Korean Passives & Causatives / 한국어의 피동과 사동

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Korean Passives and Causatives

 

Passives

In a passive-voice sentence, make the object of the sentence the subject and don't worry too much about who did the action. For instance, let's take the sentence: "He did his homework." In the passive voice, this would become "His homework was done." Alternatively, let's try "The mother lugged the child." In the passive, it changes to "The child was hugged by the mother."

Korean verbs are changed to the passive-voice by adding 이, 히, 리, or 기 to the verb stem. Which syllable you add usually depends on the letter the verb ends with; however, there are many exceptions to this rule and you simply have to memorize most of the words.

Plus, note that you can't form a passive-voice sentence with verbs that don't describe an action because the passive-voice is used to talk about actions!

 

Verbs ending in vowels or ㅎ normally have 이 added.

• 보다 (to see) > 보이다 (to be showing/seen)
• 쌓다 (to pile) > 쌓이다 (to be piled up)
• 놓다 (to put) > 놓이다 (to be put)
• 바꾸다 (to changed) > 바뀌다 (to be changed)

 

Verbs ending in ㅂ, ㄷ or ㄱ take 히.

• 잡다 (to catch) > 잡히다 (to be caught)
• 읽다 (to read) > 읽히다 (to be read)
• 먹다 (to eat) > 먹히다 (to be eaten)
• 닫다 (to close) > 닫히다 (to be closed)

 

Verbs ending in ㄹ almost always take 리.

• 걸다 (to hang) > 걸리다 (to be hung)
• 열다 (to open) > 열리다 (to be opened)
• 듣다 (to listen) > 들리다 (to be heared)
• 밀다 (to push) > 밀리다 (to be pushed)

 

Verbs ending in ㄴ, ㅁ, ㅅ or ㅊ take 기.

• 안다 (to hug) > 안기다 (to be hugged)
• 끊다 (to stop) > 끊기다 (to be stopped)
• 쫓다 (to chase) > 쫓기다 (to be chased)
• 담다 (to put something in) > 담기다 (to be put in)

 

Tips! 
A passive form derived with those suffixes conveys a meaning of possibility in many cases. The meaning of possibility becomes more evident when the passive verbs are modified by adverb '잘' or '안'.

• 저 건물이 잘 보여?
  Can you see the building?
• 이 사과는 껍질이 잘 깎이네요.
  This apple's skin peels off easily.
• 오늘따라 책이 잘 읽혀요.
  I have an appetite for reading today.
  Books are appealing to me today.
  
• 이 손톱깎이로는 손톱이 잘 안 깎여.
  This nail clipper is not working well for cutting my nails

 

이		히		리		기
놓다 to put	놓이다 to be put	닫다 to shut	닫히다 to be shut	걸다 to hang	걸리다 to be hung	끊다 to cut (off)	끊기다 to be cut (off)
바꾸다 to change	바뀌다 to be changed	읽다 to read	읽히다 to be read	듣다 to listen	들리다 to be heard	안다 to embrace/hug	안기다 to be embraced/hugged
보다 to see	보이다 to be seen	막다 to block	막히다 to be blocked	열다 to open	열리다 to be opened	쫓다 to pursue	쫓기다 to be pursued
쓰다 to use/write	쓰이다 to be used/written	잡다 to grab	잡히다 to be grabbed	팔다 to sell	팔리다 to be sold	찢다 to tear up	찢기다 to be torn
잠그다 to lock	잠기다 to be locked	먹다 to eat	먹히다 to be eaten	밀다 to push	밀리다 to be pushed/jostled	씻다 to wash	씻기다 to be washed
쌓다 to pile	쌓이다 to be piled up	꽂다 to stick	꽂히다 to be stuck	풀다 to untie; release	풀리다 to be untied	담다 to put in	담기다 to be put in
모으다 to gather; collect	모이다 to be gathered; collected	밟다 to step on	밟히다 to be stepped	부르다 to call	불리다 to be called	감다 to wind / to close eyes	감기다 to be wound / for eyes to be closed
깎다 to peel / to carve	깍이다 to be peeled / to be trimmed	찍다 to stamp/dip	찍히다 to be stamped	달다 to hang/attach	달리다 to be hooked/attached
		뽑다 to pull/pick	뽑히다 to be pulled/picked

 

Worksheet | Passive Verb Practice (1)

Worksheet | Passive Verb Practice (2)

Worksheet | Passive Verb Practice (3) | 피동 접미사 '-리-'

Worksheet | Passive Verb Practice (4) | 피동 접미사 '-기-'

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When an active verb ends in 하다, you can change it to passive simply by changing 하다 to 되다, 받다, and 당하다.

 

-되다		-받다		당하다
사용(을) 하다 to use	사용(이) 되다 to be used	칭찬(을) 하다 to praise; compliment	칭찬(을) 받다 to win praise	배신(을) 하다 to betray	배신(을) 당하다 to be betrayed
준비(를) 하다 to prepare	준비(가) 되다 to be prepared; ready	인정(을) 하다 to accept; admit	인정(을) 받다 to be recognized	무시(를) 하다 to ignore	무시(를) 당하다 to be ignored
시작(을) 하다 to start	시작(이) 되다 to be started	주목(을) 하다 to pay attention	주목(을) 받다 to get attention	해고(를) 하다 to fire	해고(를) 당하다 to be fired
해결(을) 하다 to resolve	해결(이) 되다 to be resolved	존경(을) 하다 to respect	존경(을) 받다 to be looked up to	실직(을) 하다 to lose job	실직(을) 당하다 to lose job
건설(을) 하다 to build	건설(이) 되다 to be built	비난(을) 하다 to blame	비난(을) 받다 to be criticized	공격(을) 하다 to attack	공격(을) 당하다 to be attacked
실시(를) 하다 to execute	실시(가) 되다 to be executed	처벌(을) 하다 to punish	처벌(을) 받다 to be punished	거절(을) 하다 to reject	거절(을) 당하다 to be rejected
구성(을) 하다 to form; organize	구성(이) 되다 to be organized	사랑(을) 하다 to love	사랑(을) 받다 to be loved	금지(를) 하다 to ban; prohibit	금지(를) 당하다 to be banned
포함(을) 하다 to include	포함(이) 되다 to be included	교육(을) 하다 to educate	교육(을) 받다 to be educated	이용(을) 하다 to use (service)	이용(을) 당하다 to be taken advantageously

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Causatives

In the passive voice, "The child was dressed by the mother."; in the causative voice, "The mother dressed the child. Korean uses almost exactly the same particles for this as it does for passives. They are 이, 히, 리 and 기. For causatives you also sometimes need 우 and 추.

 

이 follows verbs ending in vowels,  ㄱ and ㅎ.

• 보다 (to see) > 보이다 (to show)
• 먹다 (to eat) > 먹이다 (to feed)
• 끓다 (to be boiling) > 끓이다 (to boil something)
• 죽다 (to die) > 죽이다 (to kill)

 

히 follows ㅂ.

• 입다 (to wear) > 입히다 (to clothe or to cover)
• 눕다 (to lie down) > 눕히다 (to lay something/someone down)

 

리 follows ㄹ.

• 알다 (to know) > 알리다 (to let someone be known)
• 살다 (to live) > 살리다 (to save someone's life)
• 울다 (to cry) > 울리다 (to make someone cry)

 

기 follows ㅅ and ㅁ.

• 숨다 (to hide oneself) > 숨기다 (to hide something)
• 남다 (to remain) > 남기다 (to leave)
• 웃다 (to smile) > 웃기다 (to make someone smile or laugh)
• 벗다 (to take off someone's clothes) > 벗기다 (to take off someone's clothes)

 

우 isn't actually 우, but rather 이우. It follows verbs ending in vowel.

• 타다 (to ride/to burn) > 태우다 (to give a ride/to burn something)
• 자다 (to sleep) > 재우다 (to put to sleep)
• 서다 (to stand) > 세우다 (to park)
• 깨다 (to wake up) > 깨우다 (to wake up someone)

 

추 follows ㅈ.

• 낮다 (to be low) > 낮추다 (to lower)
• 늦다 (to be late) > 늦추다 (to delay)
• 맞다 (to be right) > 맞추다 (to fit, to make right)

 

Here are a few common exceptions:

• 읽다 (to read) > 읽히다 (to be read)
• 앉다 (to sit) > 앉히다 (to make someone sit)
• 맡다 (to assume, to be in charge) > 맡기다 (to entrust)

 

Certain other causatives are based on the verb 나다.  When changed to causative form, this becomes 내다.

• 나다 (to happen) > 내다 (to make/pay)
• 끝나다 (to be finished) > 끝내다 (to finish)
• 힘나다 (to gain strength) > 힘내다 (to strengthen oneself)
• 그 일이 벌써 끝났어요. 
  The work is already finished. (passive)
• 그 일을 벌써 끝냈어요.
  I've already finished the work.(causative)

 

이		히		리
먹다 to eat	먹이다 to feed; make eat	읽다 to read	읽히다 to make read	알다 to know	알리다 to inform; make known
죽다 to die	죽이다 to kill	앉다 to sit	앉히다 to seat(a person)	살다 to live	살리다 to let live
보다 to see	보이다 to show	눕다 to lie down	눕히다 to put(someone) to bed	울다 to cry	울리다 to make cry
속다 to be deceived	속이다 to deceive	입다 to wear	입히다 to dress; make wear	듣다 to listen	들리다 to make heard
녹다 to melt	녹이다 to (cause to) melt	익다 to become ripe; to ripen; to be cooked	익히다 to make ripe; to cook	걷다 to walk	걸리다 to make walk
끓다 to boil	끓이다 to (cause to) boil	맞다 to be hit; to be correct	맞히다 to hit; to guess correctly	놀다 to play	놀리다 to let play; to make fun of (someone)
붙다 to stick to; be affized to	붙이다 to stick (something) to; to affix (something)	넓다 to be wide	넓히다 to widen	돌다 to turn	돌리다 to turn(something)
높다 to be high	높이다 to raise up, to elevate	좁다 to be narrow	좁히다 to make it narrow, to narrow	마르다 to get dry	말리다 to dry, to make dry
		굽다 to be bent	굽히다 to bend	날다 to fly	날리다 to make (something) fly
				오르다 to rise, to ascend	올리다 to raise, to lift

 

기		우		추
웃다 to laugh	웃기다 to make laugh	깨다 to wake up	깨우다 to wake (someone) up	늦다 to be late	늦추다 to postpone; to delay
맡다 to undertake	맡기다 to entrust	자다 to sleep	재우다 to cause to sleep	낮다 to be low	낮추다 to lower
벗다 to take off	벗기다 to cause to take off	타다 1)to ride, 2)to burn (itself)	태우다 1)to give a ride, 2)to burn (something)
씻다 to wash	씻기다 to have a person wash	서다 to stand; to stop	세우다 to make stand (up); to make stop
굶다 to starve	굶기다 to let a person go hungry	쓰다 to put on; to wear	씌우다 to cover a thing wito; to put on
감다 to wash (one's) hair	감기다 to wash (someone's) hair	크다 to be big	키우다 to raise, to make something big
남다 to remain; to be left (behind)	남기다 to leave (behind)
신다 to put on (shose, socks...)	신기다 to make someone put on (shose, socks...)

 

Worksheet | Causative Verb Practice (1) | 사동 접미사 '-이-'

Worksheet | Causative Verb Practice (2) | 사동접미사 '-히-'

Worksheet | Causative Verb Practice (3) | 사동 접미사 '-리-'

Worksheet | Causative Verb Practice (4) | 사동접미사 '-기-'

Worksheet | Causative Verb Practice (5) | 사동접미사 '-우-' & '-추-'

 

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<참고> Laura Kingdon(2015), Essential Korean Grammar, Tuttle, 33-36. Min & Ahn(2021), Korean Grammar in Use, Darakwon, 158-160. 박미경, 김지연, 권제은(2019), 외국인을 위한 한국어 문장 쓰기의 모든 것(중급): 문장 바로 잡기, 78-79. 유영영 (2018), 한국어 피동사의 상적 의미와 특성 연구, 인문언어, 20:2, 153-170