Japanese refresher · 5 minutes · 0006
迷惑の受身: the affected-person camera
Japanese passive is not merely an active sentence with subject and object reversed. It can introduce a person who was affected by an event—even when the event was not done directly to them.
The mental model: put the affected person inside the event
隣の人が夜中まで騒いだ。
The neighbor made noise until midnight: neutral event camera.
（私は）隣の人に夜中まで騒がれて、眠れなかった。
The neighbor’s noise affected me: I could not sleep.
The second sentence creates a new camera position: the person who experiences the consequences. That person is the grammatical subject, often omitted as obvious; the source of the event takes に.
The action need not target you
子どもに泣かれて、ゆっくり話せなかった。
The child cried, which made it impossible for me to talk calmly.
途中で雨に降られて、びしょぬれになった。
I got caught in the rain and ended up soaked.
The child did not cry at you, and rain did not intentionally act on you. The passive packages the event together with its effect on your situation. The Japan Foundation calls this 迷惑の受身: an action or event is described from the standpoint of the person who finds its result troublesome.
Your belongings stay objects
友達が私のケーキを食べた。
My friend ate my cake: camera on the friend’s action.
（私は）友達にケーキを食べられた。
My friend ate my cake on me: camera on my loss.
English encourages “my cake was eaten,” making the cake the subject. Japanese can keep the affected owner as subject and the possession marked by を. The same pattern appears with body parts: 電車で足を踏まれた. The Japan Foundation’s passive summary for affected belongings explicitly keeps the person as subject and the possession as object.
The form is a lens, not a negative emotion
| Dictionary form | Passive | Build it |
|---|---|---|
| 書く・読む・言う | 書かれる・読まれる・言われる | -u → -a + れる |
| 食べる・見る | 食べられる・見られる | drop る + られる |
| する・来る | される・来られる | irregular |
The same lens can report a welcome effect: 先生にほめられて、うれしかった. The passive itself does not encode annoyance; the event and surrounding result do. Japan Foundation’s passive-form chart gives the full conjugation pattern.
The weather trap
△ 雨が降られて、びしょぬれになった。
○
雨に降られて、びしょぬれになった。
In the affected-person construction, the implicit subject is the soaked person. Rain is the source of the unwanted event, so it takes に. If you merely report the weather, return to the neutral camera: 雨が降った.
30–60 second retrieval drill
For each scene, say one sentence from the affected person’s camera. Retrieve before revealing.
- A baby cried all night, so you could not sleep.
- A friend ate the pudding you had saved.
- Your teacher praised your presentation, making you happy.
- 赤ちゃんに一晩中泣かれて、眠れなかった。
- 友達に取っておいたプリンを食べられた。
- 先生に発表をほめられて、うれしかった。
Check the camera: affected person (usually omitted) + source marked by に + passive verb + the resulting feeling or situation.
Mental hook: Whose situation changed because this event happened?