自受動詞
In this lesson, we will discuss a handful of verbs that are called 自受動詞. These verbs are naturally passive-like intransitive verbs, and they incidentally share some level of interchangeability with their transitive verb pair passive forms. In this lesson, we will study the following verb forms:
- 見つかる vs 見つけられる
- 捕まる vs 捕まえられる
- 負ける vs 負かされる
- やぶれる vs やぶられる
- 知れる vs 知られる
A key requirement to be a 自受動詞 is that the number of required parts (arguments) in the sentence must be the same as when it’s written in a transitive fashion.
i. [I] lost [to John].
ii. [I] was beaten [by John].
Just from looking at English, we can see that 負ける and 負かされる qualify as 自受動詞. Another requirement is that there be two arguments in the sentence for both means of phrasing. 負ける and 負かされる help make 負ける qualify to be a 自受動詞.
Before delving into examples, it is important to understand what defines the differences between the first and second options. When using a 自受動詞, you are inherently being more objective. Using the transitive passive forms requires that you be more specific about what is going on. This is because using these forms implies a far higher level of subjectivity. Grounding your statement with specifics is a natural means of providing legitimacy to what you’re saying. This logic is what defines the naturalness and nuance splicing of deciding between a 自受動詞 and a transitive passive verb of the same thing.
見つかる vs 見つけられる
The intransitive verb 見つかる creates an intransitive-transitive verb pair with 見つける. The verb 見つかる indicates the rather spontaneous finding of something. It lacks volition and, again, implies that the act of finding was incidental in nature. It is very objective as an effect. However, 見つける is the willful act of having found something. In other words, what the agent finds was actively sought out. As such, its passive form 見つけられる has volition, an active agent, and a high level of subjectivity, all characteristics that 見つかる lacks.
1. きのう夕方、家出した行方不明の学生が近所の人に｛見つかりました・見つけられました｝。
Yesterday evening, the missing student who had run away was found by someone in the neighborhood.
Sentence Note: When 見つかる is used, the discovery sounds incidental. When 見つけられる is used, the person found was actively sought out. The question “who found the person” also becomes more likely to be raised. If it’s just 見つかる, then the listener is more likely to react, “oh, the person was found.” If it’s 見つけられる, then the listener is more likely to react, “Huh, I wonder who found the person, probably the police looking for him.”
2. 未成年にタバコを販売したのが警察に｛見つかりました・見つけられました｝。
I was caught by the police selling tobacco to a minor.
Spelling Note: タバコcan also be spelled as たばこ or 煙草.
Sentence Note: When 見つかる is used, it sounds as if the police incidentally found out about the speaker selling the tobacco to a minor. The sentence simply states the situation of the police finding out. Not much more can be gleamed from the statement, but not much more is necessarily going to be asked of by a listener. When 見つけられる is used, it sounds like the police actively tried snatching the establishment when the worker made the mistake of selling the tobacco to the minor.
3. 信号無視をしていたら、警察に見つかりました。
Just as I was ignoring the traffic signal, I was caught by the police.
Sentence Note: In this sentence, the speaker was caught ignoring a traffic signal meant for a pedestrian. A policeman was incidentally there to notice the speaker flagrantly ignoring it and promptly snatched him/her.
4. 失踪者が、成人の場合は、警察に見つかったとしても、本人の意思が尊重されます。
Even if a missing person is found by the police, in the even that the individual is an adult, the person’s intention are respected.
5. 膵臓癌を早いうちに見つけられた。
The pancreatic cancer was caught early.
Sentence Note: The use of 見つけられる implies an active role of the patient and physician(s) to find the cancer in its early stage.
6. すでに閉店している店舗紹介ページを見つけられた場合は、お問い合わせフォームよりご連絡ください。
If you find an introductory page to a store that has already closed, please contact us from our inquiry form.
Sentence Note: The 見つけられる in this sentence is simply the light honorific form of 見つける. Of course, this has the same origin as the passive form, which also demonstrates how this usage of ～（ら）れる is only possible with the transitive verb forms here.
Spelling Note: すでに may also be spelled as 既に.
7. 住宅が全焼し、1人の遺体が見つかりました。
The home completely burned up, and one body was found.
8. この女性は男性の部屋で胸に包丁が刺さった状態で見つかりました。
The woman was discovered stabbed in the chest with a kitchen knife in the man’s room.
9. 自分に似合う色ってなかなか見つけられません。
I can’t seem to find a color that suits me.
Sentence Note: This 見つけられる utilizes the potential meaning of ～られる.
10a. どうしても仕事が見つからない。
I simply can’t find a job.
10b. どうしても仕事が見つけられない。
I simply can’t find a job.
Sentence Note: In 10a, the speaker is making a simple fact-of-the-matter statement that jobs aren’t to be found whereas 10b implies an incapability of finding a job.
捕まる vs 捕まえられる
The verb 掴まる creates an intransitive-transitive verb pair with 捕まえる for “to be caught” and “to catch” respectively. When 掴まる is used, the objective act of being captured/arrested is what is being described. When 捕まえられる is used, the sentence becomes very subjective. Although it is not always necessary to include by whom the action was done in the sentence, but not including this information will have the listener wondering about more details.
Orthography Note: The characters 掴・摑 can be used instead if the person is being forcibly held down.
11a. 繁華街の防犯カメラに映っていた容疑者がきょう、県警に捕まった。
Today, the suspect, who had been captured by downtown security cameras, was caught by prefectural police.
11b. 繁華街の防犯カメラに映っていた容疑者がきょう、県警に捕まえられた。
Today, the suspect, who had been captured by downtown security cameras, was caught by prefectural police.
11c. 県警がきょう、繁華街の防犯カメラに映っていた容疑者を捕まえた。
Today, the prefectural police caught the suspect, who had been captured by downtown security cameras.
12. 世の中には、まだ捕まっていない殺人犯が相当いる。
There is a considerable number of criminals in the world who have yet to be caught.
13. ピカチュウを捕まえた！
I caught a Pikachu!
14. あいつは万引きで捕まえられた。
The guy was caught shoplifting.
15. 犯人は、大通りを横切った瞬間に警察に捕まえられた。
The criminal was caught by police the instant he/she tried crossing the boulevard.
16. 未だメタモンを捕まえられていない人が結構いるようです。
It appears that there are quite a lot of people who haven’t been able to catch Ditto yet.
Sentence Note: Ex. 16 demonstrates how捕まえられる, unlike 捕まる, can be used to indicate the potential. It’s even possible for it to be used as the light honorific form of 捕まえる. Noticing that particle usage is different for the ‘passive’ interpretation than it is for the potential and the light honorific interpretations is very important in preventing confusion.
17. 先日、友達が交通違反で捕まってしまった。
The other day, my friend got caught for a traffic violation.
18. ついに宇宙人が捕まえられた！
The alien has at last been caught!
I’ve at last been able to capture the alien!
19. 私は窃盗で警察に｛逮捕されました・捕まえられました｝。
I was arrested by police for theft.
Sentence Note: When 捕まえられる is used, Ex. 19 sounds like the speaker had been actively sought and then arrested. Perhaps the speaker had been caught close to the scene after a short chase. 逮捕される, on the other hand, is a more formal variation of 捕まる. It just incidentally catches the meaning that the speaker was arrested for theft. All the listener would know is that the speaker could have surrendered himself/herself at the police station.
20. 飲酒運転で捕まると、罰金はいくらですか。
When you’re arrested/caught for drunk-driving, how much is the fine?
負ける vs 負かされる
The intransitive verb 負ける when meaning “to lose (to)” is similar in meaning to 負かされる, meaning “to be beaten (by).” Although 負ける is naturally more objective and 負かされる is more subjective, over all, 負ける is far more common. This is because 負ける can be used in very emotional situations, and so the heightened emotion that 負かされる would provide is usually unnecessary.
21. （弁護士の）原田さんは、口論になると、いつも奥さんに負けてしまうらしいです。
(The lawyer by the name of) Mr. Harada seems to lose every time he gets into an argument with his wife.
22. （弁護士の）原田さんは、皮肉にも、口論になると、いつも奥さんに負かされてしまうらしいです。
Ironically, (the lawyer by the name of) Mr. Harada seems to always get defeated by his wife when they get into an argument.
23. あんなにきれいさっぱり負かされるのが我慢できなかったんです。
I just couldn’t stand being completely defeated like that.
24. 棋士がコンピュータに｛負かされる・負ける｝日が来るなど、とても考えられなかった。It was totally unthinkable that the day would come a shogi/go player would [be defeated by/lose to] a computer.
25. 癌に負けない！
I will not lose to cancer!
26. 交渉は、相手を負かすことではありません。
Negotiating is not defeating one’s opponent.
27. 女の子に負かされた屈辱感が増していった。
The sense of humiliation from having been defeated by a girl grew.
28. 怒りに｛負けない・負かされない｝ようにしましょう。
Let’s try not to [lose/be defeated by] anger.
29. 初心者に｛負けて・負かされて｝もめげない。
Even if I [lose to/am defeated by] a beginner, I won’t be discouraged.
30. 彼は無名の新人に｛負けた・負かされた｝。
He [lost to/was defeated by] an anonymous newcomer.
敗れる vs 破られる
The verb やぶれる and やぶる create an intransitive-transitive verb pair, but their meanings are not quite the same. Additionally, how they’re spelled is also different.
- 破れる: To get torn; to rip; to break down; to be broken off.
- 敗れる: To be defeated; to lose.
- 破る: To tear/destroy; to break through; to defeat; to shatter/disturb; to break (a record).
At first glance, it appears that 敗れる is interchangeable with負ける. Although this is true for the most part, 敗れる is slightly more literary. Furthermore, 敗れる, being that it is the same verb as the other 破れる, gives a nuance that the loss at hand was due to one’s group falling apart. 破れる・敗れる and 負ける will also differ in set phrases.
Because set phrases are set, you can’t just switch out a key component and be fine. Therefore, 負けるが勝ち (he that fights and runs away may live to fight another day) and 恋に破れる (to be disappointed in love) won’t ever be seen with the two verbs flipped with each other.
Although 破る may be used to mean “defeat,” in which case it is interchangeable with the more common 打ち負かす (to defeat), it is not used in the passive. However, 破られる is used as the passive form for all the other usages.
31. 結局は試合に敗れてしまった。
In the end, I was defeated in the match.
32. 彼氏に約束を破られたら別れますか。
Do you break up if your boyfriend breaks a promise on you?
33. 旅館やホテルの障子を破ってしまった時、料金はどうなりますか。
When you accidentally tear a paper sliding door at a ryokan or hotel, what happens to the fare?
34. 静寂が破られた。
The silence was broken.
35. 錦織圭は、準々決勝で敗れた。
Kei Nishikori was defeated in the quarterfinal.
知れる vs 知られる
The intransitive form of 知る is 知れる. 知れる means “to come to light/to be known.” Aside from these two basic meanings, it also means “to obviously not amount to much” in the set phrase 高が知れている. It also appears in the infamous phrase かも知れない (might/maybe).
Clearly, because it is used in かも知れない, 知れる is a very common verb. However, its use outside set phrases is rather limited. When the sense of “to come to light” extends to “to be found out,” 知られる is far more frequent. Also, the more serious and/or complex the situation being found out is, the more likely 知られる is used over 知れる.
The reason for this is simple. In the positive sense of something being known to other people, 知れる is contained to set phrases. For instance, 名の知れた (well-known) is one example. Usually, the sense of “to be well-known” is taken over by the compound verb 知れ渡る.
Usually, 知れる is rather negative to the point of contempt. When used to indicate that something is obviously known it’s not worth saying or that something doesn’t amount to much, it clearly isn’t being used nicely. This is likely why 知られる is almost always used in general situations to show that something was found out by others.
36. お里が知れてしまう時ってどんな時ですか。
What sort of moments does your upbringing get found out?
Sentence Note: Ex. 36 refers to the location of one’s upbringing being found out by one’s dialect. Even if a person learns how to speak in a standardized manner, slip-ups always occur. When directed at other people, お里が知れる is not a nice phrase.
37. 自衛隊に応募しましたが、親に知れて、阻止されてしまった過去があります。
There was a moment in the past where I enlisted into the Self-Defense-Force but my parents found out and I was prevented from joining.
38. 彼はゲーム業界では名の知れた人物だ。
He is a well-known figure in the game industry.
39. 一人でできることはたかが知れている。
What one can do by oneself doesn’t amount to much.
40. マイナンバーで生活保護受給は会社に知られるのでしょうか。
Will being a welfare recipient be found out by my company through My Number?
41. クレジットカードは番号を知られるだけで危険です。
A credit card is dangerous just by having the number found out.
42. クレジットカードの暗証番号を他人に知られてしまった。
The PIN to my credit card was found out by another person.
43. 転職の際、年金（の）手続きで離婚歴が知られてしまうでしょうか。
When switching jobs, would one’s divorce history be found out via pension procedures?
44. 誰にも知られないでしょう。
It probably won’t be found out by anyone.
45. 辞書を引けば分かるのに、こんな質問を投稿する人の気が知れない。
I can’t for the life of me understand people who post these kinds of questions even though they could’ve figured them out by pulling out a dictionary.
Grammar Note: Ex. 45 is an example of 知れる being the potential form of 知る. As this example shows, when it’s used this way, it’s usually going to be in the negative form and the sentence overall will not be so kind.
46. 杳として行方｛（が）不明だ・が分からない・が知れない｝。
(The person’s) whereabouts are completely unknown.
47. それは言わずと知れたことだよ。
That’s needless to point out.
48. 君のことをどれほど心配したか知れないよ。
You have no idea how worried I was about you.
49. 欧米圏では広く知れ渡っている。
It’s widely known in the West.
50. 健康保険を使って病院｛で・を？｝受診しても会社に知られることはありません。
Even if you get seen at a hospital with health insurance, (the visit) won’t be found out by your company.