Table of Contents
Sometimes what matters is not who does the action, but the action itself. “This house was built in 1900” – who built it? We don’t care. In this lesson we learn two Italian tools for these sentences: the passive voice and the little word SI, which you see on every sign in Italy (“Si parla inglese” – English spoken).
The passive voice
The passive is built like in English: to be + past participle. ESSERE + participle, and since we use essere, the participle agrees with the subject:
Il caffè è servito al tavolo – The coffee is served at the table
La pizza è preparata ogni mattina – The pizza is prepared every morning
Queste macchine sono prodotte in Italia – These cars are made in Italy
To name the doer, use DA (by):
La Gioconda è stata dipinta da Leonardo – The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo
Il libro è stato scritto da un autore italiano – The book was written by an Italian author
As you can see, the passive works in any tense, you just change the tense of ESSERE:
L’aeroporto sarà chiuso domani – The airport will be closed tomorrow
La casa era circondata da un giardino – The house was surrounded by a garden
The impersonal SI
Italian has something better than the passive for everyday speech: the construction SI + verb. It means “one does”, “people do”, “you do (in general)”:
In Italia si mangia bene – In Italy one eats well / the food is good
Come si dice “dog” in italiano? – How do you say “dog” in Italian?
Si parla inglese – English (is) spoken
Qui non si può fumare – You can’t smoke here
A che ora si cena in Italia? – At what time do people have dinner in Italy?
The rule: if the verb has a plural object, the verb becomes plural too:
Si vende una casa – A house is for sale
Si vendono due case – Two houses are for sale
In questo ristorante si mangiano ottimi spaghetti – In this restaurant they serve (one eats) excellent spaghetti
Which one to use?
Both are correct, but they live in different worlds. The full passive (essere + participle) belongs to newspapers, signs and formal writing. The SI construction is what you hear in the street. “Here they speak Italian” will almost always be “Qui si parla italiano”, not “L’italiano è parlato qui”.
Examples
Questo formaggio è fatto in Sardegna – This cheese is made in Sardinia
Il museo è stato aperto nel 1950 – The museum was opened in 1950
I biglietti sono venduti online – The tickets are sold online
Come si scrive il tuo nome? – How do you spell (write) your name?
In estate si va al mare, in inverno in montagna – In summer people go to the seaside, in winter to the mountains
Si dice che questo posto sia magico – They say this place is magical (did you spot the congiuntivo?)
Da qui si vedono le Alpi – From here you can see the Alps
Non si sa mai – You never know
Vocabulary
| produrre (prodotto) – to produce
dipingere (dipinto) – to paint circondare – to surround vendere – to sell fumare – to smoke |
formaggio – cheese
autore – author giardino – garden montagna – mountain inverno – winter |
Exercises
1. Turn into the passive voice
- Leonardo dipinge il quadro → Il quadro ______________ da Leonardo (present)
- Molti turisti visitano Roma → Roma ______________ da molti turisti (present)
- Un architetto famoso ha costruito questo ponte → Questo ponte ______________ da un architetto famoso (passato prossimo)
2. Complete with SI + the correct verb form
- In questo negozio ______________ scarpe (VENDERE) – In this shop they sell shoes
- Come ______________ questa parola? (PRONUNCIARE) – How is this word pronounced?
- In biblioteca non ______________ parlare ad alta voce (POTERE) – In the library you can’t speak loudly
- D’estate ______________ molti gelati (MANGIARE) – In summer people eat a lot of ice cream
- ______________ che l’italiano sia facile (DIRE) – They say Italian is easy
Answers:
Exercise 1 – 1: è dipinto; 2: è visitata; 3: è stato costruito
Exercise 2 – 1: si vendono; 2: si pronuncia; 3: si può; 4: si mangiano; 5: Si dice