Japanese Passive and Causative Forms Explained

Japanese has three related conjugations that change who is doing what to whom: the passive (something was done to you), the causative (you made or let someone do something), and the causative-passive (you were made to do something, usually against your wish). They share a conjugation pattern, which makes them easier to learn together than separately.

All three attach to the same verb stem used for negative-form conjugation, the "a-row" stem. If you can already conjugate a verb into its negative form, you already know the stem this guide builds from.

The Passive Form (られる)

The passive form shows that the subject received an action rather than performed it: "was verbed" rather than "verbed."

Direct Passive: What English Already Has

• 猫ねこに噛かまれた。 (Neko ni kamareta.) - "I was bitten by a cat."

The Suffering Passive: What English Doesn't Have

Japanese also builds a passive from intransitive verbs, verbs that normally have no object, to show that the speaker was negatively affected by an event. There is no direct English translation; the closest equivalent is usually "and it was inconvenient" or "and I didn't like it."

• 雨あめに降ふられた。 (Ame ni furareta.) - Literally "was rained on." Meaning: "It rained (while I was out), and it was a problem for me."
• 友達ともだちに先さきに帰かえられた。 (Tomodachi ni saki ni kaerareta.) - "My friend left before me, and I was put out by it."

Indirect (Possessive) Passive

When something of yours is affected, Japanese passives the whole sentence rather than saying "my X was verbed":

• 財布さいふを盗ぬすまれた。 (Saifu o nusumareta.) - Literally "I was stolen [my] wallet." Meaning: "My wallet was stolen."

The Causative Form (させる)

The causative shows that the subject made or let someone else do something. It uses the same a-row stem as the passive, with せる instead of れる.

Context decides whether it reads as "make" (force) or "let" (permit):

• 先生せんせいは学生がくせいに本ほんを読よませた。 (Sensei wa gakusei ni hon o yomaseta.) - "The teacher made the students read the book." (an assignment, not optional)
• 母ははは私わたしに行いかせてくれた。 (Haha wa watashi ni ikasete kureta.) - "My mother let me go." Adding てくれる/てもらう after the causative usually signals permission rather than force.

The Causative-Passive: "Was Made To"

Combine the two forms and the perspective flips again: now the subject is the one being forced to act, and usually resents it.

• 学生がくせいは本ほんを読よまされた。 (Gakusei wa hon o yomasareta.) - "The student was made to read the book." (unwillingly, compare to the teacher's sentence above)

Common Mistakes to Avoid

1. Forgetting the う → わ shift:

   Verbs ending in う don't add れる/せる directly to う.
   Incorrect: 買かあれる
   Correct: 買かわれる (kawareru, passive of 買う, to buy)

2. Mixing up who is doing the forcing:

   Causative and causative-passive describe the same event from opposite sides. Track who the subject is in each sentence, not just which verb form appears. Sensei wa yomaseta (the teacher made [someone] read) is not the same sentence as Gakusei wa yomasareta (the student was made to read), even though they describe the same event.

3. Contracting す-ending verbs:

   
   Incorrect: 話はなさされる
   Correct: 話はなさせられる (hanasaserareru, causative-passive of 話す, to speak, never contracts)

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between the causative and the causative-passive?

The causative (させる) means you make or let someone do something. The causative-passive (せられる, often contracted to される) flips the perspective to the person forced to act, usually against their preference.

When does the causative-passive contract?

For godan verbs, the full form -せられる usually contracts to -される. Verbs whose dictionary form already ends in す are the exception and do not contract. Ichidan and irregular verbs do not contract either.

What is the Japanese suffering passive?

A passive built from an intransitive verb to show you were negatively affected by something, with no direct English equivalent. 雨あめに降ふられた literally parses as "was rained on" but really means "I got caught in the rain and it was unwelcome." The same structure works for a friend leaving early, a neighbor's noise, or anything else that happened to you and caused inconvenience.