the passive form of a verb, indicates the verb is performed on the object.
リンゴが買われました The apple was bought.
Who performs it on the thing is denoted with に.
Note that with this, に changes from indicating a 'target' to a 'do-er'.
お父さんに叩かれた I was slapped by my father.
Conjugation
All passive verbs become 一段 verbs. both 一段 and 五段 verbs conjugate the same.
| 踏む | plain | negative | polite | polite negative | | ------- | ----- | -------- | ------ | --------------- | | Passive | 踏まれる | 踏まれない | 踏まれます | 踏まれません |
Adversarial passive
It describes that 'it has been done (on)to you'.
弟は女性に足を踏まれた。 Little brother had his feet stepped on by a lady.
私のアイスクリームを兄に食べられた。 I had my ice cream be eaten by my older brother.
Intransitive can be used too.
昨日の夜、子供に泣かれた Yesterday evening I had my kid cry on me
Passive vs intransitive
Using the passive form of transitive verbs has the advantage over using an intransitive verb that it can denote a do-er with に
カップが壊れた The cup broke (by unknown, natural causes).
カップが私に壊された The cup was broken by me
in a case where denoting the 'do-er' with にcan be confusing, に should be replaced with から
花が父~~に~~母に渡された ✕ 花が父から母に渡された ○ Flowers were given to my mother by my father.