passive N4 common casualpolitewritten
れる — passive/potential/spontaneous/honorific auxiliary
れる
Builds on ない形
Meaning
- be ~ed — the passive auxiliary for 五段 (consonant-stem) verbs (the 五段 counterpart of られる)
Key sentence
犬に手を噛まれた。
I got my hand bitten by a dog.
Formation
| Attaches to | Form | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Godan verb (あ-row stem, as in ない-form) | V-(a) + れる | 読む → 読まれる; 押す → 押される |
Examples
電車で足を踏まれた。
My foot got stepped on on the train.
この歌は世界中で歌われている。
This song is sung all over the world.
昔の出来事が思い出される。
Memories of the old days come back to me (of their own accord).
When you can't use it
- For 'can do' (potential), 五段 verbs normally use the dedicated potential verb (読む → 読める), not 読まれる. れる carries the passive, spontaneous, and honorific senses; the potential is mostly handled by the 可能動詞 form.
Easily confused with
Notes
- The identical れる also does spontaneous (思い出される — comes to mind on its own) and honorific (社長が話される — the president speaks, respectfully) duty. Context picks the reading.
See れる in real sentences
Jengo shows 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 Basic Japanese Grammar. Editorial confidence: medium.