Usage Notes:

Conjugating to the passive form results in the creation of a new ichidan verb (even if the starting verb was godan). This resulting verb can be conjugated to give negatives, past tenses, presumptives, provisionals, polite forms, etc., just as any other ichidan verb. Of course, you must be careful, as there are conjugations that wouldn't make logical sense for a passive verb.

There are two types of passive in Japanese. One form is similar in use to English and follows this pattern:

    [subject] wa [agent] ni [transitive verb in passive form].

In this sentence pattern, the subject marked by "wa" (は) is the recipient of the passive action which is taken by the agent, for instance:
    kono keeki ha amerikajin ni yoku taberarete iru.
    This cake is often eaten by Americans.

Japanese has another kind of passive which conveys a notion of misfortune occurring to the subject. It is a form which does not directly correspond to anything in English grammar. You can distinguish it from the other case because it either uses a transitive verb which takes an object, or else uses an intransitive verb. Neither is possible for equivalent verbs in English. For a transitive verb, the pattern is:

    [subject] wa [agent] ni [direct object] wo [transitive verb in passive form].

For example:
    watashi wa inu ni te wo kamareta.
    My hand was bitten by a dog.

For an intransitive verb, the pattern is:

    [subject] wa [agent] ni [intransitive verb in passive form].

For example:
    ano ko ha ryoushin ni shinareta.
    That child had his parents die on him.

Because of the misfortune conveyed by these sentences the subject of this kind of passive must almost always be animate. To use an inanimate subject almost causes it to become anthropomorphized (if it doesn't sound wrong outright).

The passive form is also used in place of the root verb as an expression of respect when directly inquiring about (or, less likely, describing) another person's actions or state of being.

One case you may occasionally hear is "oraremasu". The verb "oru" from which this comes is typically the humble form of the verb "iru", which means you would not normally use it to refer to others. In certain dialects, however, "oru" replaces "iru". At the same time, honorific language is hard even native Japanese speakers, so occasionally incongruent or incorrect forms are used. When "oraremasu" is used in this way it is not intended to display humble aspect — the honorific suffix takes over. Foreign learners of Japanese not situated in dialect regions that use "oru" should generally use "irasshaimasu" when this level of respect is intended, as it is both very polite and cannot be misinterpreted.

Usage Examples: