Are these sentences of 思われる transformed from those of 思う natural?


The answers and comments of my question [Understanding of a sentence from
Death Note](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/99600/understanding-
of-a-sentence-from-death-note) make me think about the use of 思われる and the
particles before it. And I've read some questions about it:  
[Interpretation of 思われる (spontaneous or
passive?)](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/12849/interpretation-
of-%E6%80%9D%E3%82%8F%E3%82%8C%E3%82%8B-spontaneous-or-passive)  
[Uses of に思う in this
statement](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/72511/uses-
of-%E3%81%AB%E6%80%9D%E3%81%86-in-this-statement)  
[Can 思う take を and と at the same
time?](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/questions/24374/can-%E6%80%9D%E3%81%86-take-%E3%82%92-and-%E3%81%A8-at-
the-same-time)  

There are some rules of transforming regular verbs into their passive or
spontaneous form, such as changing を to が for a direct passive or spontaneous
of a transitive verb. Based on these rules, considering 思われる is the passive
and spontaneous form of 思う which is a transitive verb, we can make some
sentences of 思われる transformed from those of 思う. But I'm not sure whether these
sentences sound natural or not. For example:  

**〜を〜(だ)と思う**  

> (他者が)彼を学者と思う => (他者に)彼が学者と思われる  
>  (他者が)彼を学者だと思う => (他者に)彼が学者だと思われる  
>

If the structure of latter is [彼が学者だ]と思われる, it may be also seen as made from
[彼が学者だ]と思う. But here I just want to say the possibility of just changing が・を
to に・が.  

**〜を〜に思う  
**

> (他者が)彼を立派に思う => (他者に)彼が立派に思われる  
>

I'm not sure 彼を立派に思う can be used for expressing 彼を立派だと思う, just assume it.  

**Indirect Passive  
** I wonder if 思われる can be used as the indirect passive. If I want to say my
son is considered to be a criminal (which makes me sad and annoyed).

> (他者が)息子を犯罪者と思う => 私は(他者に)息子を犯罪者と思われる  
>  (他者が)息子を犯罪者だと思う => 私は(他者に)息子を犯罪者だと思われる  
>

just like

> (犬が)手を噛んだ => 私は(犬に)手を噛まれた  
>

I'm not sure here it should be **思われている** for it's passive. And if changing
the structure:

> (他者が)[息子が犯罪者だ]と思う => 私は(他者に)[息子が犯罪者だ]と思われる  
>

I wonder if the sentences I've written are natural and the transformations
make sense.




The `AをBと + verb` (`verb + A as B`) construction can be made into the passive
form like so:

  1. [non-passive] 山田氏を学者だと思う。  
(I) regard Mr. Yamada as a scholar.

  2. [(direct) passive] 山田氏は学者だと思われる。  
Mr. Yamada will be regarded (by someone) as a scholar.

  3. [indirect passive] (私は)山田氏を学者だと思われる。  
I will have Mr. Yamada (incorrectly) regarded as a scholar.

  4. [relativize 2/3] 学者だと思われる山田氏  
Mr. Yamada, who will be (incorrectly) regarded as a scholar

**I added "will"** in some of the corresponding English translations because
[you need to use 思われている when it's about something at present and the subject
of "think" is a third person](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/6538/5010).

Since these are still `AをBと`, [だ can be safely
dropped](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/56003/5010):

  5. [non-passive] 山田氏を学者と思う。  
(I) regard Mr. Yamada as a scholar.

  6. [(direct) passive] 山田氏は学者と思われる。  
Mr. Yamada will be regarded (by someone) as a scholar.

  7. [indirect passive] (私は)山田氏を学者と思われる。  
I will have Mr. Yamada (incorrectly) regarded as a scholar.

  8. [relativize 6/7] 学者と思われる山田氏  
Mr. Yamada, who will be (incorrectly) regarded as a scholar

Sentence 3 and 7 are indirect passive sentences (unambiguously). **However,
Sentences 2, 4, 6 and 8 are usually not interpreted as above when there is no
context.** Instead, this type of 思われる is taken as spontaneous-れる by default:

  9. 山田氏は学者だと思われる。  
[spontaneous] I (spontaneously) think that Mr. Yamada is a scholar. / It
appears that Mr. Yamada is a scholar.

Note that this sentence no longer has anything to do with passive voice even
though it has れる. This れる just adds the mood of _spontaneously_ (or _somehow_
, _vaguely_ , etc.)

Applying the rules of relative clauses, you can construct these noun phrases:

  10. 学者(だ)と思われる山田氏  
[from 2/6] Mr. Yamada, who will be (incorrectly) thought of as a scholar

  11. 学者だと思われる山田氏  
[from 9] Mr. Yamada, who appears to be a scholar

These look the same, but **11 is the default interpretation**. The
interpretation like 10 is not unnatural, but there needs to be a context such
as that Mr. Yamada is clearly annoyed by being mistaken for a scholar.

Prescriptively speaking, when 11 is intended, だ should not be dropped. This is
because it's from 山田氏は学者だ, which is a sentence. So this 学者だ is still a
sentence, just like 大丈夫だ in 大丈夫(だ)と思います is a sentence. But I somehow feel it's
safe to drop this だ in a very short case like this.

You can apply the same discussion with 彼が立派に思われる. Technically, it can mean
both "He is going to be _(incorrectly)_ thought of as being respectable"
(passive) and "I feel he is respectable" (spontaneous). But for the former to
make sense, you need some rare context where being thought of as a respectable
person is undesirable to the speaker for some reason.

Fortunately, [thanks to this
rule](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/6538/5010), you will see 思われている
(not 思われる) when the passive voice is intended and the sentence is not about
something in the future. Compare:

  12. 学者だと思われる山田氏  
Mr. Yamada, who appears to be a scholar

  13. 学者(だ)と思われ **ている** 山田氏  
Mr. Yamada, who **is** (incorrectly) thought of as a scholar

Therefore, the rule of thumb is that when you see 思われる (and 感じられる, 考えられる) for
something _not_ in the future, you can say it's spontaneous (or
[honorific](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/23921/5010)). Also note that
something like 認める is always an intentional action, so 認められる does not allow a
"spontaneous" interpretation.




The `AをBと + verb` (`verb + A as B`) construction can be made into the passive
form like so:

  1. [non-passive] 山田氏を学者だと思う。  
(I) regard Mr. Yamada as a scholar.

  2. [(direct) passive] 山田氏は学者だと思われる。  
Mr. Yamada will be regarded (by someone) as a scholar.

  3. [indirect passive] (私は)山田氏を学者だと思われる。  
I will have Mr. Yamada (incorrectly) regarded as a scholar.

  4. [relativize 2/3] 学者だと思われる山田氏  
Mr. Yamada, who will be (incorrectly) regarded as a scholar

**I added "will"** in some of the corresponding English translations because
[you need to use 思われている when it's about something at present and the subject
of "think" is a third person](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/6538/5010).

Since these are still `AをBと`, [だ can be safely
dropped](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/a/56003/5010):

  5. [non-passive] 山田氏を学者と思う。  
(I) regard Mr. Yamada as a scholar.

  6. [(direct) passive] 山田氏は学者と思われる。  
Mr. Yamada will be regarded (by someone) as a scholar.

  7. [indirect passive] (私は)山田氏を学者と思われる。  
I will have Mr. Yamada (incorrectly) regarded as a scholar.

  8. [relativize 6/7] 学者と思われる山田氏  
Mr. Yamada, who will be (incorrectly) regarded as a scholar

Sentence 3 and 7 are indirect passive sentences (unambiguously). **However,
Sentences 2, 4, 6 and 8 are usually not interpreted as above when there is no
context.** Instead, this type of 思われる is taken as spontaneous-れる by default:

  9. 山田氏は学者だと思われる。  
[spontaneous] I (spontaneously) think that Mr. Yamada is a scholar. / It
appears that Mr. Yamada is a scholar.

Note that this sentence no longer has anything to do with passive voice even
though it has れる. This れる just adds the mood of _spontaneously_ (or _somehow_
, _vaguely_ , etc.)

Applying the rules of relative clauses, you can construct these noun phrases:

  10. 学者(だ)と思われる山田氏  
[from 2/6] Mr. Yamada, who will be (incorrectly) thought of as a scholar

  11. 学者だと思われる山田氏  
[from 9] Mr. Yamada, who appears to be a scholar

These look the same, but **11 is the default interpretation**. The
interpretation like 10 is not unnatural, but there needs to be a context such
as that Mr. Yamada is clearly annoyed by being mistaken for a scholar.

Prescriptively speaking, when 11 is intended, だ should not be dropped. This is
because it's from 山田氏は学者だ, which is a sentence. So this 学者だ is still a
sentence, just like 大丈夫だ in 大丈夫(だ)と思います is a sentence. But I somehow feel it's
safe to drop this だ in a very short case like this.

You can apply the same discussion with 彼が立派に思われる. Technically, it can mean
both "He is going to be _(incorrectly)_ thought of as being respectable"
(passive) and "I feel he is respectable" (spontaneous). But for the former to
make sense, you need some rare context where being thought of as a respectable
person is undesirable to the speaker for some reason.

Fortunately, [thanks to this
rule](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/6538/5010), you will see 思われている
(not 思われる) when the passive voice is intended and the sentence is not about
something in the future. Compare:

  12. 学者だと思われる山田氏  
Mr. Yamada, who appears to be a scholar

  13. 学者(だ)と思われ **ている** 山田氏  
Mr. Yamada, who **is** (incorrectly) thought of as a scholar

Therefore, the rule of thumb is that when you see 思われる (and 感じられる, 考えられる) for
something _not_ in the future, you can say it's spontaneous (or
[honorific](https://japanese.stackexchange.com/q/23921/5010)). Also note that
something like 認める is always an intentional action, so 認められる does not allow a
"spontaneous" interpretation.

