Talking casually: the passive

1. Vocabulary List

2. Grammar & Sentences

そう (Casual) — Looks / Seems Like

Drop the です from formal そうです to get casual そう. Attach directly to an i-adjective stem (drop い) or na-adjective.

Structure: [adj stem] + そう

• みきさんは悲しそう。(Miki-san wa kanashisou.) — Miki looks sad.
• あの猫はさびしそう。(Ano neko wa sabishisou.) — That cat looks lonely.
• 友だちとあそんでいて楽しそう。(Tomodachi to asonde ite tanoshisou.) — He is playing with his friends, and it looks fun.
• つまらなそうだね。いっしょにゲームをしない？(Tsumaranasou da ne. Issho ni geemu wo shinai?) — You look bored. Why don't we play a game together?
• あきとくんに話すとき、はずかしそう。(Akito-kun ni hanasu toki, hazukashisou.) — When you talk to Akito, you look embarrassed.
• あいさんはテストができなかったと言ってた。とてもくやしそうだった。(Ai-san wa tesuto ga dekinakatta to itteta. Totemo kuyashisou datta.) — Ai said she did not do well on the test. She looked very frustrated.
• つまが幸せそうだから私も幸せだ。(Tsuma ga shiawasesou dakara watashi mo shiawase da.) — Because my wife looks happy, I am happy, too.

Casual Passive — Plain Form

The passive voice in casual speech uses the plain (dictionary-register) passive form. The key marker is dropping い from て-いる contractions.

Passive formation:

Casual contractions:

• 書かれている → 書かれてる (casual: drop the い)
• 知っていた → 知ってた

Passive sentences:

• この新聞は日本語で書かれている。(Kono shinbun wa Nihongo de kakarete iru.) — This newspaper is written in Japanese.
• チーズは牛にゅうから作られる。(Chiizu wa gyuunyuu kara tsukuraru.) — Cheese is made from milk.
• 来年ここにビルが建てられる。(Rainen koko ni biru ga taterareru.) — A building will be built here next year.
• このえは今から100年くらい前にかかれた。(Kono e wa ima kara hyakunen kurai mae ni kakareta.) — This painting was painted around 100 years ago.
• え文字は日本で作られた。知ってた？(Emoji wa Nihon de tsukureta. Shitteta?) — Emoji were made in Japan. Did you know?
• スカイツリーはいつ建てられた？(Sukaitsuri wa itsu taterareta?) — When was Skytree built?
• ここに何が書かれてる？よく分からない。(Koko ni nani ga kakareteru? Yoku wakaranai.) — What is written here? I don't really know.
• 日本ではどんなものが発明された？(Nihon de wa donna mono ga hatsumei sareta?) — What kind of things were invented in Japan?
• この家はお父さんが生まれる前に建てられたの？すごいね。(Kono ie wa otousan ga umareru mae ni taterareta no? Sugoi ne.) — Was this house built before my father was born? It's great, isn't it?

3. Learning Context

• Casual そう vs formal そうです: Remove です for casual register — 楽しそうです → 楽しそう. The adjective stem modification (drop い) is the same in both.
• つまらなそう: つまらない drops the い → つまらなそう, not つまらいそう or つまらそう. The な is retained.
• Passive agent particle: Use に for a person agent (先生にほめられた — praised by the teacher) and で for material/medium (日本語で書かれている — written in Japanese).
• Dropped い in casual speech: て-いる contractions: 書かれている → 書かれてる, 知っていた → 知ってた. This is standard in spoken Japanese and informal writing.
• Sentence-final の: の at the end of a question (建てられたの？) softens the tone — common in casual feminine or child speech, but used broadly in informal contexts.
• 知ってた？: Past form of 知っている in casual register — "did you know?" Used as a rhetorical hook when sharing surprising facts (え文字は日本で作られた。知ってた？).
• 発明 in passive: 発明された (was invented) — same 発 kanji from section-08. Passive される attaches to する-verb compounds.

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