Page 517 - Basic Japanese

‘comes,’ the meaning of the passive expression is ‘someone

is unfavorably affected by another person’s action.’

Yamada-san wa o-kosan ni shinaremashita.

Mrs. Yamada had her child die (suffered the
death of her child).

Watashi wa ban go-han o tabeyō to shita toki ni

tomodachi ni koraremashita.
Just as I was about to eat dinner, I had a friend

drop in on me (unexpectedly).

If the underlying verb takes an object, indicated by the
particle o, this object may be retained in the passive

expression.

Watashi wa pasokon o

nusumaremashita.

I had my PC stolen.

Otōto ni kukkī o zenbu taberaremashita.
I had my cookies all eaten up by my little
brother.

Inanimate items can be used as the subject of a passive
sentence: