How to Say ‘To invite (was invited)’ in Japanese
さそわれました
sasowa re mashi ta
[sah-soh-wah reh mah-shee tah]
💬 Usage Tip: This is the passive past: “[was invited].” Active would be [さそいました] (“I invited”).
🇯🇵 In Japan: Passive forms are often used to sound neutral or polite when describing how something happened.
Phrase Breakdown
さそわ
sasowa
[sah-soh-wah]
invite (verb stem)
Stem of さそう (to invite). Used to make passive/polite forms.
イベントにさそわれました。
I was invited to the event.
れ
re
[reh]
passive marker (be invited)
れ forms the passive: さそう → さそわれる (“be invited”).
友だちにさそわれました。
I was invited by a friend.
まし
mashi
[mah-shee]
polite past marker part (〜ました)
Part of polite past; used in many verbs: 〜ました.
昨日さそわれました。
I was invited yesterday.
た
ta
[tah]
past tense ending (polite)
Completes 〜ました, showing polite past.
さそわれましたか。
Were you invited?
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