Which Verbs Passivize (and Which Do Not) | Korean Grammar

English is generous with the passive: almost any transitive verb passivizes on demand — build → be built, send → be sent, forget → be forgotten — with one regular pattern. Korean is not. The morphological suffix passive (이/히/리/기) is a closed, non-productive list. Only a limited, memorized group of native transitive verbs forms one, and you cannot coin a new one from a verb that isn't already on the list. This page is the map of that terrain: which verbs take a suffix passive, which suffix they take, and — crucially — what the majority of verbs do instead, since most Korean transitives have no suffix passive at all.

The suffix choice tracks the stem-final consonant

For the verbs that do take a suffix passive, the choice of 이/히/리/기 is largely phonological — it depends on the last sound of the stem. This is a tendency with real exceptions, but it's a reliable first guess.

Stem ends in…	Suffix	Examples
vowel, ㅎ, ㄱ (some)	-이-	보이다 (be seen), 놓이다 (be placed), 쌓이다 (be piled)
ㄱ, ㄷ, ㅂ, ㄺ	-히-	잡히다 (be caught), 막히다 (be blocked), 읽히다 (be read)
ㄹ	-리-	열리다 (be opened), 팔리다 (be sold), 걸리다 (be caught)
ㄴ, ㅁ, ㅅ, ㅊ	-기-	안기다 (be held), 감기다 (be wound), 빼앗기다 (be robbed)

선반 위에 먼지가 잔뜩 쌓여 있어요.

seonban wie meonjiga jantteuk ssayeo isseoyo

Dust is piled up thick on the shelf.

테이블 위에 잔이 가지런히 놓여 있어요.

teibeul wie jani gajireonhi noyeo isseoyo

The glasses are set out neatly on the table.

Even here the consonant only hints. Some ㄱ-stems take 이 (놓… actually ㅎ) while others take 히 (막히다); 듣다 detours through its ㄷ-irregular ㄹ to reach 리 (들리다). The safest stance is the same one you take for the causative: the suffix is memorized per verb, and the consonant merely narrows the odds. The four individual suffix pages (-이-, -히-, -리-, -기-) give you each list to bank.

The gaps: whole classes have no suffix passive

This is the part learners rarely hear stated plainly, so hear it now: most Korean transitive verbs cannot take a suffix passive. Two large classes are shut out entirely, and each has its own escape hatch.

Sino-Korean 하다-verbs → 되다 / 받다 / 당하다

Verbs built on a Sino-Korean noun plus 하다 — 사용하다, 발견하다, 건설하다 — never take 이/히/리/기. There is no ×사용히다. Instead you swap 하다 ("do X") for 되다 ("become X'd"), giving a clean, fully productive passive.

이 단어는 일상에서 자주 사용돼요.

i daneoneun ilsang-eseo jaju sayongdwaeyo

This word is used often in everyday life.

새 다리는 오래전에 건설됐어요.

sae darineun oraejeone geonseoldwaesseoyo

The new bridge was built long ago.

회의가 갑자기 취소됐어요.

hoe-uiga gapjagi chwisodwaesseoyo

The meeting was suddenly cancelled.

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Fast litmus test: if the verb is X하다 with a Sino-Korean X, its passive is X되다 — never a suffix. Mentally reserve 이/히/리/기 for short native verbs (열다, 잡다, 듣다), and you'll almost never coin an impossible ×사용히다.

When the event is something suffered, the same Sino nouns pair with 받다 ("receive") or 당하다 ("undergo") instead — 사랑받다 "be loved," 사기를 당하다 "be defrauded." These get full pages of their own: the 되다 passive.

그 배우는 많은 사랑을 받아요.

geu baeuneun maneun sarang-eul badayo

That actor is much loved. (lit. receives much love)

Native transitives without a suffix → -아/어지다

Many native verbs that lack a suffix passive fall back on -아/어지다 attached to the verb stem: 만들다 → 만들어지다 "be made," 주다 → 주어지다 "be given," 세우다 → 세워지다 "be erected."

이 치즈는 신선한 우유로 만들어져요.

i chijeuneun sinseonhan uyuro mandeureojeoyo

This cheese is made from fresh milk.

시험에서 모두에게 같은 문제가 주어졌어요.

siheomeseo moduege gateun munjega jueojeosseoyo

Everyone was given the same question on the exam.

The full behaviour of this ending — including where it shades into "becoming" rather than true passive — is on the -어지다 passive.

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Before you try to passivize a Korean verb, ask what kind of verb it is. Sino-Korean X하다 → X되다 (or X받다/X당하다). Native verb with no suffix passive → stem + -아/어지다. Only the small memorized list of native verbs takes 이/히/리/기 at all.

The two errors this all sets up

Because the suffix passive is a closed list with productive-looking neighbours, learners make two opposite mistakes. First, they invent a suffix passive for a verb that doesn't have one. Second, they double up — attaching -어지다 to a verb that already carries a suffix passive.

Common Mistakes

1. Coining a suffix passive for a Sino 하다-verb. There is no ×사용히다; the passive of 사용하다 is 사용되다.

❌ 이 프로그램은 회사에서 널리 사용혀요.

No such form — 사용하다 passivizes as 사용되다.

✅ 이 프로그램은 회사에서 널리 사용돼요.

i peurogeuraemeun hoesaeseo neolli sayongdwaeyo

This program is widely used at the company.

2. Coining a suffix passive for a native verb that uses -어지다. 주다 has no ×주히다; it's 주어지다.

❌ 학생들에게 새 기회가 주혔어요.

No such form — the passive of 주다 is 주어지다.

✅ 학생들에게 새 기회가 주어졌어요.

haksaengdeurege sae gihoega jueojeosseoyo

A new opportunity was given to the students.

3. The double passive ×쓰여지다 / ×보여지다. 쓰이다 and 보이다 are already passives (of 쓰다, 보다). Adding -어지다 stacks a second passive — extremely common in real writing, but flagged as incorrect.

❌ 이 표현은 뉴스에서 자주 쓰여져요.

Double passive — 쓰이다 is already passive; use 쓰여요.

✅ 이 표현은 뉴스에서 자주 쓰여요.

i pyohyeoneun nyuseueseo jaju sseuyeoyo

This expression is used often in the news.

4. Adding -지다 to a suffix passive you already formed. 열리다 is done; 열려지다 is one passive too many.

❌ 시스템 오류로 파일이 안 열려져요.

Double passive — 열리다 already carries it.

✅ 시스템 오류로 파일이 안 열려요.

siseutem oryuro pairi an yeollyeoyo

The file won't open because of a system error.

Key Takeaways

The suffix passive 이/히/리/기 is a closed, non-productive list — only a memorized set of native transitive verbs takes one, and you can't coin a new one.
Among those verbs, the suffix roughly tracks the stem-final consonant (vowel/ㅎ → 이, ㄱ/ㄷ/ㅂ/ㄺ → 히, ㄹ → 리, ㄴ/ㅁ/ㅅ/ㅊ → 기) — but the actual suffix is memorized per verb.
The productive escape hatches are 되다 (for Sino-Korean X하다 verbs → X되다, plus 받다/당하다) and -아/어지다 (for native verbs: 만들어지다, 주어지다).
Don't invent suffix passives (×사용히다, ×주히다), and don't double up (×쓰여지다, ×보여지다, ×열려지다).

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