The passive voice in Italian

In the active form, the subject performs the action expressed by the verb (subject and agent coincide). In the passive form, the subject suffers the action expressed by the verb, which is instead performed by something else or by another person (subject and agent are different). Example: Il gelato è comprato da Maria María buys the ice cream.

When the verb is in passive form, the true agent of the sentence is not the subject il paziente, il modo  (the patient, the path), but the complement of the dottore, di un crollo (of the doctor, of a collapse), which it is precisely defined as an agent complement. The subject suffers the action. Only verbs that have an expressed object complement can have the passive form.

Passive Voice

The passive is formed with the auxiliary conjugated in the tense of the corresponding active verb, followed by the past participle of the verb. The past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.

• The subject of the corresponding active sentence, preceded by the preposition da, becomes an agent’s complement if it is animate (a person, an animal) or an efficient cause complement if it is inanimate.
• The object’s complement becomes the subject.

Let’s look at some examples

1. Present: Mangia la pizza (He eats the pizza).

He (subject) eats (active verb) the pizza (object complement).

The pizza è mangiata da lui.

Pizza (subject) is eaten (passive verb) by him (agent’s complement).

• Perfect past tense: le acque hanno sommerso il villaggio (the waters have submerged the village).

The waters (subject) have submerged (active verb) the village (object complement) ⇒

The village (subject) has been submerged (passive verb) by waters (complement of efficient cause)

• Imperfect : Maria ha preparato la cena (Maria prepared dinner)
• Remote past : il pittore ha dipinto il quadro (the painter painted the picture) ⇒ il quadro è stato dipinto dal pittore (the picture was painted by the painter);
• Future : Natalia correggerà i competed (Natalia will correct the task) ⇒ il compito sarà corretto da Natalia . (the task will be corrected by Natalia).

The subject in the passive voice

In the active form, the subject performs the action expressed by the verb (subject and agent coincide). In the passive form, the subject suffers the action expressed by the verb, which is instead performed by something else or by another person (subject and agent are different). Example: Maria compra il gelato (Maria buys the ice cream).

Passive without Spoken Agent

However, simple passive sentences can also leave the author unmentioned, leaving only the action itself, without worrying about who did what:

• La cena fu servita al tramonto.

Dinner was served at sunset.

• The house è stata costruita male.

The cake was eaten in a minute.

• Il bambino era felice di essere stato accettato.

The boy was happy to have been accepted.

• La donna fu tanto amata nella sua vita.

The woman was very loved in her life.

Active into passive voice

1. The first thing you have to do is identify the subject and the predicate.
2. Done this identifies the direct object of the predicate.
3. Finally, place the direct object in the place of the subject.

You will observe how what was before the subject becomes the predicate and vice versa.

Examples:

• Jorge mangia i pistacchi.

(Jorge eats pistachios)

Phrase in active that converted to passive would look like this:

• I pistacchi sono mangiati da Jorge

(The pistachios are eaten by Jorge).

• Raúl si stira la giacca.

(Raúl irons his jacket).

Phrase in active that in passive would look like this:

• The giacca è stirata da Raúl.

The jacket is ironed by Raúl.

We transform a sentence from the active to the passive form thanks to the use of auxiliary verbs, mainly to be but also to come and go. Example: Listen.

Present   I’m here	ascolto > sono ascoltato   I listen > they listen to me
Passato prossimo   Present perfect	Ho ascoltato > sono stato ascoltato   I’ve heard > I’ve been heard
Imperfetto   Imperfect	ascoltavo > ero ascoltato   I heard > I was heard
Passato remoto Remote past	ascoltai > ero ascoltate   I heard > I was heard
Trapassato prossimo   Perfect past	avevo ascoltato > ero stato ascoltato   I had heard > had been heard
Trapassato remoto Remote past tense	ebbi ascoltato > fui stato ascoltato   I had heard > I was heard
Futuro semplice Simple future	ascolterò > sarò ascoltate   I will listen > I will be heard
Futuro previore   Perfect future	avrò ascoltato > sarò stato ascoltato   I will have listened > I will have been listened
Condizionale Semplice   Simple conditional	ascolterei > sarei ascoltato   He would listen to me > He would listen to me
Condizionale Composto   Conditional compound	avrò ascoltato > sarò stato ascoltato   I will have listened > I will have been listened.
Presente   I’m here	che io ascolti > che io sia ascoltato   what do I hear > listen to me
Passato   Past	che io abbia ascoltato > che io sia stato ascoltato   that I have heard > that they have listened to me
Imperfetto   Imperfect	che io ascoltassi > che io fossi ascoltato   that I heard > that they listened to me
Trapassato   Past	che io ávessi ascoltato > che io fossi stato ascoltato   that I had heard > that they had listened to me