# Korean Passive Voice: How to Form and Use Korean Passive Verbs
> Understand passive verb suffixes, 되다 constructions, and when to use passive forms naturally. Learn how Korean passive voice works with clear examples.
**URL:** https://migaku.com/blog/korean/korean-passive-voice
**Last Updated:** 2026-04-02
**Tags:** fundamentals, conjugation, grammar, verbs
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[Learning Korean](https://migaku.com/learn-korean) grammar can feel like playing through a puzzle sometimes, especially when you're trying to figure out how to express things differently. The passive voice in Korean works pretty differently from English, and honestly, it's one of those grammar points that trips up a lot of learners. But here's the good news: once you understand the patterns, it becomes way more manageable. Let's break down how Korean passive verbs actually work and when you should use them.

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## Does Korean have passive voice
Yes, Korean absolutely has passive voice, though **it shows up less frequently than in English.** Korean speakers generally prefer active constructions, which makes passive forms feel a bit more formal or literary when they do appear. You'll see them more often in written Korean, news reports, and formal situations than in everyday casual conversation.

The passive voice in Korean serves the same basic purpose as in English: **it shifts focus from who's doing the action to who or what receives the action.** Instead of saying "The dog bit the man," you'd say "The man was bitten by the dog." Korean does this too, just with different grammatical tools.

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## How Korean passive verbs work
Korean creates passive verbs in a few different ways, and understanding these methods will help you recognize and use them correctly. The language has specific patterns that transform active verbs into their passive forms.

### The suffix method for passive verbs
> 💡The most common way to create Korean passive verbs is by adding specific suffixes to the verb stem. There are four main passive suffixes: **이, 히, 리, and 기.** These attach directly to certain verb stems to create passive forms.

Here's the thing though: you can't just slap these suffixes onto any verb. Only certain verbs accept passive suffixes, and which suffix you use depends on the specific verb. There's no perfect rule for predicting which verbs take which suffix, so you'll need to memorize these combinations as you encounter them.

Let me show you some examples:
- 보다 (to see) becomes 보이다 (to be seen)
- 듣다 (to hear) becomes 들리다 (to be heard)
- 먹다 (to eat) becomes 먹히다 (to be eaten)
- 잡다 (to catch) becomes 잡히다 (to be caught)
- 쓰다 (to write) becomes 쓰이다 (to be written)
- 읽다 (to read) becomes 읽히다 (to be read)
- 팔다 (to sell) becomes 팔리다 (to be sold)
- 닫다 (to close) becomes 닫히다 (to be closed)
- 열다 (to open) becomes 열리다 (to be opened)
- 끊다 (to cut) becomes 끊기다 (to be cut)

Notice how the suffix choice varies? That's what makes this tricky. The verb 보다 takes 이, while 듣다 takes 리, and 먹다 takes 히. You'll develop an ear for what sounds natural as you get more exposure to Korean.

### Using 되다 for passive constructions
The verb 되다 (to become) offers another way to create passive forms, especially with 하다 verbs. This method works more systematically than the suffix approach, which makes it easier to learn.

> 💡For Sino-Korean nouns that normally pair with 하다 to make verbs, you can **replace 하다 with 되다** to create a passive form. This pattern is super productive and works with tons of verbs.

Examples:
- 결정하다 (to decide) becomes 결정되다 (to be decided)
- 발견하다 (to discover) becomes 발견되다 (to be discovered)
- 사용하다 (to use) becomes 사용되다 (to be used)
- 해결하다 (to solve) becomes 해결되다 (to be solved)
- 선택하다 (to choose) becomes 선택되다 (to be chosen)
- 금지하다 (to prohibit) becomes 금지되다 (to be prohibited)

This pattern is really useful because once you know a 하다 verb, you can usually create its passive form just by switching to 되다. Way more predictable than memorizing individual suffix combinations.

### The 아/어지다 construction
> 💡Another passive construction **uses 아/어지다 attached to adjectives or some verbs**. This form often indicates a change of state rather than a true passive action.

Examples:
- 좋다 (to be good) becomes 좋아지다 (to become better)
- 나쁘다 (to be bad) becomes 나빠지다 (to become worse)
- 크다 (to be big) becomes 커지다 (to become bigger)
- 작다 (to be small) becomes 작아지다 (to become smaller)

While this construction overlaps with passive meaning sometimes, it's more about transformation than receiving an action. Still, you'll see it grouped with passive forms in many Korean grammar resources.

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## Passive voice versus causative form
Korean has both passive and causative forms, and they sometimes use the same suffixes (이, 히, 리, 기). This can create confusion because the exact same suffix on different verbs might create either a passive or causative meaning.

**The causative form makes someone do something or causes something to happen.** It's basically the opposite of passive voice in terms of agency.

Compare these:
- 먹다 (to eat) → 먹이다 (to feed, causative) vs 먹히다 (to be eaten, passive)
- 보다 (to see) → 보이다 (to show, causative) vs 보이다 (to be seen, passive)

Wait, 보이다 can be both causative and passive? Yep. Context determines which meaning applies. If someone shows you something, they're causing you to see it (causative). If something appears in your field of vision, it's being seen (passive). Korean speakers figure this out from context, and you will too with practice.

The causative form deserves its own deep dive, but understanding that it exists alongside passive forms helps you make sense of why the same suffix patterns can mean different things.

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## When to use passive voice in Korean
Korean speakers don't reach for passive voice as often as English speakers do. Active voice dominates everyday conversation. So when should you actually use passive forms?

Passive voice shows up more in these situations:
- **[Formal writing](https://migaku.com/blog/korean/korean-formal-vs-informal-speech) and news reports**: You'll see passive constructions frequently in newspapers, academic writing, and official documents. "The law was passed" sounds more formal than "They passed the law."
- **When the doer is unknown or unimportant**: If you don't know who did something or it doesn't matter, passive voice works well. "My wallet was stolen" focuses on the theft rather than the unknown thief.
- **To sound more polite or indirect**: Sometimes passive voice softens a statement. Instead of directly saying someone made a mistake, you might say "A mistake was made."
- **In technical or scientific contexts**: Descriptions of processes often use passive forms. "The mixture is heated to 100 degrees" rather than "You heat the mixture to 100 degrees."

For casual conversation, though? Stick with active voice most of the time. Korean speakers do.

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## Particles and passive constructions
Understanding how particles work with passive verbs helps you construct sentences correctly. 

> 💡The particle **에게 or 한테** often marks who performs the action in a passive sentence (similar to "by" in English).

Active sentence:
개가 남자를 물었어요.<br>*The dog bit the man.*

Passive sentence:
남자가 개에게 물렸어요.<br>*The man was bitten by the dog.*

Notice how 남자 (man) takes the subject particle 가 in the passive sentence because he's now the grammatical subject. The dog gets 에게 because it's the agent performing the action.

The particle 이 also functions as a subject marker (along with 가), and you'll see it attached to nouns when they're subjects of passive verbs. The choice between 이 and 가 follows the same rules as in active sentences: 이 after consonants, 가 after vowels.

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## Examples of passive voice in Korean sentences
Let's look at some complete sentences to see how passive voice actually works in context. These examples show different passive constructions in action.

- 이 책은 많은 사람들에게 읽혔어요.<br>*This book was read by many people.*
- 문이 열렸어요.<br>*The door was opened.*
- 그 소식이 발표되었습니다.<br>*That news was announced.*
- 도둑이 경찰에게 잡혔어요.<br>*The thief was caught by the police.*
- 저녁 식사가 준비되었습니다.<br>*Dinner has been prepared.*
- 새로운 규칙이 만들어졌어요.<br>*A new rule was made.*
- 그의 이름이 불렸어요.<br>*His name was called.*
- 편지가 쓰였어요.<br>*The letter was written.*
- 차가 팔렸어요.<br>*The car was sold.*
- 비밀이 들켰어요.<br>*The secret was discovered / found out.*

These sentences demonstrate different passive verb forms and how they function in natural Korean. You can see passive suffixes (읽히다, 열리다, 잡히다, 불리다, 쓰이다, 팔리다, 들키다) and 되다 constructions (발표되다, 준비되다, 만들어지다) working together to create passive meaning.

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## Learning passive verbs effectively
So how do you actually learn these passive forms? Memorizing lists of verb transformations helps, but you'll retain them better through exposure and practice.

1. Read Korean news articles and formal writing where passive voice appears frequently. When you spot a passive verb, note which construction it uses. Is it a suffix passive? A 되다 form? Understanding the pattern helps you recognize it next time.
2. Create example sentences with passive verbs you're learning. Don't just memorize "먹히다 means to be eaten." Make a full sentence: "그 음식이 다 먹혔어요" (That food was all eaten). Context makes the grammar stick.
3. Pay attention to which verbs commonly appear in passive form. Some verbs show up as passives way more often than others. 팔리다 (to be sold), 만들어지다 (to be made), and 사용되다 (to be used) appear constantly in everyday Korean.
4. Listen for passive constructions in [Korean media](https://migaku.com/blog/korean/best-korean-shows-for-learning). Once you know what to listen for, you'll start noticing them in dramas, news broadcasts, and YouTube videos. Hearing them in context beats studying grammar charts any day.

By the way, if you want to learn Korean through actual content you enjoy, Migaku's browser extension and app let you look up words and save sentences while watching Korean shows or reading articles. Makes learning grammar in context way easier. There's a 10-day free trial if you want to check it out.

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## Don't stress about memorizing passive voice vocabulary right away
Focus on recognizing passive constructions when you see them, then gradually incorporate common passive verbs into your own speaking and writing. Start with frequently used ones like 팔리다, 보이다, and 들리다, then expand from there. The more Korean content you consume, the more natural the passive voice will become. You'll develop an instinct for when it sounds right and when the active voice works better. That intuition comes from exposure, not from memorizing rules.

> If you consume media in Korean, and you understand at least some of the messages and sentences within that media, you will make progress. *Period*.

Progress and setbacks are both part of learning; what matters is continuing.💪