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「お誕生日には何をされたんですか」While the answer to this like likely very simple, why is される
being used in this case rather than する? What is it implying grammatically? The
Potential Form? Is it an indication of added politeness? It's clearly not
Passive as an を is being used. What prompts this use of される?
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2017-01-20T20:40:31.357
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2017-01-20T22:23:28.400
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grammar word-choice
「お誕生日には何をされたんですか」Why される?
「される」 is the honorific form of 「する」. The speaker/writer is showing some
respect to the listener/reader here.

Another form of 「される」 is 「なさる」.

The sentence in question, under normal circumstances, should be in the active
voice -- " ** _What did you do on/for your birthday?_** ".

If you want to discuss " ** _pure_** " grammar, however, the sentence can be
taken to be in the passive voice -- " ** _What was done to you (by someone) on
your birthday?_** ". 「を」 is still needed for the passive voice.

Which one it was meant to be, only the listener/reader knows (but easily).
That is why Japanese is an incredibly contextual language.
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2017-01-20T21:00:51.277
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answer