れる

Contents

Japanese

Etymology

From Classical Japanese る (ru), which followed 下二段活用 (shimo nidan katsuyō, “lower bigrade conjugation”) and attached to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of 四段活用 (yodan katsuyō, “quadrigrade conjugation”), ナ行変格活用 (na-gyō henkaku katsuyō, “n-irregular conjugation”), and ラ行変格活用 (ra-gyō henkaku katsuyō, “r-irregular conjugation”) verbs.

During the later stages of the language, as with other shimo nidan verbs, the original 終止形 (shūshikei, “terminal form”) る (ru) was gradually lost as the 連体形 (rentaikei, “attributive form”) るる (ruru) came to be used for both functions, realigning the conjugations. The suffix came to be also used with さ (sa), the new 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of サ行変格活用 (sa-gyō henkaku katsuyō, “s-irregular conjugation”) verbs. Finally, the conjugation type of the suffix shifted to 下一段活用 (shimo ichidan katsuyō, “lower monograde conjugation”), making the modern form れる (reru).

Suffix

れる (ichidan conjugation, rōmaji -reru)

1. (jodōshi) Used to form the passive of verbs.
   1. Makes the passive voice.

      相手 (あいて)の選手 (せんしゅ)に押 (お)されたら、押 (お)し返 (かえ)せ！

      Aite no senshu ni osaretara, oshikaese!

      If you are pushed by opponent players, push them in return!

   2. Shows a spontaneous action.
   3. Forms a light honorific expression.

      私 (わたし)たちの先生 (せんせい)は、五 (ご)分 (ふん)位 (ぐらい)で戻 (もど)られると思 (おも)います。

      Watashitachi no sensei wa, go fun gurai de modorareru to omoimasu.

      Our teacher thinks it will be back in about five minutes.

      天 (てん)皇 (のう)陛 (へい)下 (か)が皇 (こう)居 (きょ)にお戻 (もど)りになられる。

      tennōheika ga Kōkyo ni o modori ni narareru.

      The Emperor would be back to The Imperial Palace.

   4. (archaic) Makes the potential form; -able, -ible.

Conjugation

Conjugation of "れる" (See Appendix:Japanese verbs.)

Stem forms
Imperfective (未然形)	れ	-re
Continuative (連用形)	れ	-re
Terminal (終止形)	れる	-reru
Attributive (連体形)	れる	-reru
Hypothetical (仮定形)	れれ	-rere
Imperative (命令形)	れよ¹ れろ²	-reyo¹ -rero²
Key constructions
Passive	－	－
Causative	－	－
Potential	－	－
Volitional	れよう	-reyō
Negative	れない れぬ れん	-renai -renu -ren
Negative continuative	れず	-rezu
Formal	れます	-remasu
Perfective	れた	-reta
Conjunctive	れて	-rete
Hypothetical conditional	れれば	-rereba
¹ Written imperative ² Spoken imperative

Usage notes

Attaches only to the 未然形 (mizenkei, “irrealis or incomplete form”) of Group I (godan) verbs and the irregular verb する (suru). The result is conjugated like an ichidan verb.

• 書 (か)く (kaku) → 書 (か)かれる (kaka-reru), 書 (か)かれます (kaka-remasu), etc.
• 呼 (よ)ぶ (yobu) → 呼 (よ)ばれる (yoba-reru), 呼 (よ)ばれます (yoba-remasu), etc.
• 言 (い)う (iu) → 言 (い)われる (iwa-reru), 言 (い)われます (iwa-remasu), etc.
• する (suru) → される (sa-reru), されます (sa-remasu), etc.

The passive form of verbs from other conjugation classes are formed with られる (-rareru) instead of れる (-reru).

In modern Japanese, れる (-reru) is no longer used for the potential, a function which is now expressed by the 可能動詞 (kanō dōshi) form of godan verbs and by substituting できる (dekiru) for the irregular verb する (suru). Recently in colloquial speech, られる (-rareru) used for the potential is also shortened to れる (-reru), a practice called ら抜 (ぬ)き言 (こと)葉 (ば) (ra-nuki kotoba).

See also

• られる (-rareru)
• ゆ (-yu)