Who scolded whom in Aに怒られる?

Question

I can see that someone got mad or someone made someone else mad. The things that make it difficult are `に` and the `られる` form of `怒る`. What does this mean? How do you figure out who did what in these types of sentences?

Answer 1

Determining the definition of the sentence:

So yes, you are correct, someone is getting mad at someone in this sentence.

Let's breakdown the sentence into the two parts: "Aに" and "怒られる".

So on it's own, "Aに" could mean "to A", "for A", or "by A". In this case, it means "by A" because it is combined with the verb 怒る (to be mad).

"怒られる" is the られる form of 怒る (to be mad), changing the meaning to "will get mad at" or "will get scolded". 怒る's direct translation is "to be mad/angry" but we also use it as "to scold".

So, from the two parts, we got "By A" and "will get mad at or "will get scolded". Because there is no explicit explanation of who or what this action is aimed at, we will assume it is "you" that is receiving the action. Combine all three parts together now and we get: "You will get scolded by A".

Determining who is doing what:

While it is true that the られる form usually means "the ability to", it doesn't guarantee that the person/object performing the action is you. By placing "Aに″ before "怒られる", the sentence meaning switches to "you will be scolded by A". Although it is not explicitly stated that you got scolded by A, because there is no "~が" or "~は" at the beginning of the sentence directing the scolding toward someone other than you, it can be assumed that you are the one being scolded. If it makes it easier to understand, here are a couple of example sentences that include an explanation directing who is getting scolded:

　私はAに怒られる。(I will be scolded by A.)

　あなたはAに怒られる。(You will be scolded by A.)

　妹がAに怒られる。(My younger sister will be scolded by A.)

Alternatively, if the sentence had been "Aが怒られる", A would have been the one getting scolded, because the が directs the action of 怒られる towards A.