I was reading up some lesson on causative and passive form online. I am still a little confused as to when and why use these form. For this example:
plain form: 答える
passive form: 答えられる外国人に質問を聞かれたが、答えられなかった。
I was asked a question by a foreigner but I couldn't answer.
Why do we use passive here? What if I say:
外国人に質問を聞かれたが、答えなかった。
Does this mean the same? Or is this sentence even correct in the first place?
Answer
「答{こた}えられる」 has three different usages and meanings.
- Honorific: Used when describing someone higher up answering.
「その質問{しつもん}にはスミス様{さま}が答えられました。」
= "Mr. Smith (kindly) answered the question."
- Potential: Used to express "can answer" or "to be able to answer".
「その質問は難{むずか}しすぎて答えられません。」
= "That question is too difficult (for me) to answer."
- Passive Voice: Used to express "is/are/get(s) answerd" as opposed to the active voice form "to answer"
「Aの質問は私に、そしてBの質問はマサコさんによって答えられました。」
= "Question A was answered by me and Question B, by Masako."
*You mentioned "causative", but the causative form is 「答えさせる」and not 「答えられる」.
Finally, let us discuss the difference between 「答えられなかった」 and 「答えなかった」.
The former means that one was unable to answer a question (mostly or entirely because the question was too difficult).
The latter means that one chose not to (or declined to) answer a question even though one knew the answer.
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