Subject/Topic/Object

[Craft Riot]

私は犬が殺す // Watashi wa inu ga korosu Means I am killed by a dog

私は犬を殺す // Watashi wa inu o korosu Means I killed a dog

Right? I want an in-depth answer for this if I was wrong.

 

[Glenn]

The first one doesn't mean what you want it to exactly. It's more like "it's a dog that will kill me." The second means "I will kill a dog" or "I kill dogs."

 

[letslearn]

If you want to say I am killed by a dog in the present/future sense.
It will need to have the で particle after 犬 (by)
As in
私は犬で殺す I am killed by a dog.

I think watashi ha inu ga korosu is vague.
Maybe it needs another verb like 噛む (to bite) to state what the subject inu will do.

私は犬が噛んで殺す I will be bitten and killed by a dog.

My thoughts anyway

 

[Toritoribe]

The passive form "to be killed" is 殺される.


で indicates the means or reason/cause to be killed, as in 銃で殺される, 恨みで殺される. に is used to indicate the doer(killer in this case).

私は犬に殺される。
I will be killed by a dog.

 

[letslearn]

So if I changed the to kill to its passive form and add に

The sentence 私はいぬに噛んで殺された means I was bitten and killed by a dog right?

 

[Toritoribe]

Right. 私は犬に噛み殺された is more natural, though.

FYI, 私は犬で殺された can mean "I was killed by a dog", but it highly suggests the existance of doer(= killer) who ordered the dog to kill the subject in this sentence. Thus, the nuance is more close to "I was killed by a person who set a dog on me". 犬 is interpreted as the means to kill in this case. (Or, "I was killed by a person due to a dog problem" when 犬 is the cause/reason to be killed. 犬のことで殺された is more common in this case, though.)