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I saw this answer for how the nuance changes between the use of passive and intransitive verbs when the verb is negative. I was wondering what the difference is with a positive verb. Here's an example:

財布がみつかった。

財布がみつけられた。

Both of which, I hope, mean "the wallet was found". Is there a difference, or would you just not bother with the passive if an equivalent intransitive verb exists?

Response to duplicate suggestion: I have looked at Passive-transitive-verb vs. Intransitive-verb （他動詞の受け身 vs. 自動詞) but found the answer difficult to follow. In particular I thought example 3 was supposed to be with an intransitive verb but it still seems to be taking an object.

Thanks

Community
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user3856370
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  • 財布が見つけられた is only used in the meaning of "I could find my wallet" in practice. – user4092 Apr 02 '15 at 12:54
  • This really shouldn't be a duplicate, the nuance is different and I asked myself the same question when reading the other post. According to most answers here, when there's no difference such as your example, the intransitive version seems to be used. – Simon Jun 28 '21 at 20:53

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Whether you use intransitive or passive depends mostly on what you want to imply. Passive is used when there's clearly an active agent causing the action (even if the agent isn't explicitly stated). Intransitive doesn't carry that information.

  • ドアが閉まる - The door closes.
  • (彼に)ドアが閉められる - The door is closed (by him).

The first example only means that the door closes. Without context, we have no information on how it closes. It could have closed on its own.

In the second example, though, there's clearly someone else closing the door even if you choose not to include 彼に. (However, adding 彼に makes it sound just as awkward as its English translation in this case.)

Now, some verbs really just go one way or the other, and your example verb happens to fit into that category. 財布が見つかった is clearly the better choice, just because that's the way it is.

Blavius
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  • That makes sense. So if I know that somebody was responsible for losing the wallet then could I use the passive form? @user4092 Could you explain why it is を please? – user3856370 Apr 03 '15 at 08:27
  • Actually, I'm editing my comment because I feel ドアが閉められる have enough possibility to use, on the other hand. – user4092 Apr 03 '15 at 08:35
  • The reason to use を is, ... why you prefer が? – user4092 Apr 03 '15 at 08:37
  • ドアが閉められる sounds more natural without 彼に. With 彼に, ドアを閉められる sounds more natural. – user4092 Apr 03 '15 at 08:48
  • ドアが instead of ドアを sounds like the door is just about to slam. And, しめられる instead of しまる sounds you are more vulnerable to the door closing. – user4092 Apr 03 '15 at 08:58
  • @user4092 I got the impression from other posts that を was used when the verb had a negative effect on the subject. I don't get that feeling about a door closing. Am I missing another way of using を here? – user3856370 Apr 03 '15 at 09:05
  • I wrote 彼にドアが閉められる doesn't sound natural but I was wrong. I should have said it's ungrammatical. It only means "he can open the door". @user3856370; I wrote ドア が 閉められる (not ドアを…) makes me imagine an abrupt situation. However, it's not a common expression to begin with. On the other hand, you can translate "the door is closed by him" to 彼によってドアが閉められる but that's not a common expression either. – user4092 Apr 03 '15 at 10:36
  • I knew it sounded odd, but I didn't realize it was ungrammatical. Why is it ungrammatical if に indicates the agent? – Blavius Apr 03 '15 at 12:30
  • It's odd for a thing (inanimate object) to be the subject of a passive sentence in the structure of …が…に…られる. – user4092 Apr 03 '15 at 18:30
  • Perhaps there's controversy over the problem if it's grammatical or not. – user4092 Apr 03 '15 at 18:45
  • Hmmm. I don't think it breaks any grammar rules I know. It sounds weird because animate 彼 is expected to be the focus and main point of view in the sentence, but instead it's ドア which is confusing. Personally, I don't think that makes it ungrammatical but it is definitely debatable. I'll just leave it as it is for now, but I'll add a note explaining that it isn't a normal thing to say. – Blavius Apr 04 '15 at 03:59
  • Textbooks are probably teaching that an inanimate subject (が case) in a passive sentence is basically wrong and even if it's used, the marker for the agent is …によって. – user4092 Apr 04 '15 at 09:22
  • This is just an theory but the reason why the door's sentence sounds to some extent more natural than the wallet's sentence and still unnatural when it appears along with an agent could be that a moving door has some animacy compared with a wallet on the floor or a moved door. – user4092 Apr 04 '15 at 09:32
  • Well if I wasn't confused before, I am now. Can you please explain this animacy issue or point me to a reference? Thanks. – user3856370 Apr 04 '15 at 12:27
  • [Here](http://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/15518/how-can-i-come-to-terms-with-the-animate-inanimate-distinction-in-japanese) is a good explanation, especially Alox's answer. Also, don't think about the passive too hard- passive in Japanese and passive in English aren't really that different. If it sounds weird in English, then it probably sounds weird in Japanese too. – Blavius Apr 04 '15 at 15:11