Passive sentences

5 comments

1. させる is not passive, it’s causative.

   The house was painted by them = 家は彼らによってペイントされた。

2. Irregular verbs
   する　-> される　　　　くる -> 来られる
   る-verbs
   食べる -> 食べられる. 　あける　-> あけられる
   う-verbs
   書く　-> 書かれる　　　読む　-> 読まれる

   その家は彼らによってペンキをぬられた。
   (This sentence is very awkward in Japanese. An active sentence 彼らがその家にペンキをぬった。is more common)

3. The subject is usually not mentioned if it has been introduced before, or if the subject is contextually obvious.

   家が塗装された。

4. Disclaimer that I’m also still learning, but I think the particles in your sentence make it sound as though the house (the topic, は) is the one painting, with a causative form of する, like saying the house “makes itself” paint “them” (に, indicating the direction of the action)?

   ~~I’m thinking maybe 「彼らは家をペイントされた」 or 「彼らは家を塗られた」could work? I’m not so sure about ペイントする being a thing, so I swapped it for 塗る in the second one 😅~~

   ~~Breaking it down:~~

   * ~~彼ら “They”~~
   * ~~は (subject)~~
   * ~~家 “house”~~
   * ~~を (object receiving the action)~~
   * ~~塗られた “had painted” (past passive form of 塗る “to paint”)~~

   Edit: OK nevermind I’m def wrong upon spending some more time reading up, your use of particles was actually right for passive sentences! 😅😅😅 so maybe「家は彼らに塗られた」??

5. Passives are also less used in Japanese as they are in English to focus on the object or being vague on the subject the passive in Japanese serves a slightly different purpose which actually makes it used more frequently in Japanese than English, but not for the same reasons. While in English it might be to make statements sound more neutral or less detached by not referring to the subject, Japanese actually uses it in a more emotional sense to a degree to express emotional effects on someone (namely speaker).
   お母さんに死なれました。
   Has the meaning
   母が死にました。

   そして、私は孤独(こどく)になりました