Indirect Objects in Passive Sentences (Is に Ambiguous) For verbs that typically use in the dative sense (indirect object) like (for example ), is there any ambiguity in the function of when the verb is used in the passive? For example, take the following sentences? 1. 2. Can sentence 1 mean either "The letter was sent by the teacher" or "The letter was sent to the teacher"? Is one more likely based on how it was said (maybe a native would have intentionally used or something to clarify)? Can sentence 2 mean "I was unfortunately sent a letter by my teacher" or "A letter was sent to the teacher and it indirectly impacted me"?

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> Can sentence 1 mean either "The letter was sent by the teacher" or "The letter was sent to the teacher"?

It can only mean "The letter was sent to the teacher". To express "The letter was sent by the teacher", a direct translation would be , but this is extremely awkward; it is way more natural to say

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> Can sentence 2 mean "I was unfortunately sent a letter by my teacher" or "A letter was sent to the teacher and it indirectly impacted me"?

It can only mean "I was unfortunately sent a letter by my teacher". To express "A letter was sent to the teacher and it indirectly impacted me", it would be ()