Look at these two sentences:
A. この小説は多くの人に読まれている。 → This novel is read by many people.
B. 電車で隣の人にずっと足を踏まれていた。 → The person next to me kept stepping on my foot on the train.
Both are passive, but the feeling is completely different: A simply states a fact, while B carries resentment — "my poor foot."
This is the difference between general passive and adversative passive.
General Passive: Objective Description
General passive simply shifts the perspective from "the doer" to "the receiver," with no positive or negative judgment.
Key feature: The subject can be a person or thing — it's purely a different angle of narration.
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この建物は100年前に建てられた。 → This building was built 100 years ago. (Objective fact)
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新しいルールがチームに導入された。 → A new rule was introduced to the team. (Objective description)
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彼は同僚から信頼されている。 → He is trusted by his colleagues. (Positive evaluation)
Adversative Passive: I'm the Victim
The core of adversative passive: the subject (a person) is negatively affected by someone else's action.
Key features:
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The subject must be a person (the victim)
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Carries the nuance of "it caused me trouble" or "because of what they did, I suffered"
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急に雨に降られて、服がびしょ濡れになった。 → I got caught in sudden rain and my clothes got soaked.
Note: 雨が降る is intransitive! Intransitive verbs don't normally have passive forms, but adding passive expresses adversity.
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夜中に赤ちゃんに泣かれて、全然眠れなかった。 → The baby cried in the middle of the night and I couldn't sleep at all.
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彼女に先に帰られて、一人で片付けるはめになった。 → She went home first, leaving me to clean up alone.
Possessive Passive: Something of Mine Was Affected
Japanese has a special adversative passive — possessive passive. In English you'd say "My umbrella was stolen," but in Japanese the perspective is "I was stolen my umbrella."
| English Thinking | Japanese Thinking |
|---|---|
| My umbrella was stolen. | 私は傘を盗まれた。 |
| His wallet was pickpocketed. | 彼は財布をすられた。 |
Key point: Japanese passive must take a person's perspective. You can't say 傘が盗まれた — an umbrella can't feel victimized.
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満員電車で足を踏まれた。 → (I) got my foot stepped on in a crowded train.
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息子に新しいパソコンを壊された。 → My new computer was broken by my son. (My computer!)
Intransitive Verb + Passive ≈ Always Adversative
This is a very important rule:
Intransitive verb + passive → almost 100% adversative
Why? Because intransitive verbs have no direct object. Adding passive serves the sole purpose of expressing "I was negatively affected."
| Intransitive | Passive Form | Adversative Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| 泣く (cry) | 泣かれる | Affected by someone's crying |
| 降る (rain) | 降られる | Got caught in the rain |
| 死ぬ (die) | 死なれる | Affected by someone's death |
| 来る (come) | 来られる | An unwanted person came |
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試験の前日に友達に来られて、勉強できなかった。 → My friend came over the day before the exam, so I couldn't study.
Compare the benefactive: 試験の前に友達に来てもらって、一緒に勉強できた。 → I had my friend come before the exam and we studied together.
Same event — "friend came" — but passive = adversity, てもらう = benefit. Completely different perspective.
Quick Reference Table
| General Passive | Adversative Passive | |
|---|---|---|
| Subject | Person or thing | Person only |
| Nuance | Objective narration | Resentment/displeasure |
| Translation | "was done" | "it caused me trouble" |
| Intransitive | ❌ Doesn't exist | ✅ Always adversative |
| Transitive | ✅ | ✅ |
Self-Test
Q1. General or adversative? 「この歌は若者に人気があって、よく歌われている。」
Show answer
General passive. Objectively describes that this song is often sung by young people — no adversative nuance.
Q2. 「隣の席の人にタバコを吸われて、気分が悪くなった。」
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Adversative passive. "The person next to me smoked, and it made me feel sick." The subject is a person clearly negatively affected.
Q3. Translate into Japanese passive: "My cake was eaten by my younger brother."
Show answer
弟にケーキを食べられた。 This is possessive adversative passive — from "my" perspective: "I was eaten-my-cake by my brother."
Summary
- General passive = objectively shifting perspective, no good or bad
- Adversative passive = subject is a person + negatively affected by someone else's action
- Possessive passive: Japanese uses a person as the subject — 私は傘を盗まれた, not 傘が盗まれた
- Intransitive + passive → almost always adversative (the sole purpose is expressing adversity)