How to use the passive voice in Italian?

In Italian, as in English, we use the passive voice when we want to shift the focus of the action ( verb) on to the object and away from the “doer/performer” (the agent). This construction is especially useful when the “doer” of the action is unknown or irrelevant.

All verbs have an active form, but only transitive verbs (those that can have a direct object), have a passive voice. Here’s an example of an active versus a passive sentence in Italian:

In this post, we’ll talk first about what the passive voice is, then we’ll talk about how to form passive verbs and sentences in Italian. Did you know that there are different ways to express the passive voice in Italian? No?! Then, let’s dive in!

In a few words, in Italian, as in English, the passive voice is a sentence structure that is different from an active (“normal”) sentence in three ways:

1. The object of the action becomes the subject

2. The agent (do-er) of the action becomes optional

3. The verb changes form

Let’s consider this example of an active sentence:

In a passive sentence, though, we change the focus of the sentence from the “performer” to the “receiver” of the action, let’s see what happens:

You can see this difference most clearly when you look at the sentences side-by-side:

The passive is used when you want to focus on the object, or when the agent is not important, or if we don’t know who, or what, did something. For this reason the agent becomes optional in the passive, so keep in mind that there are sentences that simply don't have one.

Remember that in Italian you can create a passive sentence ONLY if you have a transitive verb, so that the direct object becomes the “new” subject of the passive sentence.

To make the passive voice use the auxiliary essere (meaning to be) + past participle of the verb, which agrees in gender (masculine/feminine) and number (singular/plural) with the subject.

Essere (meaning to be)



Past Participle

Let’s look at an example:

subjectverbdirect object

Il cane prende la palla.

Translation: The dog catches the ball.

Now let’s see how to make it passive.

1. Find the object = la palla → This object will now become the new subject.

2. What is the tense of the verb prende? → It’s in the present (indicative).

3. Add the form of essere in that tense (present) → è (meaning is)

4. Add the past participle of prendere (meaning to take), matching the gender and number of the new subject palla → presa (meaning taken (f. sg)).

5. If you want to indicate the agent (cane (meaning the dog)), use the preposition da (meaning by): dal cane

And you have your passive voice!

subjectauxiliary verbpast participleagent

La palla è presa dal cane.

Translation: The ball is caught by the dog.

Let’s look at a few examples for the indicative mood. For more examples, check out our chart of passive conjugations in Italian!

The past participle in the passive voice may be introduced by andare (meaning to go) or venire (meaning to come) instead of essere (meaning to be), but only in simple tenses like present, imperfect, future, etc. These verbs lend a slightly different meaning in the passive construction:

• Andare often indicates an obligation:

  La pasta va cotta al dente.

  Translation: Pasta must be cooked al dente.

• Venire often spikes up the formality, like in rules and laws:

  La legge verrà pubblicata presto.

  Translation: The law will soon be published.

In Italian, like in English, the passive voice is more common in writing than in speaking. Often it is used when we don’t need to mention an “agent/doer,” or if it’s irrelevant. So to wrap it all up, here are some of the key elements we covered:

• The passive voice uses essere (meaning to be) with the past participle.

• The past participle MUST agree with the subject.

• There are alternatives to the passive that are often used in Italian, like the si passivante, or the auxiliaries andare, and/or venire instead of essere.

Ready to practice the Italian passive voice? Let’s go!