In short

Korean builds the passive (being acted on, rather than acting) in three ways. A small memorized set of verbs inserts -이/히/리/기-: 잡다 (japda, catch) -> 잡히다 (japida, be caught). Otherwise, transitive verbs take -아/어지다 (만들어지다, get made) and Sino-Korean 하다-verbs swap 하다 for 되다 (시작되다, get started). The doer, when named, is marked 에게/한테 for people, 에 for things, or -에 의해(서) in formal writing. Korean leans on the passive far less than English - when in doubt, prefer the active.

The rule

Step 1 - Lexical passives: -이/히/리/기-

A closed, memorized class of common transitive verbs forms its passive by inserting one of four affixes between stem and 다. There is no rule that tells you which affix a verb takes - 잡다 uses -히-, 열다 uses -리-, 안다 uses -기- - so you learn each passive verb together with its active partner, as a vocabulary pair. The derived verb then conjugates like any ordinary 다-verb: 잡히다 -> 잡혀요 (japyeoyo), 열리다 -> 열려요 (yeollyeoyo), 보이다 -> 보여요 (boyeoyo). Only a limited group of verbs has these forms; you cannot invent one for a verb not on the list. The table below is the core of that list, and 물다 -> 물리다 (mullida, be bitten), 덮다 -> 덮이다 (deopida, be covered) and 잊다 -> 잊히다 (ichida, be forgotten) belong to it too - each appears later in this lesson.

Step 2 - Transitive verb + -아/어지다

For many transitive verbs outside that class, attach -아/어지다 to the 아/어 form to say something gets done: 만들다 (mandeulda, make) -> 만들어지다 (mandeureojida, get made), 정하다 (decide) -> 정해지다 (jeonghaejida, get decided), 켜다 (turn on) -> 켜지다 (kyeojida, get turned on), 알리다 (inform) -> 알려지다 (allyeojida, become known).

Boundary with lesson 37: the ending is identical, but the base’s part of speech decides the meaning. Adjective + -아/어지다 = become that quality (좋아지다, get better). Transitive verb + -아/어지다 = passive, get that action done to it (만들어지다, get made). Same suffix, two jobs.

Step 3 - 한자어 + 되다, and 받다 / 당하다

A Sino-Korean action noun plus 하다 is active; the same noun plus 되다 is its passive counterpart: 시작하다 (start something) -> 시작되다 (sijakdoeda, get started), 사용하다 (use) -> 사용되다 (sayongdoeda, be used), 해결하다 -> 해결되다 (be solved). 되다 conjugates 되 + 어요 -> 돼요 / past 됐어요 (dwaesseoyo) - never *되요.

Two more verbs attach to a noun to make a “be-Xed” verb: 받다 (batda, receive) for pleasant actions - 사랑 -> 사랑받다 (sarangbatda, be loved), 존경받다 (be respected) - and 당하다 (danghada, suffer) for unpleasant ones - 무시 -> 무시당하다 (musidanghada, be ignored), 거절당하다 (be rejected).

Step 4 - Marking the doer, and converting the case

Turning an active clause passive reshuffles the particles:

• Active: 경찰이 도둑을 잡았어요. (The police caught the thief.)
• Passive: 도둑이 경찰에게 잡혔어요. (The thief was caught by the police.)

The object of the active clause becomes the subject (을/를 -> 이/가); the old subject becomes the agent; the verb becomes passive. Mark the agent by its type: 에게/한테 for an animate doer (a person or animal), 에 for an inanimate cause, and formal -에 의해(서) in writing.

Step 5 - Why Korean prefers the active

The affixed passive set is small and lexical, and Korean speakers frequently just drop the subject or use the active with an unnamed doer where English reaches for a passive. Do not stack two passives: 잊히다 is already “be forgotten,” so *잊혀지다 is a common but incorrect double passive.

Forms & patterns

The lexical passive class (-이/히/리/기-) - a list to memorize:

The productive strategies:

Marking the agent:

Examples

Common mistakes

• 경찰이 도둑을 잡혔어요. (Gyeongchari dodugeul japyeosseoyo.) -> 도둑이 경찰에게 잡혔어요. (Dodugi gyeongcharege japyeosseoyo.) - a passive verb has no object; the thing acted on becomes the subject (이/가) and the doer takes 에게, so 을/를 cannot stay.
• 개에 물렸어요. (Gae-e mullyeosseoyo.) -> 개한테 물렸어요. (Gaehante mullyeosseoyo.) - an animate agent (person or animal) is marked 에게/한테; 에 is only for an inanimate cause.
• 공사를 시작됐어요. (Gongsareul sijakdwaesseoyo.) -> 공사가 시작됐어요. (Gongsaga sijakdwaesseoyo.) - 되다 is passive/intransitive, so its subject takes 이/가; only active 시작하다 takes an object with 을/를.
• 이 단어는 자주 사용되요. (I daneoneun jaju sayongdoeyo.) -> 이 단어는 자주 사용돼요. (I daneoneun jaju sayongdwaeyo.) - 되 + -어요 contracts to 돼요; the form *되요 does not exist.
• 그 노래는 잊혀졌어요. (Geu noraeneun icheojeosseoyo.) -> 그 노래는 잊혔어요. (Geu noraeneun icheosseoyo.) - 잊히다 is already passive; adding -어지다 makes an incorrect double passive (the same trap as *쓰여지다).

Tips

• The passive is rarer than in English. “The window was broken” is naturally 창문이 깨졌어요, but for many English passives Korean simply uses the active with an unnamed doer, or drops the subject entirely. If a passive feels forced, say it actively - it will sound more native.
• No rule predicts -이/히/리/기-. The ~15 common lexical passives are a vocabulary list, not a pattern: learn each as a pair with its active verb (잡다/잡히다, 듣다/들리다). Watch that 듣다 (ㄷ-irregular) gives 들리다.
• Mind the -아/어지다 fork. One ending, two jobs: adjective + -아/어지다 = become (좋아지다, get better); transitive verb + -아/어지다 = passive (만들어지다, get made). The base’s part of speech tells you which.
• 받다 is good, 당하다 is bad. 받다 pairs with pleasant nouns (사랑받다 be loved, 초대받다 be invited); 당하다 with unpleasant ones (무시당하다 be ignored, 사기당하다 be swindled). Choose by the noun’s connotation.