Passive form - The exact difference between を and が


I've seen this question asked before, but i feel the answer didn't quite
answer all my questions, so here goes.

Now, I am rather sure that this:

> ケーキが食べられた

Means:

> The cake was eaten. (by someone)

Now, recently I've noticed a few cases where the passive form was used with
"を" instead of "が".

Judging from the examples I've seen, I would guess that:

> ケーキを食べられた

Means something along the lines of

> _my_ cake was eaten (by someone)

However, can this be used with someone elses cake instead of my own? I guess
what I'm basically asking is whether this is possible:

> 犬は猫にケーキを食べられた

And if it is, does it mean:

> _The dog's_ cake was eaten by the cat

Or can the Aを(passive verb) construction only be used when I'm speaking of
something directly relating to myself, the speaker?




Yes, your reasoning is correct. `は／が` is used to describe when the action
happens to the thing itself. `を` is used to emphasize the (usually negative)
effect of the action on the subject, optionally indicating the agent of the
action with `に`.

>   * 弟にケーキを食べられた → My cake was eaten by my little brother (anger/aggravation
> implied).
>   * カバンを取られてしまった → My bag was taken/stolen
>

You could replace the `を` version with `の〜は／が` version, but 1) I'm not sure if
this is grammatically correct, 2) it's not as strong of a statement, and 3)
may not convey the negativity as the former does.

>   * 私のケーキは食べられた → weaker, possibly a neutral statement; may not be
> acceptable
>   * 私はケーキを食べられた → stronger; definite negativity included
>

The English translation might include the word "on", although it might not
make sense all the time. Though personally, it helps me to remember it this
way.

>   * 電車の中の人に足を踏まれました → My foot was stepped **_on_** by a person in the train
> ("on" works in this translation).
>   * 私は弟にケーキを食べられた → My cake was eaten "on" by my little brother ("on"
> doesn't work in this way in English, though it still kinda makes sense).
>

Note that with the `は／が` pattern to describe an action on the subject itself,
there are nuances about when to use the passive form of the action and when to
use the intransitive verb of the action (if it exists) as [I discuss in this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/329/78).

Also, you probably shouldn't be feeding cake to your dog. ;)




Yes, your reasoning is correct. `は／が` is used to describe when the action
happens to the thing itself. `を` is used to emphasize the (usually negative)
effect of the action on the subject, optionally indicating the agent of the
action with `に`.

>   * 弟にケーキを食べられた → My cake was eaten by my little brother (anger/aggravation
> implied).
>   * カバンを取られてしまった → My bag was taken/stolen
>

You could replace the `を` version with `の〜は／が` version, but 1) I'm not sure if
this is grammatically correct, 2) it's not as strong of a statement, and 3)
may not convey the negativity as the former does.

>   * 私のケーキは食べられた → weaker, possibly a neutral statement; may not be
> acceptable
>   * 私はケーキを食べられた → stronger; definite negativity included
>

The English translation might include the word "on", although it might not
make sense all the time. Though personally, it helps me to remember it this
way.

>   * 電車の中の人に足を踏まれました → My foot was stepped **_on_** by a person in the train
> ("on" works in this translation).
>   * 私は弟にケーキを食べられた → My cake was eaten "on" by my little brother ("on"
> doesn't work in this way in English, though it still kinda makes sense).
>

Note that with the `は／が` pattern to describe an action on the subject itself,
there are nuances about when to use the passive form of the action and when to
use the intransitive verb of the action (if it exists) as [I discuss in this
question](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/329/78).

Also, you probably shouldn't be feeding cake to your dog. ;)

