日本語の道

The title translates to ‘passive form’ & ‘potential form’.

When you study Japanese you will become aware that for ‘group 2’ verbs the passive form and potential form are the same. For example:

ねずみはねこに食べられる ー　The mouse is eaten by the cat
野菜が食べられる　ー　I can eat vegetables ＆　

There is a common shortcut used in spoken Japanese for the potential form of group 2 verbs. The shortcut is to cut out the ら from ～られる. For example:

天丼が食べれる　（not 食べられる）

I wondered whether this shortcut could be used for the passive form – the answer is no. For example, you can’t use the following sentence:

ねずみはねこに食べれる