an account of an incident described in the Communication Scenario, or one of your own choosing, such as a minor accident, a schedule change, or a notice you have seen or received. Complete all four components below.
- Written account: Write a short account of at least five sentences that includes at least one direct passive sentence describing what happened, at least one indirect passive sentence describing how a specific person was affected, and an appropriate connector linking the two parts.
- Spoken report: With a partner, instructor, or recording, perform a thirty-to-sixty-second spoken account of the same incident, using both direct and indirect passive forms.
- Partner interview: With a partner or instructor, ask and answer at least two questions about each other's incidents, including at least one question that requires a passive-form answer.
- Peer or self-audit: Exchange your written account with a partner, or review your own after a break, and check specifically for correct distinction between direct and indirect passive forms, appropriate agent marking, and clear pronunciation of geminate consonants and moraic ん.
Assessment focus: accurate use of this chapter's vocabulary and kanji; correct formation and distinction of direct and indirect passive forms; appropriate agent marking with に or によって; deliberate choice between active and passive perspective; and comprehensible, accurate pronunciation.
Answer Key
Core Vocabulary and Script Review
Open-ended; check readings and sentences against the Core Vocabulary table and the Script and Kanji Focus section above.
Grammar Practice
- Model answer: 学生は先生に褒められました。
- Model answer: 誰かに傘を使われて、困りました。
- Open-ended; check that によって marks a formal or institutional agent, e.g. 新しい規則が委員会によって決定されました。
- Model answer: 雨に降られて、傘を買わなければなりませんでした。
- Open-ended; models should include one direct passive sentence and one indirect passive sentence describing the same event from two perspectives, as in the Building Block pattern.
Model Dialogue — Comprehension
- A water leak (水漏れ) was discovered last week, according to Yuki.
- It has been announced that a different room will be used instead.
- Yuki uses 濡らされちゃって (from 濡らされる), the indirect passive, which foregrounds how the water affected her and her bicycle, rather than simply stating that the bicycle got wet.
Listening Practice — Model summary
A water leak was discovered on the first floor of the citizen center this morning. The cause is still being investigated, and according to the person in charge, the repair is expected to finish sometime next week. Several rooms have temporarily become unusable because of the leak, and users have been affected. The center announced guidance to alternative rooms so as not to cause inconvenience to users.
Reading Practice — Comprehension
- A water leak was discovered in the first-floor meeting room.
- The first-floor meeting room will be unavailable until next Wednesday.
- It has been decided, by the person in charge, that an alternative room will be prepared.
- A direct passive form is 発見されました; a formal によって phrase is 担当者によって別の部屋が用意されることが決定されました.
Chapter Review — Sections A and B
Open-ended; check against the Core Vocabulary and Script and Kanji Focus sections above.
Chapter Review — Section C
Open-ended for item 1; see Grammar Practice guidance above. For item 2, a correct explanation notes that a direct passive describes an event from the point of view of the person or thing the action was done to, while an indirect passive describes how an event affected someone who was not the direct target of the original action, often expressing an unwelcome or disruptive effect.
Chapter Review — Section D
Model answer: 一階の会議室で水漏れが発見された。担当者によって、別の部屋が用意されることが決定された。 (Other accurate answers accepted.)
Chapter Review — Sections E and F, and Practical Performance Task
These are open-ended production tasks. Evaluate the written account against the Writing Workshop checklist above, and evaluate the spoken report, partner interview, and peer or self-audit against the assessment focus listed under the Practical Performance Task.
Looking Ahead
いまできること — What you can do now
You can form and use direct and indirect passive forms to describe events and their effects on people, choosing deliberately between active and passive sentences based on perspective. This continues Unit II, 視点と条件, and gives you a foundation of viewpoint control that will combine with the potential, causative, and request forms introduced in the next chapter.