What is the subject and object of passive form in Japanese?

congminh1709 · 21 Jan 2015

Hi everyone.

I would like to ask a question. In Japanese, what is the subject of passive form? Example

私は部長に褒められました
(I was praised by the boss)

In this sentence, depend on my English and Vietnamese grammar, I think the subject is 私 (I) and the object is 部長 (boss): Subject は Object に Passive Verb. But my document says that the subject is 部長 and the object is 私: Object は Subject に Passive Verb. It contrasts with English. Is this correct?

Thanks for reading.

Toritoribe · 21 Jan 2015

私 is the subject and 部長 is the agent. There is no object in that sentence.

congminh1709 said:
my document says that the subject is 部長 and the object is 私: Object は Subject に Passive Verb.

Probably it explains that the subject is 部長 and the object is 私 in the active sentence (部長は私を褒めました), and they are indicated by に and は in the passive sentence, respectively.

congminh1709 · 22 Jan 2015

Thanks so much. So the subject of both passive and active form in Japanese is the same with English, and the object just exists in active form (before を)?

Summary

- Original active form
Subject は Object を Verb

- Interchange subject and object, redefine the verb to passive form, を
to に
--> Object は Subject に Passive Verb

- Now their new roles in passive form will be
--> Subject は Agent に Passive Verb

And what is the difference of は and が in this case? Which one is better? For example, can I use these?

私が部長に褒められました
私が褒められました

And how about this sentence, is this correct? In this case, the hidden subject is 私?
褒められました

killerinsidee · 22 Jan 2015

congminh1709 said:
- Original active form
Subject は Object を Verb

- Interchange subject and object, redefine the verb to passive form, を
to に
--> Object は Subject に Passive Verb

- Now their new roles in passive form will be
--> Subject は Agent に Passive Verb

Since you're talking about the "direct passive", that would be correct. Keep in mind that there's also "indirect passive", it's a bit different.

congminh1709 said:
And how about this sentence, is this correct? In this case, the hidden subject is 私?
褒められました

Since that's just a passive verb by itself, the agent and subject can be anyone. Context.

Toritoribe · 22 Jan 2015

Yeah, it's not that simple even in direct passive sentences. For instance, に doesn't always indicate the agent in a passive sentence, or the object in an active sentence is not always the subject in its passive sentence.
e.g.
active
彼は彼女に花束を贈った。
passive 1
彼から彼女に花束が贈られた。
passive 2
彼女は彼から花束を贈られた。

active
泥棒が彼の財布を盗んだ。
direct passive
彼の財布が泥棒に盗まれた。
possessor's passive
彼は財布を泥棒に盗まれた。

active
雨が降って困った。
indirect passive (passive of adversity)
雨に降られて困った。

congminh1709 said:
And what is the difference of は and が in this case? Which one is better? For example, can I use these?

私が部長に褒められました
私が褒められました

That's used as an answer to "Who was praised by the boss?", for instance.
As for the difference between は and が, see the following threads.
は, が and を what's the difference between the following sentences? | Japan Forum
STILL confused about は and が; example sentences | Japan Forum

killerinsidee · 22 Jan 2015

Just to add one more thing to Toritoribeさん's answer.
It's possible for to see sentences with "double に". From DBJG (indirect passive) - 「私はトムにメアリーに電話された。」In this case, the first に has to be the agent, not the other way around.

Toritoribe · 22 Jan 2015

Indeed it's not impossible to use two にs for the agent and target of the verb, but usually it's said in another way to avoid being misinterpreted, for instance, 私はトムにメアリーへの電話をかけられた。 or トムのやつがメアリーに電話しやがった。

Lomaster · 24 Apr 2015

I've got a trouble deciding whether "To speak louder in order to be heard by people in the back rows" is direct or indirect passive? I came up with something like 「後ろの皆に聞こえるように、大きい声で話します。」 I thought about using 皆で instead, but that won't make sense since 聞こえる is passive, will it?

Toritoribe · 24 Apr 2015

Indeed, 聞こえる can be translated as "to be heard" in English, but it's not passive in Japanese. I've never heard that there exists a passive form that ends with える, in the first place...
Anyway, your translation is correct.

Mike Cash · 24 Apr 2015

Lomaster said:
I've got a trouble deciding whether "To speak louder in order to be heard by people in the back rows" is direct or indirect passive? I came up with something like 「後ろの皆に聞こえるように、大きい声で話します。」 I thought about using 皆で instead, but that won't make sense since 聞こえる is passive, will it?

Suggestion: use 届く

Lomaster · 26 Apr 2015

Mike Cash said:
Suggestion: use 届く

後ろのみんなまで届くように、大きな声で話した。 What i'm trying to say is "Spoke loudly, so that the people in the back rows could hear"

What is the subject and object of passive form in Japanese?

congminh1709

Registered

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

congminh1709

Registered

killerinsidee

先輩

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

killerinsidee

先輩

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

Lomaster

.

Toritoribe

松葉解禁

Mike Cash

骨も命も皆此の土地に埋めよう

Lomaster

.

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