Use the esti-passive when you are still presenting an action done to an affected subject: La pordo estis malfermita de la gardisto. Use the so-called iĝi-passive when you instead present the affected participant’s change, development, or disposition and leave any causer outside the clause: La pordo malfermiĝis.
The label “iĝi-passive” is convenient but potentially misleading. The ordinary construction is not iĝi + passive participle. It is an intransitive verb derived with -iĝ-, and strictly speaking it is middle-like rather than a true passive.
The quick decision
| Question | Choose |
|---|---|
| Does the sentence present an action affecting the subject, possibly with an agent? | esti + -ata/-ita/-ota |
| Does it present what happens to or changes in the subject, with no grammatical agent slot? | an -iĝ- verb |
| Is the doer the real topic? | prefer an active clause |
La aŭtomata pordo estis malfermita de la deĵoranto.
The automatic door was opened by the attendant.
La aŭtomata pordo malfermiĝis je la oka.
The automatic door opened at eight.
The first profiles an externally caused event and can name its agent. The second profiles the door’s transition; it neither asserts that the door acted intentionally nor provides a passive-agent position.
What the esti-passive preserves
The standard passive starts from an active clause with a direct object. The object becomes the passive subject, while the former subject can be omitted or introduced with de.
La redaktoro kontrolas ĉiujn citaĵojn.
The editor checks all the quotations.
Ĉiuj citaĵoj estas kontrolataj de la redaktoro.
All the quotations are being checked by the editor.
The passive preserves the event’s transitive structure conceptually. An editor still performs the checking, even if the sentence omits that person.
La aliĝintoj estos informitaj retpoŝte morgaŭ.
The registrants will be informed by email tomorrow.
No agent is named, but an informing agent is understood. This is an agentless passive, not an event without a causer.
The passive also distinguishes three phases through its participle:
| Form | Phase at the reference time | Typical reading |
|---|---|---|
| estas riparata | during the action | is being repaired |
| estas riparita | after completion/result | is/has been repaired |
| estas riparota | before the action | is to be repaired |
La lifto estas riparata, do uzu la ŝtuparon.
The elevator is being repaired, so use the stairs.
La lifto jam estas riparita kaj denove funkcias.
The elevator has already been repaired and is working again.
La dua lifto estas riparota venontsemajne.
The second elevator is to be repaired next week.
An -iĝ- verb has ordinary tense but does not reproduce this precise -at-/-it-/-ot- phase grid. Use the esti-passive guide when the distinction is central.
What an -iĝ- verb changes
With a transitive base, -iĝ- removes the external causer from the argument structure. The old object becomes the subject of an intransitive verb.
La vento rompis la sekan branĉon.
The wind broke the dry branch.
La seka branĉo rompiĝis dum la ŝtormo.
The dry branch broke during the storm.
Rompiĝis does not state whether wind, weight, decay, or another force caused the break. It presents the affected branch’s event.
Because the resulting verb is intransitive, it cannot retain the old object or take a passive agent with de.
La fenestro fermiĝis pro subita aerblovo.
The window closed because of a sudden draft.
Pro may add a cause. It does not turn the draft into a passive agent. If an intentional closer matters, use La fenestro estis fermita de Marta or active Marta fermis la fenestron.
Change of state, event, and disposition
The natural reading depends on the verb. Many -iĝ- forms describe a change of state.
La ekrano subite mallumiĝis, sed la komputilo restis ŝaltita.
The screen suddenly went dark, but the computer remained on.
Post kelkaj minutoj la glacio komencis degeli kaj la vojo fariĝis glitiga.
After a few minutes the ice began to melt and the road became slippery.
With transitive action roots, the form can describe an event affecting the subject:
La malnova magazeno detruiĝis dum la tertremo.
The old warehouse was destroyed/collapsed during the earthquake.
PMEG stresses that with such roots -iĝ- does not necessarily assert a result “by itself.” It says that the potential causer is absent from the clause or irrelevant.
Other forms describe a general disposition—how readily something undergoes an action.
Ĉi tiu ŝtofo laviĝas facile kaj sekiĝas rapide.
This fabric washes easily and dries quickly.
La vortludo ne tradukiĝas bone en la anglan.
The wordplay does not translate well into English.
English has similar middle constructions: “the book reads easily,” “the product sells well.” An esti-passive would instead report an actual passive action: La libro estas legata de la studentoj.
Minimal contrasts in real discourse
La nova romano estas tradukata de du specialistoj.
The new novel is being translated by two specialists.
La ŝerco en la unua ĉapitro apenaŭ tradukiĝas.
The joke in the first chapter is hardly translatable/does not translate well.
The first is a real project with agents and an ongoing phase. The second is a property of the joke under translation, not a report about current translators.
— Kiu fermis la registradon? — Ĝi estis fermita aŭtomate de la sistemo je noktomezo.
— Who closed registration? — It was closed automatically by the system at midnight.
— Kiam fermiĝis la registrado? — Precize je noktomezo.
— When did registration close? — Exactly at midnight.
The first exchange asks for an agent and therefore favors the passive. The second asks only about the transition and favors fermiĝi.
Conventional forms deserve to be learned
Some -iĝ- verbs have become the ordinary neutral expression for a concept. Naskiĝi is the everyday way to say “be born,” and nomiĝi gives someone’s or something’s name.
Mia avo naskiĝis en havenurbo ĉe la Nigra Maro.
My grandfather was born in a port city on the Black Sea.
La nova retbulteno nomiĝas ‘Matena Resumo’.
The new newsletter is called ‘Morning Summary.’
Standard estis naskita is also grammatical and presents the birth as a completed passive event. Naskiĝis is usually lighter in biography. Estas nomata can mean “is called/referred to as,” sometimes with attention to other people’s naming practice, whereas nomiĝas simply supplies the established name.
These preferences are conventional usage, not exceptions to morphology.
Independent iĝi + passive participle
Independent iĝi can link the subject to an adjective: La situacio iĝis komplika. A passive participle can fill that adjective slot when entry into a resulting state is genuinely the point.
Post jaroj sen prizorgado la loko iĝis preskaŭ forgesita.
After years without care, the place became almost forgotten.
This is grammatical, but it is not the usual structure meant by “iĝi-passive.” Direct forgesiĝi, an ordinary adjective, or an esti-passive is often more idiomatic depending on meaning. Do not translate every English “get + participle” as iĝi + participle.
La laboristo estis vundita kiam la breto falis.
The worker was injured when the shelf fell.
Here a completed affecting event matters. Iĝis vundita would heavily foreground transition into a wounded state and is not the neutral default.
Transitivity is the hard boundary
A true passive requires an object-taking use. Ordinary veni, dormi, and okazi have no direct object to promote, so forms such as estas venita are not standard passives for “has come.” Use an active verb or active participle.
An -iĝ- verb is itself intransitive. Its participles are therefore active -ant-/-int-/-ont- forms.
La malrapide malfermiĝanta kurteno malkaŝis la scenejon.
The slowly opening curtain revealed the stage.
Malfermiĝanta describes the grammatical subject doing the intransitive opening process. Malfermiĝata would wrongly try to create a passive participle from an intransitive -iĝ- verb.
Register and discourse focus
Both constructions are standard. The esti-passive is common in (formal), technical, administrative, and journalistic prose where an affected entity remains the topic and agents may be omitted. In conversation, an active clause or an -iĝ- verb is often lighter.
Register does not license role confusion. Corpus attestation supports creative but understandable -iĝ- forms, especially dispositional readings with facile, bone, or malfacile. A theoretically possible derivation can still be opaque if speakers do not conventionally construe the event as a change or disposition.
Decision flow
- Write the active clause. Does it have a real direct object? If not, no standard passive is available.
- Must the affected participant remain the subject while the agent stays understood or is named with de? Use esti + passive participle.
- Must you distinguish action underway, completed, or anticipated? Use -ata, -ita, or -ota with esti.
- Is the message simply the affected participant’s transition or disposition, with no agent role? Consider an -iĝ- verb.
- If the doer matters most, keep the active clause.
Common Mistakes
Adding a passive agent to an -iĝ- verb
❌ La pordo malfermiĝis de la sekurgardisto.
Incorrect — malfermiĝi has no passive-agent slot.
✅ La pordo estis malfermita de la sekurgardisto.
The door was opened by the security guard.
Giving an -iĝ- verb a direct object
❌ La asistanto fermiĝis la kunvenejon.
Incorrect — fermiĝi is intransitive and cannot take the hall as an object.
✅ La asistanto fermis la kunvenejon.
The assistant closed the meeting hall.
Using a passive participle from an intransitive -iĝ- verb
❌ La malfermiĝata fenestro knaras.
Incorrect — the opening window requires the active participle of malfermiĝi.
✅ La malfermiĝanta fenestro knaras.
The opening window creaks.
Losing the process/completion distinction
❌ Kiam ni alvenis, la scenejo estis preparita kaj la laboro ankoraŭ daŭris.
Incorrect for the intended ongoing process — preparita presents completion.
✅ Kiam ni alvenis, la scenejo estis preparata kaj la laboro ankoraŭ daŭris.
When we arrived, the stage was being prepared and the work was still continuing.
Translating every English get-passive with iĝi
❌ Mi iĝis mian telefonon riparita hieraŭ.
Incorrect — iĝi cannot reproduce the English causative ‘got my phone repaired’ with an object.
✅ Mi igis teknikiston ripari mian telefonon hieraŭ.
I had a technician repair my phone yesterday.
Key Takeaways
The esti-passive is a true passive: it preserves an affecting event, supports an optional de agent, and distinguishes -at-/-it-/-ot- phases. An -iĝ- alternative is an intransitive change or middle construction with no agent slot. Choose by valency and discourse focus, not by whichever English passive translation appears first.
Related Topics
- The Esti-PassiveB1 — Form the standard Esperanto passive with esti plus an agreeing passive participle, while keeping tense and event phase separate.
- The Iĝi-PassiveB1 — Use -iĝ- verbs as middle-like alternatives that foreground an affected participant's change while leaving any causer outside the clause.
- Agentless PassivesC1 — Use passive clauses without naming the doer, and distinguish ordinary subject-bearing passives from impersonal passives in -e.
- Choosing -AT- versus -IT-B2 — Choose -at- for an unfolding or repeated passive action and -it- for completion or its result, independently of the reference tense.
- Valency-Changing DerivationB1 — Use -ig- and -iĝ- to add a causer, remove a causer, and build precise causative and change-of-state verbs in Esperanto.
- -iĝ-: Becoming, Spontaneous ChangeB2 — Use -iĝ- for entering a new state, action, or location and for intransitive change whose affected participant becomes the subject.