honorific N3 uncommon politewritten sonkeigo (respectful)
〜られる — honorific/spontaneous られる: respectful verb form, and spontan
〜られる ・ られる
Builds on 〜られる
Meaning
- (honorific) ~ does, respectfully — a light respectful verb form; also (spontaneous) ~ happens of its own accord
Key sentence
社長はもう帰られました。
The president has already gone home.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Ichidan verb (honorific) | stem + られる; 五段 → V-(a) + れる | 帰る → 帰られる; 話す → 話される |
When: A lighter, less formal honorific than お〜になる — convenient in speech and writing when full keigo would feel heavy.
Examples
先生はこの本を書かれたそうです。
I hear the teacher wrote this book.
お客様は何時に来られますか。
What time will the guest be arriving?
故郷のことが自然と思い出される。
Thoughts of my hometown come to me of their own accord.
Easily confused with
Notes
- The spontaneous use is largely limited to feeling/thinking verbs — 思い出される, 感じられる, 案じられる — where an emotion or impression arises by itself, without a willed effort.
See 〜られる in real sentences
Jengo shows 〜られる the way you actually meet it: inside real Japanese sentences, so it sticks instead of staying an abstract rule.
Study it in JengoSources Compiled with reference to A Dictionary of Intermediate Japanese Grammar. Editorial confidence: medium.