If you have ever read a sentence like “La pizza è stata mangiata” and wondered why Italians suddenly sound more formal, congratulations, you have just met the passive voice (la forma passiva)!
The passive voice exists in Italian just like in English, but it follows its own rules, and it is used a bit differently in everyday speech.
In this article, we will break it down step by step, and by the end you will know:
1. What is the Passive Voice
2. How to form the Passive Voice in Italian
3. When Italians actually use it
4. The difference between essere, venire, andare, and si passivante in passive constructions
5. Common mistakes to avoid
Are you ready? Let’s dive in!
1. What is the Passive Voice
Italian is a so-called SVO language, i.e. it follows a Subject-Verb-Object structure when forming sentences, which can be both active and passive.
In an active sentence, the subject performs an action (verb) on an object; this means that the subject is at the same time the agent of the sentence, while the object is subject to the action.
But in a passive sentence, this structure is turned upside down, and the subject becomes the subject of the action, which is instead performed by another agent. While the explanation may sound very tricky, believe me that the examples are instead easier than expected:
• Emanuele legge un libro (Emanuele reads a book) - active form
• Il libro è letto da Emanuele (The book is read by Emanuele) - passive form
In the first sentence:
Emanuele = subject
legge = verb (action performed)
un libro = object
In the second sentence:
Il libro = subject
è letto = verb (action performed)
da Emanuele = agent performing the action
2. How to form the Passive Voice in Italian
The passive voice in Italian is formed using an auxiliary (helping) verb plus the past participle of the main verb.
The basic structure is:
Subject + essere + past participle + da + agent
e.g.:
• Il libro è letto da Emanuele.
• La pizza è stata mangiata dai ragazzi.
IMPORTANT:
The past participle must agree with the subject in gender and number, when the auxiliary verb is essere.
e.g.:
• La porta è stata chiusa.
• Le scale sono state pulite.
• Il pacco è stato consegnato.
• I documenti sono stati firmati.
As you can see, the agent, that is, the person or thing performing the action, introduced by da (“by”), is not mentioned in these sentences. This is because the agent is often omitted when it is unknown, obvious, or not relevant to the message. e.g.:
• Il telefono è stato rubato.
3. When Italians actually use it
Although the passive voice exists and is perfectly correct, Italians generally prefer the active voice, especially in spoken language.
The passive voice is indeed most used in:
o news articles
o formal or bureaucratic language
o academic writing
o instructions, rules, and announcements
e.g.:
• La legge è stata approvata ieri.
• Tre persone sono state ferite durante l’incidente.
In everyday conversation, Italians often choose alternative structures that sound more natural, such as the si passivante (which we will see later).
4. The difference between essere, venire, andare and si passivante in passive constructions
Italian offers several ways to form passive-like constructions, each with a slightly different nuance.
Essere + past participle
This is the standard passive form and can be used in all tenses.
e.g.:
• La casa è stata venduta.
• Il film sarà presentato domani.
With essere, the sentence often focuses on the result or state of the action.
Venire + past participle
Venire is used to emphasize the action itself, rather than the result. e.g.:
• Il museo viene visitato da migliaia di turisti ogni anno.
• La cena viene servita alle 19:30.
IMPORTANT:
Venire can only be used in simple tenses (present, imperfect, future), never in compound tenses:
e.g.:
• È stata chiusa (not: È venuta chiusa)
Andare + past participle
Andare expresses necessity, obligation, or something that must be done. e.g.:
• La domanda va presentata entro domani.
• Queste regole vanno rispettate.
This form is very common in formal contexts, instructions, and written Italian.
Si passivante
Although this construction is not grammatically passive, it functions as such from a communicative point of view and is therefore much more natural in spoken Italian. e.g.:
• Si vende casa. / Vendesi casa.
• Qui si parla italiano.
• Si mangia bene in questo ristorante.
This construction is extremely common in:
o advertisements
o signs
o spoken Italian
It sounds more natural and less formal than the traditional passive voice.
5. Common mistakes to avoid
Here are some typical errors learners make:
Forgetting agreement
• La lettera è scritto
instead of the correct:
• La lettera è scritta
Using venire in compound tenses
• È venuta spiegata
instead of the correct:
• È stata spiegata
Confusing si passivante with reflexive verbs
• Si lava la macchina → passive construction (lavare la macchina, not lavarsi)
In this sentence, si does not indicate a reflexive action. The subject is not washing itself. Indeed, the sentence means “The car is washed”.
If you would like to learn more about true reflexive verbs, I have written a full article dedicated to the topic.
That is all for today’s lesson!
I hope you found this article useful and that you learned something. Of course, if you have any questions or other topics you would like me to cover, let me know in the comments below.
Thank you for reading this article!
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Germana
