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← All Lessons 26–50

Minna no Nihongo - Lesson 37

Complete Grammar Lesson

Passive verbs, passive sentence patterns, adversity passive, impersonal passive, によって, and materials with から / で. Furigana, clear explanations, real-life examples, common mistakes, and practice are included throughout.

Main idea of Lesson 37: passive sentences shift attention away from the person who performs an action and toward the person or thing that receives the action. Japanese also uses the passive in a special way to show that someone was negatively affected, inconvenienced, or troubled by another person's action.
In this lesson: passive verb formation, the basic passive sentence patterns, the passive used with a person's belongings, the passive when the doer is unimportant, によって for creators and discoverers, and ～から／～で作つくられます for materials.

1. Passive verbs — 受身形うけみけい

A passive verb expresses that an action is done to someone or something.

Compare the viewpoint:
My teacher praised me.
I was praised by my teacher.

Group 1 verbs

Change the final u-row sound to the corresponding a-row sound and add れる. In polite form, use れます.

書かく → 書かかれる　　読よむ → 読よまれる　　買かう → 買かわれる
Important: verbs ending in う change to われる, not あれる.
ます form Meaning Passive polite Passive plain
ask / request
buy
step on
scold
take
wake someone
break something
make dirty
hold / conduct

Group 2 verbs

Remove ます and add られます. The plain form ends in られる.

ます form Passive polite Passive plain
Potential form and passive form can look identical for Group 2 verbs.
can mean either “can eat” or “be eaten.” Context tells you which meaning is intended.

Group 3 verbs

Verb Passive polite Passive plain
来こられる is also ambiguous. It can mean “can come” or “be affected by someone coming,” depending on context.

Useful passive conjugations

Form Example with 褒ほめられる Meaning
Plain non-past is praised / will be praised
Polite non-past is praised / will be praised
Plain past was praised
Polite past was praised
Plain negative is not praised
Polite negative is not praised

2. Basic passive: Person 1 は Person 2 に V-passive

Person 1 は + Person 2 に + Passive Verb

Person 1 receives the action. Person 2 performs the action and is normally marked with に.

A useful conversion rule:
  1. Move the original object/receiver to the topic position.
  2. Change the original doer to に.
  3. Change the verb to passive form.

Active

My teacher praised me.

Passive

I was praised by my teacher.

More basic passive examples

I was scolded by my father.

Every morning, I am woken up early by my older brother.

I was invited to a party by Mr./Ms. Shū.

I was bitten by a dog.

Natural Japanese: when the topic is obviously “I,” Japanese often omits . So naturally means “I was scolded by my father.”

When the original verb uses に

Some verbs already mark the person they are directed toward with に, for example:

  • — ask/request someone
  • — introduce someone
  • — say something to someone

Active

My mother asked me to do some shopping.

Passive

I was asked by my mother to do some shopping.

3. Adversity passive — when someone is negatively affected

Person 1 は + Person 2 に + Person 1's thing を + Passive Verb

Japanese commonly uses the passive when another person does something to your possession, body part, or something connected to you, and you feel troubled, inconvenienced, annoyed, or negatively affected.

The most important point is that Person 1 remains the topic. Japanese is describing Person 1's experience of being affected, not merely the physical object.

Active sentence

My younger brother broke my game console.

Adversity passive

My younger brother broke my game console on me. / I had my game console broken by my younger brother.

Do not normally make the possession itself the topic if the point is “I was negatively affected.”
The natural Lesson 37 pattern is:

Real-life adversity passive examples

I got bitten on the hand by a cat.

My camera was stolen from me.

My dog got my clothes dirty.

The person in front stepped on my foot.

Do not use this passive for something you are grateful for

If someone does something helpful for you, Japanese normally uses a giving/receiving expression such as Vてもらいます, not the adversity passive.

I had my laptop repaired by my friend. / My friend kindly repaired my laptop for me.

For a helpful action, avoid: if your intended meaning is gratitude. That passive wording can sound as if you were simply affected by the action, and may imply inconvenience depending on context.
Going a little further: Japanese also has a broader “indirect/adversity passive” where the action does not directly target a possession. Example: Literally, “I was rained on.” Natural English: “I got caught in the rain.” The point is that the person was negatively affected by the event.

4. Passive when the doer is unimportant or unknown

Thing / event が・は + Passive Verb

Sometimes the person who performs the action is not important. Japanese can make the object or event the topic and simply describe what happened to it.

An old Japanese painting was discovered in France.

Japanese cars are exported all over the world.

The next Olympics will be held in Tokyo.

This passive style is especially common in: news reports, formal explanations, history, public announcements, product descriptions, and writing where the doer is obvious or irrelevant.

5. Nによって + passive — “by…” for creators, inventors, discoverers

Thing は + Creator / Inventor / Discoverer によって + Passive Verb

When talking about something that was created, invented, discovered, written, built, designed, or produced by a notable person or group, Japanese often uses によって instead of a simple に.

The statue of David was sculpted by Michelangelo.

The telephone was invented by Bell.

This vaccine was discovered by a Japanese scientist.

Choosing between に and によって: によって sounds more formal and objective than に. It is especially natural when crediting an inventor, author, architect, artist, researcher, or organization.

6. Nから / Nで 作つくられます — made from / made of

Product は + Material から / で + 作つくられます

Both から and で can describe the material used to make something, but the viewpoint is different.

Basic rule:
から — use when the original material is processed or transformed so much that the final product does not simply look like that material.
で — use when the material itself is visibly recognizable in the finished object.

から — made from

Beer is made from barley.

Wine is made from grapes.

The raw material is transformed through a process into another product.

で — made of / made with

In the past, Japanese houses were made of wood.

This bag was made of abaca.

Also common in everyday Japanese: In ordinary modern Japanese, ～でできています is also very common when describing composition: “This table is made of wood.” The core Lesson 37 pattern, however, is ～で作つくられます / ～から作つくられます.

7. Passive particle map

Role Typical particle Example
Person affected / receiver は
Doer / agent に
Possession/body part affected を
Creator/inventor/discoverer によって
Place where event occurs で

8. Active → Passive conversion practice

1

Teacher praised Tanaka.

2

My younger brother broke my camera.

9. Common mistakes

Mistake 1: using を for the doer
Passive agent is normally marked with に.
Mistake 2: forgetting the わ in passive verbs ending in う

Not:
Mistake 3: assuming every Japanese passive is neutral
The “adversity passive” often implies that the affected person was inconvenienced or negatively affected.
Mistake 4: using adversity passive for a favor you appreciated
If someone kindly does something for you, Vてもらいました is usually more natural.
Mistake 5: confusing から and で for materials
Use から for transformed raw material, and で when the material remains visibly identifiable.

10. Real-life mini conversations

At work

A: Yesterday, I was praised by the department manager.

B: That's great.

An unlucky morning

A: This morning, someone stepped on my foot on the train.

B: That was rough.

Talking about a famous invention

This device was developed by a Japanese researcher.

11. Quick cheat sheet

Grammar Core meaning Example
Person 1 は Person 2 に V-passive Person 1 receives an action from Person 2.
Person 1 は Person 2 に Nを V-passive Person 1 is negatively affected by something done to their possession/body.
N が/は V-passive The doer is unknown/unimportant.
N は Person によって V-passive Credits a creator/inventor/discoverer.
N は Material から 作つくられます Made from transformed raw material.
N は Material で 作つくられます Made of visibly identifiable material.

12. Practice

A. Change these verbs into passive polite form

B. Change the active sentence to passive

C. Choose に, によって, から, or で

  1. に
  2. によって
  3. から
  4. で

D. Translate into Japanese

  1. I was invited to a party by my friend.
  2. My camera was stolen from me.
  3. This machine was invented by a Japanese engineer.
  4. Beer is made from barley.
  5. This house is made of wood.

Sample answers — other natural wordings are also correct.

13. Final memory rules

Change the viewpoint from the doer to the receiver.

Use this when somebody does something to your possession/body and you are negatively affected.

Use によって when crediting a creator, inventor, discoverer, researcher, etc.

から = transformed raw material. で = visibly recognizable material.