Lost in Translation: Tips for Naturally Translating the English Passive Voice into Korean

Lost in Translation: Tips for Naturally Translating the English Passive Voice into Korean


One of the biggest hurdles for English speakers learning Korean—and for translators—is the passive voice. English uses it constantly, especially in formal and written contexts ("The report was submitted," "Mistakes were made"). However, a direct, word-for-word translation of the passive voice into Korean often results in clunky, unnatural sentences that scream "translation-ese" (beon-yeok-tu, 번역투).

The core reason is simple: English often focuses on the recipient of an action, while Korean prefers to highlight the person or thing doing the action. To make your Korean sound natural, you need to break the passive habit. Here are four essential tips.

1. The Golden Rule: Switch to the Active Voice

This is the most important tip. Whenever possible, find the actor (the "agent") and make them the subject of the sentence.

  • Passive English: "This book was written by Jane."

  • Awkward Korean: 이 책은 제인에 의해 쓰여졌습니다. (I chaeg-eun Jein-e uih-hae sseu-yeo-jyeot-seum-ni-da.)

  • Natural Korean: 제인이 이 책을 썼습니다. (Jane-i i chaeg-eul sseot-seum-ni-da.) - "Jane wrote this book."

By simply flipping the sentence to the active voice, it immediately becomes clearer, more direct, and more natural.

2. When There's No Agent, Create a Subject

The English passive is often used when the agent is unknown or unimportant (e.g., "The rules were changed"). A direct passive translation (규칙이 변경되었습니다) is grammatically correct but can sound stiff. In many cases, Koreans will insert a general subject.

  • Passive English: "A decision was made to proceed."

  • Awkward Korean: 진행하기로 결정되었습니다. (Jin-haeng-ha-gi-ro gyeol-jeong-doe-eot-seum-ni-da.)

  • Natural Korean: 우리(회사)가 진행하기로 결정했습니다. (Uri(hoe-sa)-ga jin-haeng-ha-gi-ro gyeol-jeong-haet-seum-ni-da.) - "We (the company) decided to proceed."

Common general subjects include 'we' (우리), 'they' (그들), or 'people' (사람들).

3. Use Korean's "Natural" Passive Verbs

Korean has its own set of verbs that are inherently passive in meaning, known as pidong-sa (피동사). Using these is far more natural than forcing a verb into a passive structure like -어/아지다.

  • Passive English: "A strange sound was heard from outside."

  • Awkward Korean: 밖에서 이상한 소리가 들어졌어요. (Bakk-e-seo i-sang-han so-ri-ga deul-eo-jyeoss-eo-yo.)

  • Natural Korean: 밖에서 이상한 소리가 들렸어요. (Bakk-e-seo i-sang-han so-ri-ga deul-lyeoss-eo-yo.)

Key verbs to learn include:

  • 보이다 (bo-i-da): to be seen

  • 들리다 (deul-li-da): to be heard

  • 열리다 (yeol-li-da): to be opened

  • 닫히다 (dat-hi-da): to be closed

4. Rephrase the Entire Sentence

Sometimes, the best approach is to completely abandon the original sentence structure and express the meaning using a common Korean phrasing.

  • Passive English: "It is said that the new phone is very good."

  • Awkward Korean: 새 휴대폰이 매우 좋다고 말해집니다. (Sae hyu-dae-pon-i mae-u jo-ta-go mal-hae-jim-ni-da.)

  • Natural Korean: 새 휴대폰이 매우 좋다고 합니다. (Sae hyu-dae-pon-i mae-u jo-ta-go ham-ni-da.) - "(They) say the new phone is very good."

The key is to translate the meaning, not the words. By learning to escape the passive voice trap, you can make your Korean sound dramatically more fluent and natural.

English Hashtags:

#LearnKorean #KoreanTranslation #PassiveVoice #TranslationTips #EnglishToKorean #KoreanGrammar #StudyKorean #번역투 #LanguageLearning #Koreantips

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