(Level 3) 正しい (Correct) meaning explanation is suspicious

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I mean, the other possibility is that people get impressed. :stuck_out_tongue: More seriously though, I see where you’re coming from. Here’s what I’ve found, though I don’t know if the ‘rule’ I’m about to explain is universal.

In the process of looking for answers about 〜せられる, I found that there’s apparently a trend towards 〜する (サ変 – a type of conjugation pattern linked to する and the classical す) verbs becoming 〜す (五段) verbs, and not the other way around as I suspected earlier. I guess this might be because 五段 verbs feel better integrated into the language, whereas する verbs are essentially a verbalisation of another word. Here’s my source: 日本語勉強の問題（動詞変形：発せられる） - 言葉が発せられる... - Yahoo!知恵袋 I’ll just extract the relevant bit about the trend, which is right at the end. This trend is mentioned on the Japanese Wikipedia page about サ変 verbs as well.

The short answer: 五段 prevails in the most ‘common’ cases. Structures that require slightly rarer/more literary verb forms (like ば) tend to allow する to take over. Details below:

Quotes from the answer and part of my interpretation

その場合 (i.e. when サ変 and 五段 are competing)、どちらが正しいか ではなく、どちらが有力かという観点から語られることが多い といえます。”揺れている語形”というわけです。
(Emphasis mine)

According to the answerer, it’s not so much a matter of which is ‘right’ as which is ‘dominant’/holds greater sway. We could speak of ‘vacillating word forms’.

例えばサ変「略する」は、五段「略す」へと移行中です。 未然形は五段が強く（「略さない」「略そう」など）、終止・ 連体形は五分五分、仮定形はサ変が有力（「略すれば」）、 命令形は五段が有力（「略せ」）、といえます。 よって、仮に「発す」という五段動詞を認めれば、「発される」 の「発さ」は五段の未然形ともいえるわけです。

The example raised is that of 略す.

Here are the general trends according to the answerer:

  • Irrealis (e.g. negation, passive form, volitional form (is this really under irrealis?) ): 五段 pattern (〜さ)
  • Sentence-final/relative clauses: 50-50. Both are common.
  • ば-conditional: サ変=like する (〜すれば)
  • Imperative (commands/orders): 五段

So to answer your question, it seems like 五段 prevails in the most ‘common’ cases. Structures that require slightly rarer/more literary verb forms (like ば) tend to allow する to take over.

As for my own question, again with reference to that Chiebukuro answer,

It seems that in modern Japanese, the 〜される form is recommended. 〜せられる is correct, but feels old, like pre-WWII Japanese, and thus is only used for

  1. Sounding old-fashioned/literary (古風/文語)
  2. The honorific passive form (which can also be expressed with 〜される)
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