3 · Passive and causative
Passive suffixes: 이, 히, 리, 기
the short passive
A syllable added to the stem turns "open" into "be opened" and "see" into "be seen" — for a fixed set of verbs.
Four syllables make the short passive, inserted between the stem and 다. With 이: 보다 → 보이다, 쓰다 → 쓰이다, 놓다 → 놓이다. With 히: 닫다 → 닫히다, 막다 → 막히다, 잡다 → 잡히다, 먹다 → 먹히다. With 리: 열다 → 열리다, 팔다 → 팔리다, 듣다 → 들리다, 걸다 → 걸리다. With 기: 안다 → 안기다, 끊다 → 끊기다, 쫓다 → 쫓기다. There is a tendency — stems in l take 리, stems in k, t or p often take 히 — but it is only a tendency, and each passive is best learnt as a word of its own.
The new verb is an ordinary regular verb: 열려요, 닫혔어요, 보여요. What was the object becomes the subject with 이/가: 문을 열었어요 "I opened the door" becomes 문이 열렸어요 "the door opened". A doer, if it is mentioned at all, takes 에게 or 한테 when it is a person or an animal, and 에 when it is a thing: 쥐가 고양이한테 잡혔어요, "the mouse was caught by the cat". With insects 에 is common as well: 벌에 쏘였어요, "I was stung by a bee".
Many of these verbs are not "passive" in the English sense at all; they are everyday verbs for things that happen by themselves. 문이 열려요 is "the door opens", 길이 막혀요 "the road is jammed", 소리가 들려요 "I can hear a sound", 산이 보여요 "I can see the mountain". English speakers who think of the passive as "is done by somebody" tend not to reach for them and use the active verb instead, which then needs a doer that is not there.
Where the suffix meets a final consonant, the sound changes as the sound rules predict: 닫히다 is said [다치다], 막히다 [마키다], 잡히다 [자피다]. The romanisation under each word shows it. 하다 verbs have no suffix at all; their passive is 되다, in the next topic.
The form
| suffix 이 | 보다 → 보이다, 놓다 → 놓이다 |
| suffix 히 | 닫다 → 닫히다, 막다 → 막히다 |
| suffix 리 | 열다 → 열리다, 듣다 → 들리다 |
| suffix 기 | 안다 → 안기다, 끊다 → 끊기다 |
| polite present | 문이 열려요 |
| doer with 한테 | 고양이한테 잡혔어요 |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
The suffix turns the object into the subject: 을/를 becomes 이/가.
바람 때문에 문이 닫혔어요.The door shut because of the wind.
A doer that is a person or an animal takes 에게 or 한테; most passives leave the doer out.
어제 모기한테 많이 물렸어요.I got bitten a lot by mosquitoes yesterday.
보이다 and 들리다 often translate as "can see" and "can hear".
창문으로 남산이 보여요.You can see Namsan from the window.
Which suffix a verb takes has to be learnt with the verb.
이 책은 요즘 정말 잘 팔려요.This book is selling really well at the moment.
A closer look
One spelling, two verbs
The same four syllables also make causatives (the third topic in this area), so a few verbs look the same in both uses. 보이다 is "be seen" and "show"; 읽히다 is "be read" and "make someone read"; 안기다 is "be held" and "put into someone's arms".
The particles tell them apart. A causative keeps an object with 을/를: 사진을 보여 주세요, "show me the photo". A passive has none, and its subject is the thing that is seen, read or held: 이 책은 많이 읽혀요, "this book is widely read".
Exceptions and special cases (1)
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the verb is a 하다 verb
there is no suffix: the passive replaces 하다 with 되다 (사용하다 → 사용되다).
이 건물은 지금 도서관으로 사용돼요.This building is used as a library now.
하다 verbs are mostly a noun plus 하다, and the noun can simply take 되다 instead.
How to spot it
- 보이다
- 들리다
- 열리다
- 닫히다
- 막히다
- 한테/에게
Example sentences
출근 시간이라서 길이 많이 막혀요.It's rush hour, so the roads are badly jammed.
옆방에서 음악 소리가 들려요.I can hear music from the next room.
아기가 엄마 품에 안겨서 자고 있어요.The baby is asleep in its mother's arms.
통화 중에 갑자기 전화가 끊겼어요.The call suddenly cut off in the middle.
도둑이 경찰에게 잡혔어요.The thief was caught by the police.
칠판 글씨가 잘 안 보여요.I can't see the writing on the board very well.
8 more example sentences
바람이 불어서 창문이 열렸어요.The wind blew the window open.
이 단어는 요즘 잘 안 쓰여요.This word isn't used much these days.
책상 위에 편지가 놓여 있었어요.There was a letter lying on the desk.
감기에 걸려서 학교에 못 갔어요.I caught a cold, so I could not go to school.
신발 끈이 자꾸 풀려요.My shoelaces keep coming undone.
사진에 제 얼굴이 이상하게 찍혔어요.My face came out strangely in the photo.
밤에는 별이 잘 보여요.At night you can see the stars clearly.
사슴이 사자에게 쫓기고 있어요.A deer is being chased by a lion.
Worth knowing (1)
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바뀌다: a suffix you cannot see
Sometimes the suffix merges with the stem: 바꾸다 plus 이 gives 바뀌다, "to be changed, to change", and 나누다 gives 나뉘다, "to be divided".
다음 주부터 수업 시간이 바뀌어요.The class times change from next week.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
막다 means "to block" and needs somebody who does the blocking. A road that is jammed is 막히다: the road is what the blocking happens to.
I, hi, ri or gi inside the verb: the thing done to becomes the subject.
Your turn
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