Why is the passive form used in this sentence?


The following sentence uses 感じられ which I understand to be the continuative
passive form of the verb 感じる - "to feel". Why is this form used here?

> たった１分がものすごく長く **感じられ**  
>  時間は  
>  はっきりとした悪意をもって  
>  僕の上をゆっくりと流れていった。

My guess is that this is an example of "indirect passive" or "suffering
passive", but I am at a loss as to how it exactly works here.

Am I right to assume that the (implied) subject in the first part (up to 感じられ)
of this sentence is the speaker and he "does the feeling"? If so, why would it
be passive?




The られる in 感じられ(る) here is not passive (受け身) but spontaneous (自発).

The auxiliary (助動詞) 「れる/られる」 has four meanings: 「受け身」(passive),
「尊敬」(honorific), 「可能」(potential), and 「自発」(spontaneous).

Some examples of spontaneous れる/られる:

>   * [故郷]{こきょう}に[残]{のこ}した両親のことが[思]{おも}い[出]{だ}さ **れる**
> ([デジタル大辞泉](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/235119/meaning/m0u/))
>   * 人の[気配]{けはい}が感じ **られる** (明鏡国語辞典「られる」❷自発)
>   * [行]{ゆ}く[先]{さき}が[案]{あん}じ **られる** (明鏡国語辞典「られる」❷自発)
>   * あの人のことがしのば **れる** (明鏡国語辞典「れる」❷自発)
>

The spontaneous れる/られる is usually used with a verb related to one's thoughts
or feelings, e.g. 思う、感じる、考える、悔やむ、惜しむ、見る、聞く etc. For more on 自発, you could
refer to [『自発（文法）-
Wikipedia』](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%87%AA%E7%99%BA_\(%E6%96%87%E6%B3%95\)).

You are right that the られ in your example is in the continuative form (連用形).




The られる in 感じられ(る) here is not passive (受け身) but spontaneous (自発).

The auxiliary (助動詞) 「れる/られる」 has four meanings: 「受け身」(passive),
「尊敬」(honorific), 「可能」(potential), and 「自発」(spontaneous).

Some examples of spontaneous れる/られる:

>   * [故郷]{こきょう}に[残]{のこ}した両親のことが[思]{おも}い[出]{だ}さ **れる**
> ([デジタル大辞泉](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/235119/meaning/m0u/))
>   * 人の[気配]{けはい}が感じ **られる** (明鏡国語辞典「られる」❷自発)
>   * [行]{ゆ}く[先]{さき}が[案]{あん}じ **られる** (明鏡国語辞典「られる」❷自発)
>   * あの人のことがしのば **れる** (明鏡国語辞典「れる」❷自発)
>

The spontaneous れる/られる is usually used with a verb related to one's thoughts
or feelings, e.g. 思う、感じる、考える、悔やむ、惜しむ、見る、聞く etc. For more on 自発, you could
refer to [『自発（文法）-
Wikipedia』](https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%87%AA%E7%99%BA_\(%E6%96%87%E6%B3%95\)).

You are right that the られ in your example is in the continuative form (連用形).

