Describing inventions in the passive

1. Vocabulary List

2. Grammar & Sentences

する Verbs — Passive Form

する verbs are irregular. To form the passive, replace する with される.

• スマホを発明（はつめい）しました。(Sumaho wo hatsumei shimashita.) — He invented the smartphone.
• QRコードは日本で発明されました。(QR koodo wa Nihon de hatsumei saremashita.) — QR codes were invented in Japan.
• カラオケは1970年くらいに日本で発明されました。(Karaoke wa sen-kyuuhyaku-nanajuu-nen kurai ni Nihon de hatsumei saremashita.) — Karaoke was invented in Japan around 1970.
• カメラつきのけいたい電話は日本で発明されました。(Kamera tsuki no keitai denwa wa Nihon de hatsumei saremashita.) — Mobile phones with cameras were invented in Japan.

Passive Review — From Previous Lessons

• すしはごはんとさかなで作られます。(Sushi wa gohan to sakana de tsukuraremasu.) — Sushi is made with cooked rice and fish.
• 寺は日本中に建てられました。(Tera wa Nihon-juu ni tateraremashita.) — Temples were built all over Japan.

つきの — "With / Equipped With"

Use [feature] + つきの + [item] to describe something that comes with an added function.

Structure: [feature] + つきの + [noun]

• カメラつきのけいたい電話 (kamera tsuki no keitai denwa) — a mobile phone with a camera
• テレビつきの時計 (terebi tsuki no tokei) — a watch with a TV

3. Learning Context

• する passive rule: する → される (not さられる). This is the one irregular passive pattern — all other verbs follow the regular u-verb / ru-verb rules from section-01.
• 発明する vs 発明された: 発明する focuses on the act of inventing; 発明された (passive past) shifts focus to the thing that was invented and where/when — the natural form for describing inventions.
• つきの as a noun modifier: つき comes from つく (to be attached/included). [X]つきの means "[item] that comes with X." It sits between the feature and the noun it modifies, always followed by の.
• Japanese inventions in this lesson: QRコード (1994), カラオケ (c. 1970), カメラつきのけいたい電話 (2000), ゲーム機, カーナビ — all used as passive-form practice sentences.

4. Progress Tracker