Xに捕まる　vs　Xに捕まえられる


Xに捕まる was used when describing the speaker getting grabbed by X when trying to
leave.

Why was the intransitive used over passive when it was Xに...?




In Japanese, there are a few verbs that take に and seem to have "inherently
passive" meanings. 見つかる ("to be found by ～") and 捕まる ("to be caught by ～") are
representative examples of this. They are called 受動詞 or "passive-like verb" by
some linguists. See my answer here: [Other uses of the particle に in
お兄ちゃんには見つからない](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/30577/5010) If you are
interested, [this article (in
Japanese)](https://tsukuba.repo.nii.ac.jp/?action=repository_action_common_download&item_id=26006&item_no=1&attribute_id=17&file_no=1)
investigates their nuances and etymology, but it's too difficult at least to
me :D

Now, specifically about the difference between ～に捕まる and ～に捕まえられる, they are
both correct, but people usually use the former because it's shorter. I cannot
think of any example where 捕まえられる is better. (This does not mean all 受動詞 are
preferred over the longer ones -- 知られる and 教えられる are both common and are even
preferred depending on the situation.)




I am a Japanese. "Xに捕まえられる" -> we can use it. this sentence include a negative
meaning. for example, if the speaker has made a bad thing, we can use this
sentence sometime. "Xに捕まる" -> we can use it more often than "Xに捕まえられる".
"Xに捕まる"-> this sentence does not include both a negative and positive meaning.
It does not depend on any situation.

Does that make sense?

