The passive with essere is the workhorse of the Italian passive system. It is the neutral, all-purpose construction — the one that works in every tense and mood, the one news reports use, the one literary texts use, the one you fall back on when no specialized passive (venire, andare, si-passivante) fits the situation.
The pattern is simple to state: conjugated essere + past participle, with the participle agreeing with the subject in gender and number. The subtleties show up in the compound tenses, where you stack two forms of essere on top of each other.
The basic formula
To form the essere passive, conjugate essere in whatever tense and mood you need, then add the past participle of the verb. The participle agrees with the subject like an adjective.
La lettera è scritta in francese.
The letter is written in French.
I documenti sono firmati dal direttore.
The documents are signed by the director.
La torta è preparata con cura.
The cake is prepared with care.
If you want to specify the agent (the entity actually performing the action), introduce it with da:
La lettera è scritta da Marco.
The letter is written by Marco.
Il romanzo è stato pubblicato dalla Einaudi.
The novel was published by Einaudi.
In every simple tense
Here is scrivere (to write) in the passive across the simple tenses. The subject is la lettera (the letter — feminine singular), so the participle is scritta.
| Tense | Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| presente | è scritta | is written / is being written |
| imperfetto | era scritta | was written / was being written |
| passato remoto | fu scritta | was written |
| futuro semplice | sarà scritta | will be written |
| condizionale presente | sarebbe scritta | would be written |
| congiuntivo presente | sia scritta | (that it) be written |
| congiuntivo imperfetto | fosse scritta | (that it) were written |
Spero che la lettera sia scritta in tempo.
I hope the letter is written in time.
Se il libro fosse scritto meglio, lo leggerei.
If the book were written better, I would read it.
In compound tenses: the double-essere stack
Here is where things get interesting — and where students stumble. In a compound passive, you have two forms of essere stacked on top of each other.
The structure: (conjugated essere) + (past participle of essere = stato/a/i/e) + (past participle of the lexical verb).
For la lettera è stata scritta ("the letter has been written"), the breakdown is:
- è = essere conjugated in the present (the auxiliary of the compound tense)
- stata = past participle of essere (the auxiliary of the passive itself), agreeing with lettera (feminine singular)
- scritta = past participle of scrivere, also agreeing with lettera
La lettera è stata scritta ieri.
The letter was written yesterday. (passato prossimo passive)
Il libro è stato letto da molti studenti.
The book has been read by many students.
Le porte erano state chiuse prima del temporale.
The doors had been closed before the storm. (trapassato prossimo passive)
Quando arriveremo, la cena sarà già stata preparata.
When we arrive, dinner will already have been prepared. (futuro anteriore passive)
The full matrix of compound passive forms for la lettera:
| Tense | Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| passato prossimo | è stata scritta | has been written / was written |
| trapassato prossimo | era stata scritta | had been written |
| trapassato remoto | fu stata scritta | had been written (literary) |
| futuro anteriore | sarà stata scritta | will have been written |
| condizionale passato | sarebbe stata scritta | would have been written |
| congiuntivo passato | sia stata scritta | (that it) has been written |
| congiuntivo trapassato | fosse stata scritta | (that it) had been written |
Participle agreement: both participles agree
Both the participle of essere (stato/a/i/e) AND the participle of the lexical verb agree with the subject in gender and number. They always match each other.
Il libro è stato letto.
The book has been read. (masculine singular: stato + letto)
La rivista è stata letta.
The magazine has been read. (feminine singular: stata + letta)
I libri sono stati letti.
The books have been read. (masculine plural: stati + letti)
Le riviste sono state lette.
The magazines have been read. (feminine plural: state + lette)
This double agreement gives the passive its characteristic "musicality" in Italian — the rhyme of stata letta, stati letti is what learners need to internalize.
A worked example: passato remoto passive
The passato remoto is the literary past tense, used in narratives, biographies, and historical writing. It pairs especially well with the passive in formal registers.
Il romanzo fu pubblicato nel 1958 e fu accolto con entusiasmo.
The novel was published in 1958 and was received with enthusiasm.
La torta fu preparata dalla nonna per il compleanno di Marco.
The cake was prepared by grandma for Marco's birthday.
Le mura della città furono costruite nel XIII secolo.
The city walls were built in the 13th century.
In modern conversation, you would more often use the passato prossimo (è stata pubblicata) — but in any historical, journalistic, or literary text, the passato remoto passive is alive and well.
Limitations: only transitive verbs
The essere passive — like any true passive — works only with transitive verbs (verbs that take a direct object). Intransitive verbs cannot be passivized because there is no object to promote to subject.
You cannot passivize andare (to go), dormire (to sleep), partire (to leave), and so on. There is nothing for the passive to do.
For sentences where you want a passive-like meaning with an intransitive verb, Italian uses other strategies — typically the si-impersonale (si dorme bene qui — "one sleeps well here").
Stylistic notes
The essere passive can sound formal or "literary" in many contexts where English would use it without thinking. In casual speech, Italians often prefer:
- An active sentence with an unspecified third-person plural subject: Hanno chiuso il negozio ("they closed the store") instead of Il negozio è stato chiuso ("the store was closed").
- The si-passivante: Si vendono libri ("books are sold") instead of I libri sono venduti.
The essere passive is at home in:
- News reports and journalism
- Academic and scientific writing
- Official documents and legal texts
- Formal narrative and literature
- Any context where the agent is unknown or unimportant and a more active alternative would feel awkward
Common mistakes
❌ La lettera è scritto da Marco.
Incorrect — the participle must agree with the feminine subject 'lettera'.
✅ La lettera è scritta da Marco.
Correct — feminine singular: scritta.
❌ Il libro è stato letta.
Incorrect — both participles must agree, and 'libro' is masculine. Should be 'stato letto', not 'stato letta'.
✅ Il libro è stato letto.
Correct — masculine singular agreement on both participles.
❌ Le porte sono state chiuso.
Incorrect — feminine plural needs 'chiuse' to match.
✅ Le porte sono state chiuse.
Correct — feminine plural: state + chiuse.
❌ La pizza ha stata mangiata.
Incorrect — the auxiliary of essere is essere itself, never avere. The compound essere passive starts with another form of essere.
✅ La pizza è stata mangiata.
Correct — è (essere) + stata (essere participle) + mangiata.
❌ La nuova legge è stata andata in vigore.
Incorrect — andare is intransitive and cannot be passivized. There is no object to promote to subject.
✅ La nuova legge è andata in vigore.
Correct — andare in the active passato prossimo (with essere as auxiliary, not as a passive).
Key takeaways
The essere passive is the neutral default and works in every tense and mood. The structural rule is essere + past participle, with the participle agreeing with the subject in gender and number.
In compound tenses, you stack two forms of essere — the auxiliary of the compound tense, plus stato/a/i/e as the past participle of essere. Both participles agree with the subject: è stata scritta, sono stati letti.
In conversational Italian, native speakers often replace the essere passive with an active sentence (with a generic third-person plural) or with a si-passivante. The essere passive remains essential for formal writing, news, and any context where the alternatives feel awkward.
For more emphatic action-focused passives in simple tenses, see passive with venire. For obligation-flavored passives, see passive with andare. For the more idiomatic generic-agent alternative, see si-passivante.
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Open the Italian course →Related Topics
- Passive Voice: OverviewB1 — An overview of Italian passive constructions — essere + participle, venire + participle, andare + participle, and the si-passivante alternative — and why Italian uses passive voice less than English.
- Passive with Venire (Action-Emphasized Passive)B1 — The venire passive — Italian's way of grammatically distinguishing 'the door is closed (state)' from 'the door gets closed (action)' — and why it disappears in compound tenses.
- Passive with Andare (Passive of Obligation)B1 — How andare + past participle creates a concise passive that doesn't just describe — it commands. The grammar of recipes, instructions, and 'this needs to be done.'
- Si Passivante: The Passive SiB1 — The construction behind 'si vendono libri' and every Italian shop window. How a tiny clitic creates a passive without an auxiliary — and why the verb agrees with what looks like the object.
- Participle Agreement RulesA2 — The three scenarios that govern how Italian past participles agree (or stay frozen) in compound tenses — with the preceding-clitic rule that trips up almost every learner.
- Presente: Essere (to be)A1 — How to conjugate essere — the most important irregular verb in Italian — and how to navigate the situations where Italian uses avere where English uses 'to be'.