How does the Italian ‘si passivante’ work?

The si passivante is a very common way to express the passive voice in Italian, as in In Italia si mangia molta pasta (meaning In Italy people eat a lot of pasta). Unlike the passive voice construction, which is formed by the verb essere (meaning to be)+ past participle, the si passivante uses particle si followed by a conjugated verb.

In this post, we’ll take you through what the si passivante is, when to use it, and how to form it. Ready to learn more? We’ll give you the inside scoop next!

The si passivante is a common way to express the passive voice in Italian. It’s especially convenient for explaining rules and making general statements where an agent (do-er) is not mentioned. For example:

• Si richiede licenza superiore.

  Translation: A high school degree is needed.
• Il pane si compra al panificio.

  Translation: Bread is bought in a bakery.

The si passivante is only used when the agent is implied and is implied to be human. It is also only used with verbs in the third personsingular or plural: easy-peasy, no?

The si passivante does not have a real equivalent in English, so let’s see an example:

The sentence above implies that whoever opens the window (the agent) will be a person, so we use the si passivante.

Here are the rules for forming the si passivante in Italian:

• For simple tenses (present, imperfect, future, etc.) no auxiliary is needed

  si

  

  verb

  in the 3rd person

  Qui si mangia cibo piccante.

  Translation: Spicy food (singular) is eaten here.

  Qui si riparano orologi.

  Translation: Watches (plural) are fixed here.

• For compound tenses (passato prossimo, etc.)

  si

  

  essere (meaning to be)

  in the 3rd person

  

  past participle

  Si è trovato un tesoro.

  Translation: A treasure (singular) was found.

  Si sono viste le stelle.

  Translation: Stars (plural) were seen.

  Remember that verbs always agree with the subject so, if the subject is singular, conjugate the verb in the third person singular and, if the subject is plural, conjugate in the third person plural.

The main difference between the si passivante and the passive voice, is in the status of the agent (the do-er) of the verb.

Notice that, in compound tenses, the passive voice and the si passivante look very similar with the exception of si:

So what is the difference? In the passive voice, you have the option of mentioning the agent (dagli studenti), but with si passivante you don’t. The agent is implied, meaning bought by “one/all/everyone.”

However, another difference between the si passivante and the passive is that, in the si passivante, there is more flexibility of word order. The subject can go before (like in the example), or after the verb:

The si passivante is an alternative to the passive voice that is very commonly used in Italian. Let’s recap its main points:

• It's used for explaining rules and general information

• It requires the pronoun si, and

• It’s only used with transitive verbs in the third person singular and plural

Ready to get practicing with the si passivante? Let’s go!