Indirect Passive in Japanese

Overview

The indirect passive, known as 間接受身 (kansetsu ukemi), is a uniquely Japanese grammatical construction where the subject is adversely affected by someone else's action, even though that action was not directed at them. This is sometimes called the "adversity passive" or "suffering passive" because it almost always conveys that the subject experienced something unpleasant as a result.

At the B2 level, the indirect passive is essential for expressing nuanced interpersonal situations. While English might say "Someone smoked next to me and it was annoying," Japanese grammatically places the speaker as the passive subject of the smoking — making the inconvenience part of the sentence structure itself, not just an afterthought.

This construction builds on the direct passive voice learned at B1. While the direct passive works much like English passive ("The cake was eaten"), the indirect passive has no direct English equivalent and represents one of the most distinctively Japanese grammatical patterns.

How It Works

Formation

The indirect passive uses the same passive verb conjugation as the direct passive:

Verb Type	Rule	Example
Godan (u-verbs)	Change final -u to -areru	吸う → 吸われる
Ichidan (ru-verbs)	Drop -ru, add -rareru	泣く is godan: 泣かれる
する	される	—
来る	来られる	—

Sentence Structure

The indirect passive follows a distinctive pattern:

[Affected person] は [Agent] に [Action (passive)] (た)

Component	Role	Example
私は	the person adversely affected	I (was affected)
隣の人に	the agent performing the action	by the person next to me
タバコを吸われた	the action in passive form	was smoked (cigarette)

Full sentence: 私は隣の人にタバコを吸われた。(I was bothered by the person next to me smoking.)

Direct vs. Indirect Passive

Feature	Direct Passive	Indirect Passive
Subject	receiver of action	indirectly affected person
Object	becomes subject	remains as object (を)
Nuance	neutral	adversity, inconvenience
English equivalent	"was done"	no direct equivalent
Example	ケーキが食べられた (The cake was eaten)	彼にケーキを食べられた (He ate my cake [and I'm upset])

Intransitive Verbs in Indirect Passive

A key feature of the indirect passive is that even intransitive verbs (verbs that cannot take a direct object) can be made passive:

Intransitive Verb	Indirect Passive	Meaning
降る (to fall/rain)	雨に降られた	I was caught in the rain
泣く (to cry)	泣かれた	Someone cried (and it troubled me)
死ぬ (to die)	死なれた	Someone died (and it devastated me)
来る (to come)	来られた	Someone came (uninvited, inconveniently)

This is impossible in English passive — you cannot say "I was rained" or "I was cried."

Examples in Context

Japanese	English	Note
隣の人にタバコを吸われました。	I was bothered by the person next to me smoking.	Classic indirect passive
彼女に泣かれて困りました。	I was troubled by her crying.	Intransitive verb passive
子供に熱を出されて、仕事に行けませんでした。	My child got a fever, so I couldn't go to work.	Affected by child's illness
電車で隣の人に足を踏まれました。	Someone stepped on my foot on the train.	Body part as retained object
雨に降られて、びしょ濡れになった。	I got caught in the rain and was soaked.	Weather as agent
友達に先に帰られて、一人になった。	My friend left first, and I was left alone.	Inconvenience from departure
夜中に赤ちゃんに泣かれて、眠れなかった。	The baby cried in the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep.	Sleep disruption
彼に急に来られて、困った。	He showed up suddenly and it was a problem.	Uninvited arrival
犬に靴を噛まれた。	The dog chewed on my shoes.	Possessive implication
母に日記を読まれた。	My mother read my diary.	Privacy violation
親に早く死なれて、苦労した。	My parents died young, and I had a hard life.	Profound adversity
客に長居されて、店を閉められなかった。	The customer stayed so long I couldn't close the shop.	Business inconvenience

Common Mistakes

Confusing direct and indirect passive

• Wrong: 私はタバコが吸われた。 (direct passive structure)
• Right: 私は隣の人にタバコを吸われた。
• Why: In indirect passive, the affected person is the subject (は) and the original object stays as を. The agent is marked with に.

Using indirect passive for positive events

• Wrong: 友達にプレゼントを買われて嬉しかった。
• Right: 友達がプレゼントを買ってくれて嬉しかった。
• Why: Indirect passive inherently carries negative connotation. For positive events, use the て-くれる giving/receiving pattern instead.

Forgetting the adversity nuance

• Wrong: (neutral context) 同僚に先に帰られた。 (intending neutral observation)
• Right: 同僚が先に帰った。 (if simply stating a fact)
• Why: The indirect passive always implies the speaker was negatively affected. If there is no inconvenience, use an active sentence instead.

Incorrect particle use with body parts

• Wrong: 足が踏まれた。 (direct passive, impersonal)
• Right: 足を踏まれた。 (indirect passive, I was affected)
• Why: In the indirect passive, body parts and possessions retain the を particle, and the affected person is the implied subject.

Usage Notes

The indirect passive is deeply embedded in Japanese expression and reflects a cultural tendency to frame experiences in terms of how external events affect the individual. It appears frequently in storytelling, complaint-sharing, and expressing sympathy.

In formal and literary Japanese, the indirect passive can express profound loss or hardship: 若くして親に死なれた (Lost my parents at a young age). These expressions carry significant emotional weight and are common in biographical narratives.

In casual conversation, the indirect passive is the natural way to complain about everyday inconveniences: 電車で横の人に寄りかかられた (The person next to me on the train leaned on me). It is far more common in spoken Japanese than learners initially expect.

The adversity nuance is so strong that using the indirect passive in what should be a neutral context can accidentally convey annoyance. Be mindful of this when choosing between active and passive constructions.

Practice Tips

• Start by collecting "complaint sentences" using the indirect passive. Think of everyday annoyances — someone talking loudly on the phone, rain starting during your walk, a coworker eating your lunch — and express them using this pattern. The adversity context makes the structure memorable.

• Practice converting active sentences into indirect passives and notice how the emotional framing changes. 彼が帰った (He went home) versus 彼に帰られた (He went home [and I was left in trouble]). This exercise builds intuition for when the passive adds meaning.

• Read or listen to Japanese stories and personal anecdotes, watching for indirect passive forms. They appear frequently when narrators describe setbacks or complications in their stories.

Related Concepts

• Prerequisite: Passive Voice — the direct passive foundation that the indirect passive extends with adversity meaning