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圭子：私が担当した裁判で完勝したわ。

沢地君江：三木先生が喜んで褒美に純金のメダルを。

圭子：いらないでしょ？あの人らしいわ。

沢地君江：それを圭子さんは古美門先生にあげられた。

圭子（黛に）：金メダルとか好きそうでしょ？

黛：確かに。

圭子：次の日彼が半分にした金貨を私にくれたわ。2人で勝ち取ったものだとか何とか言っちゃって。(リーガル・ハイ)

If I understand it correctly,「それを圭子さんは古美門先生にあげられた。」indicates "圭子 was given the gold medal by 古美門".

However, that interpretation doesn't work very well in the flow of conversation here. The conversation seems to suggest that 圭子 gets the gold metal from 三木 because she's won a case as team leader, and then she gives it to 古美門 who then returns half to her. The translations in several other languages including English that I have checked all say things to the effect of "And so Keiko-san gave that to Komikado-sensei."

How could it be? Is あげられた not 受動態 here? What am I getting wrong?

Eddie Kal
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This あげられる is the honorific form of あげる.

[EDIT]

I realized the problem is in your understanding of the verb あげる, rather than (or at least before) your interpretation of 〜られる here.

Keiko cannot be the recipient in the following sentence, to begin with.

それを圭子さんは古美門先生にあげられた。

If she were the recipient, Kimie would have said:

それを圭子さんは古美門先生にもらった。

That’s supposing Kimie doesn’t use honorific language to Keiko.

aguijonazo
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  • How do you tell whether it is 尊敬語 or 受動態? – Eddie Kal May 12 '21 at 02:37
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    @EddieKal: Context. Kimie is talking to Keiko and Keiko is the topic, which suggests she may be the subject of the action. The preceding part suggests Keiko was given the medal from Miki, which she didn’t want. It wouldn’t be surprising if she gave it away. It would’ve been easier if I already knew what the relationship between Keiko and Kimie is like beforehand. If あげられる were the passive form, that line would mean Komikado gave it away to someone else to Kimie’s annoyance, which seems less likely. Besides, the line probably would have also contained 誰かに (as a recipient) in that case. – aguijonazo May 12 '21 at 02:59
  • @EddieKal: edited – aguijonazo May 12 '21 at 03:11
  • Could you also talk a bit more about あげられる in the sense of "be given by" and include some examples with that phrase? I think in real life usage I have a pretty okay handle on あげる, もらう, くれる, but frankly I have seldom if ever encountered あげられる in this sense. I have seen あげられる used to mean "be raised/elevated" in 聖書 but not "be given". – Eddie Kal May 12 '21 at 03:25
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    @EddieKal: It would be pretty safe to assume あげられる is never used in the sense of “be given BY …” because there is another verb for that: もらう. I cannot think of a single example. If あげられる is used as a passive form, it’s definitely a case of 迷惑の受け身 as in “Komikado gave it away to someone else to Keiko's annoyance.” – aguijonazo May 12 '21 at 03:34
  • I should have put “to Keiko’s annoyance” in my earlier comment, not Kimie’s. – aguijonazo May 12 '21 at 03:36
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    @EddieKal Another tip to telling the difference is that honorific れる still uses the particle distribution of the original verb (先生が食べる -> 先生が食べられる). Passive れる requires a slight change in particles (が->に, を->が for example). – Jerry Fielder May 12 '21 at 03:59