| In the last article, you mastered the basics of | | | | subject of the passive sentence. |
| speaking in the passive voice. This skill is critical to | | | | Today's Examples: |
| speaking natural-sounding Japanese, so this article | | | | |
| delves a bit deeper. Often, Japanese sentences | | | | 1. Active: Buchoo ga watashi ni torihikisaki no hito |
| are formed so that the person receiving an action | | | | o shookai shita. "The manager introduced one of |
| is the subject of the sentence. One example is, "I | | | | our business partners to me." |
| was sent an email from Kanoko." You'll find that | | | | 2. Passive: (Watashi wa) Buchoo ni torihikisaki no |
| many Japanese sentences sound more natural in | | | | hito o shookai sareta. "I was introduced to one of |
| the passive voice. So, to speak Japanese well, | | | | our business partners by the manager." |
| you must be a master of the passive voice. In | | | | 3. Torihikisaki no hito o shookai sareta. "One of |
| this Lower Intermediate Japanese article, learn | | | | our business partners was introduced to me by |
| even more about speaking Japanese in the | | | | the manager." |
| passive voice. Discover how watashi ("receiver of | | | | Formation: |
| action") becomes the subject in Japanese passive | | | | * Active: [A] wa [B] ni [C] o -- suru. |
| sentences. And, learn when to use the passive | | | | * Passive: [B] wa [A] ni [C] o -- sareru. |
| voice along with vocabulary words to make your | | | | For example: |
| passive Japanese sound like second nature. This is | | | | Active: "My mother teaches me how to cook." |
| one awesome Lower Intermediate Japanese | | | | Passive: "I'm taught how to cook by my mother." |
| article! | | | | We can mark the person doing the action in a |
| Vocabulary: In this article, you'll learn the following | | | | passive sentence with either kara or ni. |
| words and phrases:kakkoo - "figure, appearance, | | | | Examples: |
| look"o-dekake - "outing, going out"tsukiau - "to go | | | | |
| out with, to get along with"torihikisaki - "client, | | | | 1. Takeshi wa, Keiko ni mooningu kooru o tanonda. |
| business partner"moto kare - "ex-boyfriend"furu - | | | | "Takashi asked Keiko for a wake-up call." |
| "to dump"motemote - "popular among people" | | | | 2. Keiko wa, Takashi ni mooningu kooru o |
| Grammar: In this article, you'll learn the following | | | | tanomareta. "Keiko was asked for a wake-up call |
| words and phrases: | | | | by Takeshi." |
| Today's grammar point is the passive structure in | | | | 3. Shinji wa, sensei ni sansuu no shitumon o shita. |
| which someone receiving an action becomes the | | | | "Shinji asked a question about math to his |
| grammatical subject of a sentence. As in today's | | | | teacher." |
| example below, watashi is the receiver of the | | | | 4. Sensei wa, Shinji ni sansuu no shitumon o |
| action in the active voice, and we mark this with | | | | sareta. "The teacher was asked a question about |
| the indirect object-marking particle ni. If the | | | | math by Shinji." |
| sentence is written in the passive voice, watashi | | | | 5. Kanako wa, watashi ni meeru o okutta. "Kanako |
| becomes the subject of the sentence. Although it | | | | sent me an email." |
| doesn't sound natural, the direct object of the | | | | 6. Watashi wa, Kanako ni meeru o okurareta. "I |
| active sentence, torihikisaki no hito, can be the | | | | was sent an email by Kanako. |