Welcome to Level 2, Lesson 10!
In this gokigen japanese blog lesson, you’ll significantly expand your expressive capabilities by mastering the Japanese passive voice and learning how to articulate sequences or simultaneity of multiple actions. These patterns are essential for describing events from different perspectives and detailing the flow of time and activities.
The main goals of this lesson are to enable you to use the passive voice and to express multiple actions that occur in sequence or simultaneously.
Key grammar patterns and expressions you will master in this lesson include:
- Passive Form (V-れる / られる): Learn how to conjugate verbs into the passive voice and understand its common uses, such as when the focus is on the recipient of an action, or when the doer is unknown, unimportant, or implied (e.g., 私は先生に褒められました – I was praised by the teacher).
- Passive Sentence Structure ((Doee) は (Doer) に V-れる / られる): Understand the typical sentence construction for passive expressions, where the “doee” (the one affected by the action) is the topic, and the “doer” (the agent) is marked with に (ni) (e.g., この本は多くの人に読まれています – This book is being read by many people).
- Resulting State of Preparatory Action (~て + ある): Master V-て + ある (te aru), which describes a state resulting from a past action that was deliberately performed in preparation for something. It emphasizes the resultant, prepared state (e.g., 部屋が掃除してあります – The room has been cleaned (in preparation)).
- “While ~” / “During ~” (V(short) + 間に): Learn how to express that an action or state occurs “while” another action or condition is ongoing. The action within the 間に clause provides the timeframe for the main action (e.g., 留守の間に、友達が訪ねてきた – While I was out, a friend came to visit).
- “Make something ~” (い-adj + くする / な-adj + にする): Discover how to describe the act of changing something into a certain state or making it a certain way. Use い-adjective + くする (ku suru) or な-adjective + にする (ni suru) (e.g., 音を大きくする – to make the sound louder; 部屋をきれいにする – to make the room clean).
- “Before / After ~doing” (V(present short) + 前に / V(past short) + 後で): Master clear sequencing of actions. Use V(present short) + 前に (mae ni) to say “before doing ~” and V(past short) + 後で (ato de) to say “after doing ~” (e.g., 食事の前に手を洗います – I wash my hands before eating; 仕事が終わった後で、買い物に行きます – After finishing work, I go shopping).
By the end of Lesson 10, Level 2, you’ll be able to effectively use the passive voice to describe events from a different perspective, clarify the status of preparatory actions, narrate concurrent events, express changes, and precisely sequence multiple actions. These patterns are essential for more sophisticated and detailed Japanese communication!
Explore the articles linked below to master the passive voice and expressions of action flow in Japanese!
