Receptive sentences

Receptive sentences are sentences in which the subject is receiving an action from an external source.

Receptive sentence: In relation to Akari, the bag got stolen by someone.

あかりは誰かにかばんがぬすまれた

Info

In this example, あかり (Akari) is marked by the は particle making her the topic of the sentence.

誰か/だれか (someone) is marked by に which would normally make them the target of the action, but since this is a receptive sentence, the function of the particle is reversed, and it is marking this “somebody” as the source of the action being received.

かばん (bag) is marked by が, making it the core subject of the sentence.

ぬすむ (steal) is the action being received. It is placed into the あ-stem form in order to attach the receptive helper.

れる (to receive (an action)) is attached to ぬすま, meaning ぬすま (steal) is the action being received by the core subject (かばん). It is placed into the た form, placing the entire sentence into the past tense.