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Verb Usage Review / 55

of the verb: The object of the active voice becomes the subject, and the subject
becomes the agent.
Active voice: The sun (subject) lights (verb) the earth (object).
Passive voice: The earth (subject) is lighted (verb) by the sun (agent).

As in English, in Italian the passive is formed as follows:
subject + essere in the desired tense + past participle + da + agent (if men-
tioned)
The verb essere is conjugated in the same tense as the corresponding/equivalent
active: The passive exists in the different tenses and moods (except for the impera-
tive and the infinitive). The past participle agrees with the subject in gender and
number. If the agent is expressed, the agent (with or without the article) is pre-
ceded by the preposition da. Here are examples in different tenses.
• active form (present tense)
Il sole illumina la terra. The sun lights the earth.
passive voice (present tense of the verb essere + the past participle)
La terra è illuminata* dal sole. The earth is lighted by the sun.
Note: The past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.

• active form (present perfect)
La polizia ha arrestato il ladro. The police have arrested the thief.
passive voice (present perfect of essere + the past participle)
Il ladro è stato arrestato dalla polizia. The thief has been arrested by the
police.
• active form (future)

L’insegnante informerà gli studenti. The teacher will inform the students.

passive voice (future tense of essere + the past participle)
Gli studenti saranno informati* The students will be informed by
dall’insegnante. the teacher.
Note: The past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.

The impersonal si construction is often used instead of the passive voice when the
agent is not expressed. The verb is in the third-person singular or plural depending
on whether the noun used with the verb (considered the subject in Italian) is in the
singular or plural. Note that the noun usually follows the verb.
Si compra oro. We buy gold. (Gold is bought.)
Si comprano abiti usati. We buy used clothes. (Used clothes are
bought.)

English uses “one,” “they,” “you,” “we,” or the passive voice to express the si con-
struction found in Italian.