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The following excerpt is from a reading comprehension exercise (page 214 of
TRY! 日本語能力試験 N2 文法から伸ばす日本語).

> 交差点で車同士が衝突する事故が起きた。事故原因の調査では、 **運転手に** 重大な過失は **認められなかった** 。

Is it correct to recognize 認められなかった as the (negation of the) passive form of
認める? If so, what does に indicate? Is 運転手に重大な過失は認められなかった equivalent to 運転手
**が** 重大な過失を認めなかった? (That seems logical grammatically. But it sounds like a
strange way of using the passive voice.) Does に indicate the location, in an
abstract sense, where 過失 (does not) exist? If so, who is the subject of 認める?
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particle-に passive-voice
What does に indicate in "運転手に重大な過失は認められなかった"?
The subject of 認める is omitted and it is the person who did the 調査.

I'm not sure to what extent 認める parallels _to recognize_ , but there are two
slightly different meanings:

  1. _to admit_. E.g., 罪を認める (to concede that s/he is guilty)
  2. _to find_. E.g., 類似点をみとめる (to find resemblence)

The usage in question is 2 and に indicates abstract location ('no faults were
found in the driver'). If it is 運転手は過失を認めた, it means _The driver admitted his
own fault_.
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answer