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総理大臣【そうりだいじん】はヨーロッパを訪問【ほうもん】されたくさんの国々の大統領【だいとうりょう】に会われた。

"The prime minister visited Europe and met the presidents of various countries".

され is as this to link the phrase right?

Why use "を" as if it were a normal sentence? Wouldn't it be "で" or "に" as a normal passive sentence?

Are Honorific/Courtesy sentences treated as if they were normal sentences even though they are conjugated using the passive form in the verbs?

RyotaDiav
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1 Answers1

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Yes, the sentence is perfectly correct. The auxiliary (助動詞) 「れる/られる」 has four meanings: 「受け身」(passive), 「尊敬」(honorific), 「可能」(potential), and 「自発」(spontaneous). Here in your example, it is used as honorific.

総理大臣はヨーロッパを訪問されたくさんの国々の大統領に会われた。

is not the passive voice, but the honorific speech (尊敬語) of:

総理大臣はヨーロッパを訪問たくさんの国々の大統領に会った。

Which literally means:

The prime minister visited Europe and met the presidents of various countries.

Chocolate
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