Japanese Passive and Causative Made Speakable

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Here's the short version: the passive (受身 ukemi) is built with 〜れる/〜られる and means something was done to you; the causative (使役 shieki) is built with 〜せる/〜させる and means you made or let someone do something; the causative-passive (使役受身) stacks both and means you were made to do something. Three form families, one shared logic, and roughly ten minutes of construction rules.

The reason they deserve a full guide is not the construction. It is that Japanese uses these forms in places English never would — to complain about the weather, to be polite about your boss, to ask permission you already have — and a learner who avoids them sounds like a textbook rather than a person.

In this guide: why learners avoid them · building the passive · the suffering passive · passive as politeness · make versus let · sasete itadakimasu · causative passive · full table · where they show up · the bottom line

Why learners avoid these two forms

Almost every self-taught learner reaches an intermediate plateau where the passive and causative are technically "covered" and never produced. The reasons are consistent:

They look long. 食べさせられました is seven syllables of ending attached to a two-syllable verb. It reads as advanced even though it is built from two simple steps.

The passive overlaps with two other forms. 食べられる is the passive and the potential and the honorific, all identical. That ambiguity feels dangerous, so learners route around it.

English lets you cheat. Every Japanese passive sentence has an active paraphrase that a listener will understand. 財布を盗まれました can be replaced with 泥棒が私の財布を盗みました, and nobody is confused. The sentence works — it is just not what a Japanese person would say.

That last point is the real cost. Avoiding these forms does not produce errors; it produces a permanent accent at the sentence level. You stay comprehensible and stay obviously foreign, and because nothing is technically wrong, nobody corrects you.

The passive form ukemi and how to build it

The construction is a straight extension of the three verb groups. If you can produce the ない form, you can produce the passive, because they share a stem.

Group 1 (godan): change the final u sound to areru.

• 読む yomu → 読まれる yomareru — be read
• 書く kaku → 書かれる kakareru — be written
• 言う iu → 言われる iwareru — be said (note the わ, exactly as in 言わない)
• 盗む nusumu → 盗まれる nusumareru — be stolen
• 呼ぶ yobu → 呼ばれる yobareru — be called
• 怒る okoru → 怒られる okorareru — be told off

Group 2 (ichidan): replace る with られる.

• 食べる taberu → 食べられる taberareru — be eaten
• 見る miru → 見られる mirareru — be seen
• 褒める homeru → 褒められる homerareru — be praised

Group 3: する → される sareru · 来る → 来られる korareru. Every する compound inherits this, which is a large share of all passives you will ever need: 説明される (be explained), 注意される (be warned), 招待される (be invited), 紹介される (be introduced).

Every passive verb, in every group, ends in -reru and therefore conjugates as a Group 2 verb from that point on: 読まれる → 読まれます → 読まれた → 読まれて → 読まれない.

The plain passive and its particles

The straightforward use is the same as English: the thing affected becomes the topic, and the doer is marked with に.

• この本は多くの人に読まれています (kono hon wa ōku no hito ni yomarete imasu) — "This book is read by many people."
• 先生に褒められました (sensei ni homeraremashita) — "I was praised by the teacher."
• 部長に呼ばれました (buchō ni yobaremashita) — "I was called in by the manager."
• 日本では米が作られています (Nihon de wa kome ga tsukurarete imasu) — "Rice is grown in Japan."

In formal and written Japanese, creation and authorship take によって instead of に: この寺は1300年前に建てられました (kono tera wa sen-sanbyaku-nen mae ni tateraremashita) — "This temple was built 1300 years ago." Add an agent and it becomes 〜によって建てられました. If the particle logic here feels shaky, it is worth revisiting は, が, を, に and で first, because passives put unusual pressure on exactly those five.

The suffering passive that English cannot translate

This is the part most guides skip, and it is the part that changes how you sound.

Japanese can make a passive sentence out of a verb that has no object at all, and the meaning it produces is: this happened, and it happened at me. Grammar books call it the adversative, indirect or suffering passive (迷惑の受身, meiwaku no ukemi). English has no equivalent structure, only tone of voice.

• 雨に降られた (ame ni furareta) — literally "I was rained on." Compare 雨が降った (ame ga futta), which is a neutral weather report. The passive adds: I was out, I got soaked, my day was affected. English needs a whole clause to say this; Japanese does it with one conjugation.
• 友達に来られて、勉強できなかった (tomodachi ni korarete, benkyō dekinakatta) — "A friend came over and I couldn't study." 来る is intransitive. The friend did nothing to anyone. The passive is the only thing marking that the visit was unwelcome.
• 子供の時に父に死なれました (kodomo no toki ni chichi ni shinaremashita) — "My father died when I was a child." Dying is not something done to the speaker, but the passive carries the loss. This is the standard, natural way to say it.
• 隣の人にタバコを吸われました (tonari no hito ni tabako o suwaremashita) — "The person next to me smoked." Nothing was done to the speaker's cigarette. The passive is pure complaint.

The possession pattern

The version you will use most often involves something belonging to you. The possessor becomes the subject; the thing keeps を. This trips up learners who expect the stolen object to become the subject as it does in English.

• 財布を盗まれました (saifu o nusumaremashita) — "I had my wallet stolen." Not 私の財布が盗まれました, which is grammatical but detached, like a police report.
• 電車で足を踏まれました (densha de ashi o fumaremashita) — "Someone stepped on my foot on the train."
• 弟にケーキを食べられました (otōto ni kēki o taberaremashita) — "My little brother ate my cake." The English needs "my"; the Japanese gets the same information from the passive.

Say those three out loud a few times. The shape — [thing] を [verb]られました — is one of the highest-value patterns in conversational Japanese, because complaining about small misfortunes is a very large percentage of what people talk about.

The passive as politeness and distance

The same 〜れる/〜られる endings do a completely separate job: honorific reference to someone above you. It is lighter than full 尊敬語 (sonkeigo) forms like いらっしゃる, which is exactly why offices use it constantly — it raises the other person without sounding ceremonial.

• 社長はもう帰られました (shachō wa mō kaeraremashita) — "The president has already gone home."
• 先生は何時に来られますか (sensei wa nanji ni koraremasu ka) — "What time will you be coming, sensei?"
• 部長はこの記事を読まれましたか (buchō wa kono kiji o yomaremashita ka) — "Have you read this article, manager?"

How do you tell honorific from passive from potential, when all three are 来られます? By the subject and the context. If the subject is a person you are being respectful about, it is honorific. If the subject is affected by someone else's action, it is passive. If the sentence is about ability, it is potential — and note that speakers often sidestep the ambiguity by using the ら-less potential 来れる in casual speech, or 〜ことができる in careful speech.

There is a third use worth recognising: agentless distance. 会議は3時に開かれます (kaigi wa san-ji ni hirakaremasu — "the meeting will be held at three") and 決定されました (kettei saremashita — "it has been decided") remove the person responsible from the sentence, which is useful in announcements and, occasionally, in evading blame. Japanese and English institutions share that habit exactly.

The causative form and the difference between make and let

The causative (使役) means cause someone to do something — which in practice covers both "make" and "let", and Japanese distinguishes them with a particle rather than a verb.

Group 1: final u → aseru.

• 行く iku → 行かせる ikaseru
• 待つ matsu → 待たせる mataseru
• 飲む nomu → 飲ませる nomaseru
• 買う kau → 買わせる kawaseru
• 休む yasumu → 休ませる yasumaseru

Group 2: る → させる. 食べる → 食べさせる tabesaseru · 見る → 見させる misaseru.

Group 3: する → させる saseru · 来る → 来させる kosaseru.

Like passives, every causative ends in -seru and conjugates as a Group 2 verb afterwards: 行かせる → 行かせます → 行かせた → 行かせて.

The particle that carries the meaning

With an intransitive verb, the causee takes を for coercion and に for permission. This is the single most important line in this section:

• 子供を行かせる (kodomo o ikaseru) — "I made the child go."
• 子供に行かせる (kodomo ni ikaseru) — "I let the child go."

One character, opposite parenting. More examples:

• 母は妹を買い物に行かせました (haha wa imōto o kaimono ni ikasemashita) — "Mum made my sister go shopping."
• 先生は学生に自由に話させました (sensei wa gakusei ni jiyū ni hanasasemashita) — "The teacher let the students speak freely."
• 待たせてすみません (matasete sumimasen) — "Sorry to have kept you waiting." (お待たせしました is the polite standard version you hear in every shop and restaurant.)

With a transitive verb the choice vanishes, because を is already occupied by the object. The causee must take に, and make-versus-let is decided by context:

• 子供に野菜を食べさせます (kodomo ni yasai o tabesasemasu) — "I make / let the child eat vegetables."

To force the "let" reading, add 〜てあげる: 子供に好きなだけ遊ばせてあげました (kodomo ni suki na dake asobasete agemashita) — "I let the child play as much as they wanted." The あげる carries the benefit, so the permission reading becomes unambiguous.

Sasete itadakimasu the most useful phrase in business Japanese

Take the causative て form, attach the humble verb いただく, and you get 〜させていただきます — literally "I humbly receive the favour of being allowed to do this."

It is grammatically a permission request. In practice it is a polite announcement, and it is everywhere in Japanese offices, shops, emails and announcements.

• 説明させていただきます (setsumei sasete itadakimasu) — "Allow me to explain." (Standard opening of a presentation.)
• 明日は休ませていただきます (ashita wa yasumasete itadakimasu) — "I'll be taking tomorrow off."
• 確認させていただきます (kakunin sasete itadakimasu) — "Let me check on that."
• 本日は早めに閉めさせていただきます (honjitsu wa hayame ni shimesasete itadakimasu) — "We will be closing early today." (Shop signs use this constantly.)
• 先に失礼させていただきます (saki ni shitsurei sasete itadakimasu) — "Please excuse me for leaving first."

The genuine question form uses the potential of いただく:

• 早退させていただけますか (sōtai sasete itadakemasu ka) — "May I leave early today?"
• 写真を撮らせていただけますか (shashin o torasete itadakemasu ka) — "May I take a photo?"

A warning that native speakers themselves argue about: the phrase is over-used, and stacking it on verbs where no permission is plausibly involved sounds obsequious or absurd. 歌わせていただきます before a karaoke song is a joke among Japanese speakers for exactly this reason. Use it where permission or benefit is real — time off, explanations, closing early, taking photos — and use plain です・ます elsewhere. Anyone preparing for a Japanese workplace will meet this phrase within the first meeting, and it features heavily in our business Japanese conversation guide.

The causative passive and the contraction everyone gets wrong

The form learners dread: causative first, then passive. It means was made to do something, and it always carries reluctance.

Build it in two steps. 飲む → causative 飲ませる → passive 飲ませられる.

Then, for Group 1 verbs only, there is a contraction: 〜aseru becomes 〜asareru. 飲ませられる → 飲まされる. Both are correct; the contracted form is far more common in speech.

• 飲む → 飲ませられる / 飲まされる nomasareru
• 待つ → 待たせられる / 待たされる matasareru
• 行く → 行かせられる / 行かされる ikasareru
• 買う → 買わせられる / 買わされる kawasareru

The exception nobody mentions: verbs ending in す do not contract. 話す gives 話させられる only — 話さされる is not used, because the doubled sa sound is blocked. Same for 貸す, 返す, 出す.

Group 2 and Group 3 never contract: 食べさせられる tabesaserareru, させられる saserareru, 来させられる kosaserareru.

Examples as they actually get said:

• 部長にお酒を飲まされました (buchō ni osake o nomasaremashita) — "My boss made me drink."
• 二時間も待たされた (ni-jikan mo matasareta) — "I was kept waiting two whole hours."
• 子供の時、毎日ピアノを練習させられました (kodomo no toki, mainichi piano o renshū saseraremashita) — "As a kid I was made to practise piano every day."
• 嫌いな野菜を食べさせられた (kirai na yasai o tabesaserareta) — "I was made to eat vegetables I hate."
• 会議で意見を言わされました (kaigi de iken o iwasaremashita) — "I was put on the spot to give an opinion in the meeting."

Notice what all five have in common: they are complaints about ordinary life. This is not an advanced literary form. It is what people say about their week.

The full table

Where these forms actually show up in conversation

At work. させていただきます for anything you are about to do, the honorific passive for anything a superior did, and the causative-passive for everything that happened to you afterwards. A single Monday-morning exchange can contain all three: 部長に呼ばれて、報告書を書かされました。今週は残業させていただきます — "I got called in by the manager and made to write a report. I'll be working late this week."

Complaints and small talk. The suffering passive is the engine of everyday grumbling: 雨に降られた, 電車で足を踏まれた, 子供に泣かれた (kodomo ni nakareta — "the baby cried on me"). These are exactly the sentences that make small talk sound native rather than assembled.

Polite self-deprecation. Japanese conversation strongly favours framing yourself as acted-upon rather than as an agent, and the passive is the tool for it. 妻に怒られました (tsuma ni okoraremashita — "my wife told me off") is a standard, mildly humorous thing to say about yourself. Saying the same content in the active voice sounds either boastful or blunt.

Parenting, teaching, managing. Anyone who describes what other people do gets the causative constantly: 子供に宿題をさせます, 部下に確認させます.

Why correction pays off here faster than anywhere else

Passive and causative errors have a property that makes them unusually responsive to feedback: they are wrong in exactly one identifiable place. 飲ませられた versus 飲まれた versus 飲まされた is a single ending, and the fix is one line long.

They are also almost impossible to self-diagnose. You cannot hear that you produced the causative where a native would have used the suffering passive, because both sentences are grammatical and both are understood. The mistake is stylistic, invisible from the inside, and never mentioned — a native speaker will simply parse around it, exactly as happens with particle errors.

Which is the specific job SoraSpeak is built for: you speak out loud in the browser, an AI Japanese teacher replies in natural Japanese with subtitles, and each grammar, particle and politeness correction comes back in simple English while you still remember why you chose that form. Being honest about it: it is a new product, it complements conversation with real people rather than replacing it, and no software fully substitutes for a good teacher. But for producing awkward passive sentences and being told which one a Japanese person would actually say, the feedback loop is far tighter than reading a table again.

For hearing these forms in the wild, NHK News Web Easy is unusually good practice, because news writing is full of passives — 発表されました, 行われました, 決められました appear in almost every article, with furigana. The Japan Foundation publishes learner material organised around communicative situations, which is where the causative politeness patterns actually live.

The bottom line

Passive: 〜れる/〜られる. Something was done to you, or someone above you did something and you are being polite about it, or something simply happened and it ruined your afternoon. That third use — the suffering passive — is the one with no English equivalent and the one that most changes how natural you sound.

Causative: 〜せる/〜させる. Make or let, decided by を versus に with intransitive verbs. Plus させていただきます, which will be a third of everything polite you say in a Japanese office.

Causative-passive: 〜させられる, contracting to 〜される for Group 1 verbs that do not end in す. Long, dreaded, and used constantly to complain about work.

The forms take an afternoon to build and months to produce automatically, which is the same gap that shows up in every part of Japanese grammar — and the same reason the fix is output rather than more reading. If the underlying group system is not yet automatic, start with verb conjugation groups and come back, because every form on this page is built on that stem. If the problem is freezing before any form comes out at all, that is a separate and very fixable problem. And if you want easier patterns to warm up on first, the beginner conversation guide has 25 of them.

For exam planning, the official JLPT site lists where these forms sit by level — passive and causative appear from N4 upward — though note the test covers reading and listening only, so recognising 飲まされました on paper is a different achievement from saying it.

🗣️ Say the awkward passive sentence, find out in the same minute what a Japanese person would have said. Practise speaking Japanese free →

SoraSpeak is an independent Japanese speaking-practice app. Example sentences are written for learners; natural usage can vary by context and region.

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