Difference between passive form and てある?

Question

I'm confused about the difference between the passive form and the てある form. > 飲み物はもう**買ってあります**。 > The drinks have already been bought. > > 飲み物はもう**買われました**。 > > The drinks were already bought. Are my translations correct? Is it that verb-てある means 'verb **has been** done', whereas, verb-passive means 'verb **was** done'? Are there any other subtleties? Thanks.

Answer 1

Your translations are correct, although there are other ways you could interpret them too! The difference is subtle. ～てある is a pair with the other verb ending ～ておく. Both imply a sense of "in preparation" or "as a precaution."

～ておく should be used when the action is being done now or in the future. For example:

　「まどを閉めておくね。」"I'll go ahead and close the window, okay?" (This implies that there's a reason for it--maybe it's chilly outside and the room is cold.)

Meanwhile, ～てある is used to describe a state where this precaution has already been taken and is in effect (unless the verb is being used in the past tense, at which point, the precaution has probably ended). For example:

「まどが閉めてあります。」"The window is closed (because it was cold/hot/etc.)."

So, in your sentence above, using 買ってあります implies that the drinks were bought for a reason (maybe you're having a party!). 買われました, on the other hands, is just saying they were bought (in a passive sentence construction).

Hope this helps! Let me know if you would like more explanation.