Passive forms
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The passive voice is a grammatical voice in which the subject receives the action of a transitive verb. Passive voice emphasizes the process rather than who is performing the action. In Korean this form is called 피동. There are few patterns to help distinguish between active and passive voices in Korean verbs. This makes this more difficult to learn than a regular Korean grammar rule.
Passive verbs still work as action verbs but now the object (that usually takes 을 or 를) has become the subject of the sentence (takes the particles: 이 or 가).
- 길을 막아요. [Traffic] blocks the road.
- 길이 막혀요. The road is blocked [by traffic]. (막히다 is much more common in this scenario)
Some active voice expressions in English should be translated to passive voice in Korean.
- 괜찮아 보여요. [It] is seen to be fine. ([It] looks fine.)
- 영어처럼 들려요. [It] is heard like English. ([It] sounds like English.)
- 게임이 시작되었다. The game has been begun. (The game has begun.)
- 이 책은 아주 잘 팔리고 있다. This book is being sold very well. (This book is selling very well.)
The Korean passive and causative conjugations pose many confusing aspects and many Korean materials don't even teach this part properly. This grammar part may even be hard for some native Korean speakers. For example, 굽다 has two meanings and their conjugation forms are completely different.
- 굽다 : bend
- 굽어지다 : to become (naturally) bent : (-어지다 is always passive. in this case, 굽다 follows the regular conjugation rule)
- 굽히다 : to make something become bent , to bend something : (this -히 is causative)
- 굽혀지다 : to become bent by someone : (causative + passive)
- 굽다 : to bake
- 구워지다 : to be baked : (-어지다 is always passive. in this case, 굽다 follows the ㅂ irregular conjugation rule)
In the example above, -히 is a causative particle, but it can be either a passive particle in many other verbs.
- 먹다 : to eat
- 먹히다 : to be eaten : (this -히 is passive)
- 먹이다 : to make/let someone eat , to feed : (this -이 is causative)
In some cases, passive and causative forms are morphologically identical.
- 보다 : to see
- 보이다 : to be seen : (this -이 is passive)
- 보이다 : to make/let someone see , to show : (this -이 is causative. to avoid confusion, 보여주다 is used in most cases)
- 보여지다 : to be shown : (causative -이 + passive -어지다)
- 보여지다 : to be seen : (passive -이 + passive -어지다, this usage is wrong as it is a double passive)
There are some verbs that even most native Koreans fail to conjugate correctly.
- 잊다 : to forget
- 잊히다 : to be forgotten : (passive)
- 잊혀지다 : to be forgotten : (a double passive using both -히 and -어지다. this is wrong)
- 잊게 하다 : to make/let someone forget something : (in this case, -게 하다 is the proper causative form)
Some verbs don't allow the passive particles at all. These exceptional verbs need special passive forms.
- 죽다 : to die
- 죽이다 : to make/let someone die , to kill : (causative)
- 죽임을 당하다 : to be killed : (passive)
- 사망(死亡)하다 : to die : (Sino Korean equivalent)
- 살해(殺害)하다 : to kill : (Sino Korean equivalent)
- 살해(殺害)당하다 : to be killed : (Sino Korean equivalent)
- 살해(殺害)되다 : to be killed : (Sino Korean equivalent)
- 피살(被殺)되다 : to be killed : (Sino Korean equivalent)
Adjectives can also become passive and causative verbs
- 낮다 : be low
- 낮아지다 : to become low : (passive -아지다)
- 낮추다 : to make/let something low , to lower : (this -추 is causative)
- 낮춰지다 : to be lowered by someone : (causative -추 + passive -어지다)
- 높다 : be high
- 높아지다 : to become high : (passive -아지다)
- 높이다 : to make/let something high : (this -이 is causative)
- 높여지다 : passive form of 높이다 : (causative -이 + passive -어지다)
Some causative forms with the -우 particle are inflected with the vowel ㅣ.
- 자다 : to sleep
- 재우다 : to make/let someone sleep : (자 + ㅣ + 우 + 다)
- 서다 : to stand
- 세우다 : to make/let something stand : (서 + ㅣ + 우 + 다)
In short, the conjugation rules for passive and causative forms follow some patterns, but vary with individual verbs. (most passive verbs take one of -이, -히, -리, -기 or -어/-아지다 or -되다. most causative verbs take one of -이, -히, -리, -기, -우 , -구, -추 or -시키다 or -게 하다). The four particles -이, -히, -리, -기 are particularly tricky as they can be used for both passive or causative verbs. You can't really determine whether those things are passive or causative unless you look up a Korean dictionary because those four particles work arbitrarily with individual verbs. That's why most Korean materials for foreigners skip or overlook this grammar part. Each form of every verb should be memorized.
| Active verb | Passive verb | Examples |
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| 놓다 (to lay, to put, to build) | 놓이다 (to be on, to be placed, to be built) |
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| 바꾸다 (to change) | 바뀌다 (to be changed) |
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| 보다 (to see) | 보이다 (to be seen) |
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| 쓰다 (to use, to write) | 쓰이다 (to be used, to be written) |
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| 쌓다 (to pile up, to stack) | 쌓이다 (to be piled up, to be stacked up) |
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| 차다 - to dump someone | 차이다 - to be dumped |
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| Active verb | Passive verb | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 꽂다 (to put in, to stick in) | 꽂히다 (to be stuck in) |
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| 닫다 (to close, to shut) | 닫히다 (to be closed, to be shut) |
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| 읽다 (to read) | 읽히다 (to be read) |
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| 막다 (to block, to clog) | 막히다 (to be blocked, to be conjested, to be clogged up) |
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| 먹다 (to eat) | 먹히다 (to be eaten) |
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| 묻다 (to bury) | 묻히다 (to be buried) |
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| 뽑다 (to pluck, to pull off) | 뽑히다 (to be plucked, to be pulled off) |
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| 잡다 (to catch) | 잡히다 (to be caught) |
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| Active verb | Passive verb | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 걸다 (to hang) | 걸리다 (to be hung) |
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| 듣다 (to hear) | 들리다 (to be heard) |
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| 물다 (to bite) | 물리다 (to be bitten) |
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| 열다 (to open) | 열리다 (to be open) |
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| 팔다 (to sell) | 팔리다 (to be sold) |
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| 풀다 (to untie, to solve) | 풀리다 (to get untied, to be solved ) |
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| 자르다 (to cut) | 잘리다 (to be cut) |
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| Active verb | Passive verb | Examples |
|---|---|---|
| 끊다 (to cut off, to sever) | 끊기다 (to be cut off, to be severed) |
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| 빼앗다 (to take, to steal) | 빼앗기다 (to be taken, to be stolen) |
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| 안다 (to hold, to embrace) | 안기다 (to be held, to be embraced) |
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| 쫓다 (to chase) | 쫓기다 (to be chased) |
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| 잠그다 (to lock) | 잠기다 (to be locked) |
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