Usages of 与えられる


I'm particularly confused by Xが与えられた where X refers to the object being given.

Consider:

> 学校側は彼にバイクで通学する許可を与えた.
>

>> は(が) seems to mark the action-er doing 与える; を the object of 与える; and に the
receiver of 与える.

Using the passive form,

> 彼は雪の研究で母校から博士号を与えられた.
>

>> は(が) seems to mark the receiver of 与えられる; を the object of 与えられる; and から(に)
the action-er of 与えられる.

However, this usage confuses me:

> 国際平和に対する貢献が認められ, 彼にノーベル平和賞が与えられた.
>

>> In this sentence, が seems to mark the object that is given instead of the
receiver, and に seems to mark the receiver.

Am I missing something here? Why does が and から（に） take different functions
using the same passive construction? Do I have to just memorise these
different usages?




No you're not missing anything.

And those usages are not different from any other verb in the passive form.
与える isn't a special one.

**Edit:**

The differences between the last two sentences are:

  * In 彼は雪の研究で母校から博士号を与えられた, we know who the giver is.
  * In 彼にノーベル平和賞が与えられた, we don't know who the giver is.
  * In 彼は雪の研究で母校から博士号を与えられた, the 彼 is being marked as the topic of the sentence.
  * In 彼にノーベル平和賞が与えられた, the topic of the sentence is not directly specified.

In English:

> **彼は** 雪の研究で母校から博士号を与えられた : **He** has been given a 博士号 by 母校
>
> **彼に** ノーベル平和賞が与えられた : A 平和賞 has been given **to him**

We can see this pattern with a lot of other verbs:

> **X** は **Y** に **Z** をされた : **X** has been done **Z** by **Y**
>
> **X** に **Z** がされた : **Z** has been done by **X**

This is a basic usage of the passive form




No you're not missing anything.

And those usages are not different from any other verb in the passive form.
与える isn't a special one.

**Edit:**

The differences between the last two sentences are:

  * In 彼は雪の研究で母校から博士号を与えられた, we know who the giver is.
  * In 彼にノーベル平和賞が与えられた, we don't know who the giver is.
  * In 彼は雪の研究で母校から博士号を与えられた, the 彼 is being marked as the topic of the sentence.
  * In 彼にノーベル平和賞が与えられた, the topic of the sentence is not directly specified.

In English:

> **彼は** 雪の研究で母校から博士号を与えられた : **He** has been given a 博士号 by 母校
>
> **彼に** ノーベル平和賞が与えられた : A 平和賞 has been given **to him**

We can see this pattern with a lot of other verbs:

> **X** は **Y** に **Z** をされた : **X** has been done **Z** by **Y**
>
> **X** に **Z** がされた : **Z** has been done by **X**

This is a basic usage of the passive form

