PASSIVE VERB SUFFIXES: 이/히/리/기
Passive and causative suffixes are 2 grammar points that I remember boosting my Korean listening and understanding. I’m gonna run quickly through passive here, focusing mainly on the suffixes, and do causative in my next post.
PASSIVE: Focus on the thing that undergoes an action, instead of what performs the action. For example:
개가 우체부를 물었어요. = The dog bit the mailman. (active)
우체부가 개한테 물렸어요. = The mailman was bitten by a dog. (passive)
A few things happen when a sentence becomes passive in Korean:
The object becomes the subject. (in the example above, 우체부를 –> 우체부가)
The verb changes from its active to passive form. (물었어요 –> 물렸어요)
The active subject becomes the passive “agent” by which the action happens. (개가 –> 개한테) The particle you use for the agent depends on what kind of agent it is. When you form the passive with suffixes, these are the particles you choose from:
Animate agent: 한테, 에게, or 께 (in order of increasing politeness)
Inanimate agent: 에 (문이 바람에 열렸어요. = The door was blown open by the wind.)
So we’re going to focus on suffixes, which you can use with about 150 different transitive verbs. But there are other ways to make the passive, which are briefly:
Verb stem + 어/아지다
With an ADJ verb, this means “becomes ADJ.” (예뻐졌어 = got prettier) But with an ACTION verb, this forms the passive. (자르다 = to cut –> 잘라지다 = to be cut)
Easy! Some verbs ONLY become passive this way (주다 = to give –> 주어지다 = to be given). Some can’t use this at all.
하다 –> 되다
All 하다 verbs change to 되다. Super easy! Yay! (이용하다 = to use –> 이용되다 = to be used)
Okay, now finally, suffixes! The four suffixes are 이, 히, 리, and 기.The reason I focus on these is because they’re tricky. Like I said, about 150 transitive verbs fit in this category, although some of them aren’t common at all. Some verbs in this category can also become passive through the 어/아지다 change, but others can’t. But hearing and recognizing suffixes will definitely boost your everyday understanding, so they’re important to learn!
There are 4 suffixes, and there are general rules for what verbs take which suffix. BUT there are lots of exceptions, so you basically have to just learn which verb takes what.
이: Verb stems that have no 받침, or verb stems with a 받침 that doesn’t change it’s sound when it comes before ㅎ (usually ㅎ, ㄲ, ㅍ).*
*What does this mean? Think about pronunciation changes of certain 받침. (막히다 is pronounced 마키다, with the ㄱ sound before ㅎ changing to a ㅋ.) Some of the 받침 that don’t change before ㅎ include ㅎ, ㄲ, and ㅍ. Verb stems with these take the suffix 이.
보다 = to see –> 보이다 = to be seen
바꾸다 = to change –> 바뀌다 = to be changed
놓다 = to place –> 놓이다 = to be placed
섞다 = to mix –> 섞이다 = to be mixed
덮다 = to cover –> 덮이다 = to be covered
히: Verb stems with 받침 that does change it’s sound when it comes before ㅎ (usually ㅂ, ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅈ).
잡다 = to catch –> 잡히다 = to be caught
밟다 = to step on –> 밟히다 = to be stepped on
막다 = to block –> 막히다 = to be blocked
닫다 = to close –> 닫히다 = to be closed
잊다 = to forget –> 잊히다 = to be forgotten
리: Verb stems with ㄹ 받침, or irregular verbs that change their 받침 to ㄹ in most conjugations (듣다 –> 들어).
열다 = to open –> 열리다 = to be opened
듣다 = to hear –> 들리다 = to be heard
자르다 = to cut –> 잘리다 = to be cut
뚫다 = to pierce –> 뚫리다 = to be pierced
기: Verb stems with other 받침 that doesn’t change it’s sound when it comes before ㅎ (usually ㅁ, ㄴ, ㅅ, ㅊ).
담다 = to fill –> 담기다 = to be filled
잠그다 = to lock –> 잠기다 = to be locked
안다 = to hold –> 안기다 = to be held
씻다 = to wash –> 씻기다 = to be washed
쫓다 = to chase –> 쫓기다 = to be chased
Annnnnd here’s a list of 40 verbs that take 이/히/리/기. If I can make up a complete list, I might. Causative is very similar to passive, so that’s next.
