passive N2 common politewritten

思われる — to seem

思われる・おもわれる

Builds on れる

Meaning

to seem / appear / be thought — a view arises naturally or is held impersonally, without naming who thinks it

Key sentence

この結果けっかは妥当だとうだと思おもわれる。

This result seems reasonable / is thought to be reasonable.

Formation

Attaches to	Form	Example
Clause + と + 思おもわれる (spontaneous れる of 思おもう)	[clause] + と思おもわれる	影響えいきょうが大おおきいと思おもわれる

When: Formal and written — papers, reports, news. The impersonal 'it is thought / it seems' lets the writer state a view without claiming it as a personal opinion.

Examples

原因げんいんは寝不足ねぶそくだと思おもわれる。

The cause is thought to be lack of sleep.

事態じたいは今後こんご悪化あっかすると思おもわれる。

The situation appears likely to worsen from here.

When you can't use it

This is the spontaneous 思おもわれる ('the thought arises of itself'), not a true passive 'be thought by someone'; it softens an assertion into a measured 'it seems'.

Easily confused with

〜と考えられると考かんがえられる presents a REASONED conclusion ('it can be concluded ~'); 思おもわれる reports an impression that naturally arises ('it seems / one feels ~'), less analytic. 〜れる・られる思おもわれる is the spontaneous れる form of 思おもう; the general spontaneous れる・られる covers other feeling-verbs (案あんじられる, 感かんじられる) the same way.

Notes

It also occurs as a plain passive 'to be regarded by others': 変へんな人ひとだと思おもわれる ('to be thought a strange person').

See 思われる in real sentences

Jengo shows 思われる the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.

Study it in Jengo

Sources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar.

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