Passive vs. active form of verb (past) What is the difference?

Question

I was wondering what the difference is if I use passive form or active form of a verb. For example: ネズミは猫に食べられた。The mouse was eaten by the cat. 猫は、ネズミを食べた。The cat ate the mouse. What EXACTLY is the difference between those two? In what situations would I use the passive form to make a sentence. Or if I were to say: 私は先生にしかられた。I was scolded by the teacher. 先生は私をしかった。The teacher scolded me. For example, I do not know if this is correct or makes sense: 花子はジョーンが買ったケーキを食べられた。Would this be considered grammatically incorrect in regard to passive form? Are there situations where I can use に + passive verb? If so, in what cases? Do Japanese prefer speaking in the passive voice as opposed to active voice? Would it be appropriate to use passive voice instead of directly saying that an action was on on me (say for example: The teacher scolded me). Thanks so much!!!

Answer 1

Passive form and active form for things can be tricky, but there are some subtleties involved.

For instance:

The door opened vs The door was opened.

The verb you will use more commonly for the passive voice would not be aketa, but HIRAKARETA.

Although active voice is more concise and easier to understand, the focus from passive voice is shifted.

The cat eats the mouse vs The mouse was eaten by the cat.

The subject changed, and the focus has as well. The focus could be on the mouse or just by the experience itself.

Shifting between active and passive voice also makes storytelling more interesting. Although the mouse is eaten in both cases, tragedies and big events are usually expressed in passive voice.

Hope this Helps!