What is the relation between the two verbs 思われる and 思う?


If 思われる is "its own verb," meaning "to seem; to appear," and is independent of
the separate verb 思う, meaning "to think," is there a conceptual relation
between the two? I ask because I initially thought 思われる to be the passive form
of 思う. Would it be wrong to think of 思われる meaning "it is thought" rather than
"it seems"?

> 意外に思われるかもしれません。 This may surprise you.
>
> このことは、私たちにはとても不思議に思われる。 This appears very strange to us.
>
> そのようなプロジェクトを経た後では、すべてがはるかにたやすいように思われる。 Having come from something like the
> project, it seems like everything is a lot easier.
>
> それは私には奇妙に思われる。 It seems strange to me.
>
> 彼女はとても年をとっているように思われる。 She seems (to me) (to be) a very old woman.




I've been thinking about various different sentences that include 思われる to see
if any of them feel like a distinctive word of its own, and my feeling is that
the answer is no.

思う does mean "to think", as in "明日は雨だと思う / I think it'll rain tomorrow", and
thus its passive form 思われる means "it is thought". The passiveness would be
amplified when it is used without a specific subject, making it ambiguous as
to who is thinking. Doing this creates a sense that the thought is shared by
many/all/everyone, as in "情勢は不利だと思われる / the situation does not appear good."
It makes the sentence feel more objective, and I think this is the effect
that's making you feel that it has a separate meaning.

In contrast, when 思われる is used with a specific subject, it's easy to see that
it's the passive form of 思う. This is true even when the subject is implied, as
in "バカだと思われるよ / [he will] think you are stupid."

Note that 思われる is also a polite form (尊敬語) of 思う, as in "どう思われますか？ / What do
you think?". The example of "意外に思われるかもしれません" that you cited is also this
usage.




I've been thinking about various different sentences that include 思われる to see
if any of them feel like a distinctive word of its own, and my feeling is that
the answer is no.

思う does mean "to think", as in "明日は雨だと思う / I think it'll rain tomorrow", and
thus its passive form 思われる means "it is thought". The passiveness would be
amplified when it is used without a specific subject, making it ambiguous as
to who is thinking. Doing this creates a sense that the thought is shared by
many/all/everyone, as in "情勢は不利だと思われる / the situation does not appear good."
It makes the sentence feel more objective, and I think this is the effect
that's making you feel that it has a separate meaning.

In contrast, when 思われる is used with a specific subject, it's easy to see that
it's the passive form of 思う. This is true even when the subject is implied, as
in "バカだと思われるよ / [he will] think you are stupid."

Note that 思われる is also a polite form (尊敬語) of 思う, as in "どう思われますか？ / What do
you think?". The example of "意外に思われるかもしれません" that you cited is also this
usage.

