haru Korean › Grammar › Level 4A › 사동과 피동
사동과 피동 — causative or passive? — telling them apart, even when they look the same
Causative or passive? — telling them apart, even when they look the same. Korean grammar for upper intermediate learners — Level 4A, lesson 8: 문이 잠겨 버렸어요 (The door locked itself — passives for breakdowns and accidents).
What it means
Last week you made causative verbs (Lesson 4A-7) and this week passive ones, and Korean builds both with the same four suffixes, -이-, -히-, -리- and -기-. So how do you tell them apart? Look at the sentence, not just the verb. A causative sentence has someone who makes or helps another do something, and an object with 을/를: 엄마가 아이에게 밥을 먹였어요 'the mother fed the child'. A passive sentence is about what happens to the subject, and the 을/를 object is gone: 생선이 고양이에게 먹혔어요 'the fish got eaten by the cat'. 에게 can appear in both — in a causative it marks the one made to do it, in a passive the one who did it. Some pairs differ in shape (먹이다 causative, 먹히다 passive), and some verbs are causative only (앉히다, 입히다, 재우다), but several are identical: 보이다 (아이에게 사진을 보여 줬어요 'I showed the child a photo' ↔ 창밖으로 산이 보여요 'you can see a mountain from the window'), 안기다 (어머니가 저에게 아이를 안기셨어요 'the mother put the child in my arms' ↔ 아이가 저에게 안겼어요 'the child was in my arms'), 읽히다, 씻기다 and 업히다. 울리다 is the causative of 울다 — 동생을 울렸어요 'I made my little sister cry' — but with no object it also means 'to ring, to sound': 휴대폰이 울렸어요. The quick test: is there a 을/를 object besides the subject? Then it's causative. One colloquial bonus: 안 먹혀요 means 'it doesn't work (on someone)' — 그 방법은 우리 아이한테 안 먹혀요.
Forms
| Pattern | When | Example |
|---|---|---|
| 사동 (4A 7과) | N이/가 N에게 N을/를 + 사동사 — 누가 하게 해요 · 을/를 ✓ | 먹다 → 먹이다: 아이에게 밥을 먹였어요 |
| 피동 (오늘) | N이/가 (N에게 · N에) + 피동사 — N에게 일이 생겨요 · 을/를 ✗ | 먹다 → 먹히다: 생선이 고양이에게 먹혔어요 |
Key points
- Causative (Lesson 4A-7): someone makes or helps another do it, and there is a 을/를 object — 엄마가 아이에게 밥을 먹여요. Passive (today): it happens to the subject, and the 을/를 object is gone (or is a part of you) — 생선이 고양이에게 먹혔어요.
- Some verbs are both — 보이다 · 안기다 · 읽히다 · 씻기다 · 업히다: look for 을/를. Others differ — 먹이다 ↔ 먹히다, and 앉히다 · 입히다 · 재우다 are causative only. 울리다: 아이를 울리다 (make cry) ↔ 휴대폰이 울리다 (ring). In speech, 안 먹혀요 = it doesn't work.
Examples
- 사동은 누가 다른 사람에게 하게 하는 말이고, 피동은 누구에게 일이 생기는 말이에요.
- 을/를을 보세요: 엄마가 아이에게 밥을 먹였어요(사동) ↔ 생선이 고양이에게 먹혔어요(피동).
- 모양이 같은 말도 있어요: 보이다 · 안기다 · 읽히다 · 씻기다 — 아이에게 사진을 보여 줬어요(사동) ↔ 창밖으로 산이 보여요(피동).
- 울리다도 두 가지예요: 동생을 울렸어요(울게 했어요) ↔ 휴대폰이 울렸어요(소리가 났어요).
- 「안 먹혀요」는 「효과가 없어요」와 같은 뜻으로도 써요: 그 방법은 우리 아이한테 안 먹혀요.
Where university textbooks teach it
This point also appears in: Yonsei University Korean 3-1, lesson 3; Yonsei University Korean 3-1, lesson 9; Seoul National University Korean 3A, lesson 6; Seoul National University Korean 3B, lesson 11; Ewha Womans University Korean 3-1, lesson 4; Ewha Womans University Korean 3-2, lesson 11; Hongik University Korean 2B, lesson 10; Hongik University Korean 3B, lesson 9; Hanyang University Korean 3-1, lesson 3; Hanyang University Korean 3-2, lesson 10.
Also in this lesson
- 피동 -이/히/리/기 (정리) — passive verbs — the full set, who or what caused it, and things that go wrong
- V-아/어지다 · N되다 · N을/를 당하다/받다 — passives without -이/히/리/기 — -아/어지다, N되다, and 당하다 · 받다
- 피동 + -아/어 있다 — is locked · is open · is lying there — describing the state things are in