English uses the passive whenever the patient should be the subject or the agent is unknown: Applications are reviewed. Serbian can choose a се passive, бити + passive participle, or an active clause whose word order keeps the patient topical. These are not cosmetic variants. They present the event as a routine, a completed/resulting state, or an action with an informative agent.
The best translation begins with discourse: is the text describing what normally happens, reporting what has been completed, or identifying who acted?
The three-strategy diagnostic
- Routine, procedure, general practice, or unfolding process: favor a се passive.
- Completed event, resultant state, or formal patient-centered report: favor бити + agreeing passive participle.
- Agent is important, contrastive, or easy to name: use an active clause; Serbian can still place the patient first.
Опрема се проверава на почетку сваке смене.
The equipment is checked at the beginning of every shift. (routine se-passive)
Све пријаве су прегледане до подне.
All applications were reviewed by noon. (completed periphrastic passive)
Пријаве је јутрос прегледала нова комисија.
The new committee reviewed the applications this morning. (patient topic, active clause)
The third sentence begins with accusative пријаве, not a passive subject. Feminine nominative нова комисија controls је...прегледала. Case and agreement, not first position, reveal the voice.
Se-passive: a process without an expressed agent
The се passive is built from a transitive verb. Its former object becomes a nominative patient subject and controls verb agreement. The se-passive and impersonal page gives the full tense and agreement system.
У овој радионици се поправљају стари сатови.
Old clocks are repaired in this workshop.
Улазнице ће се продавати преко интернета од понедељка.
Tickets will be sold online from Monday.
Plural стари сатови and улазнице require plural поправљају, ће се продавати. In the past, the patient also controls agreement:
Током пробе су се мењале последње две сцене.
During rehearsal, the final two scenes were being changed.
The agent is structurally backgrounded and is normally not expressed. If a specific agent must be named, an active clause or a periphrastic passive is clearer. Do not attach bureaucratic од стране + genitive to an ordinary се passive.
The construction is especially natural for regulations, recipes, instructions, services, and repeated institutional procedures:
Захтев се подноси електронски, а потврда се шаље на наведену адресу.
The application is submitted electronically, and confirmation is sent to the address provided.
Aspect remains meaningful. Imperfective подноси се can describe the general procedure; perfective поднеће се would refer to one future submission.
Se-passive versus impersonal se
Not every clause with се is passive. A passive has a nominative patient and agrees with it. A human-impersonal clause has no nominative subject and uses third-person singular; its past form is neuter singular.
У библиотеци се позајмљују електронски читачи.
Electronic readers are lent out at the library. (se-passive; plural patient subject)
У библиотеци се ради и суботом.
People work at the library on Saturdays too. (impersonal; no nominative subject)
После предавања се дуго разговарало о преводу.
After the lecture, people discussed the translation for a long time. (impersonal past; neuter singular)
This agreement test is more reliable than the English translation, since English may render either construction with people, one, or a passive.
Biti + passive participle: result and affected patient
The periphrastic passive contains a finite form of бити and a passive participle agreeing with the nominative patient. Formation details and participle alternations are covered under the periphrastic passive.
Уговор је потписан у три примерка.
The contract was signed in three copies.
Нове процедуре су уведене почетком године.
The new procedures were introduced at the beginning of the year.
Северни улаз ће бити затворен током радова.
The north entrance will be closed during the works.
Masculine уговор selects потписан, feminine plural процедуре selects уведене, and masculine улаз selects затворен. English participles do not show this agreement.
This passive is natural for completed actions and resultant states, especially in administrative, legal, technical, and news styles (formal). It is also ordinary in speech for a salient state: Врата су закључана.
Aspect distinguishes process from completed result:
Мост је грађен скоро четири године.
The bridge was under construction for almost four years. (imperfective process)
Мост је изграђен пре уговореног рока.
The bridge was completed ahead of the contractual deadline. (perfective result)
The exact event-versus-state reading depends on aspect, tense, time adverbials, and context. Пакет је уручен јутрос reports an event; пакет је већ уручен foregrounds a current result. The form is not mechanically equivalent to English be + past participle.
Naming the agent
An agent phrase with од стране + genitive is possible with a periphrastic passive in formal administrative and legal writing, but it is heavy and often avoidable.
Одлука је потврђена од стране надлежног суда.
The decision was confirmed by the competent court. (formal/bureaucratic)
Надлежни суд је потврдио одлуку.
The competent court confirmed the decision. (clear active alternative)
Use the active sentence when the court is real news. Reserve the agentive passive for a genre that requires the patient to remain the grammatical subject or for carefully controlled contrast.
Instrumental phrases usually name an instrument or means, not an agent:
Трака је пресечена великим маказама.
The ribbon was cut with large scissors.
Великим маказама answers “with what?” A human agent is not normally introduced by simply putting that person in the instrumental.
Active reordering: topic first, agent retained
Serbian's case system permits an active object to appear first. This is often the best way to translate an English passive when the patient is already the topic but the agent matters.
Тај предлог је управни одбор одбио после кратке расправе.
That proposal was rejected by the management board after a short discussion.
Accusative тај предлог is topical. Nominative управни одбор remains the agent and controls masculine singular је...одбио. A passive version, Тај предлог је одбијен, would suppress the board unless a heavy agent phrase were added.
An indefinite third-person plural active can also background an unknown human agent in conversation:
Јутрос су ми отказали лет за Беч.
My flight to Vienna was cancelled this morning. / They cancelled my flight to Vienna this morning.
The unspecified “they” is human and institutionally recoverable. This construction is active and plural, unlike impersonal се. Dative ми presents the speaker as affected.
A short institutional passage
Пријаве се примају до петка и обрађују редоследом којим су стигле. Потврда о пријему шаље се аутоматски. Непотпуни захтеви биће враћени подносиоцима, док ће коначну одлуку донети стручна комисија. Комисија ће образложење објавити на сајту установе.
Applications are accepted until Friday and processed in the order received. Confirmation of receipt is sent automatically. Incomplete applications will be returned to applicants, while an expert committee will make the final decision. The committee will publish its reasoning on the institution's website.
The passage uses се for routine intake, a periphrastic future passive for a bounded institutional result, and active clauses once the commission becomes the relevant agent. Changing strategy helps the text manage topic and responsibility.
Common Mistakes
Leaving the verb singular with a plural se-passive subject
❌ У овој продавници се продаје домаћи производи.
Incorrect — plural nominative домаћи производи requires plural продају.
✅ У овој продавници се продају домаћи производи.
Homemade products are sold in this shop.
Combining both passive markers
❌ Све пријаве су се прегледане до подне.
Incorrect — do not combine се with a passive participle in one passive predicate.
✅ Све су пријаве прегледане пре почетка паузе.
All applications were reviewed before the break began.
Using an active participle as a passive participle
❌ Одлука је директорка потписала јуче.
Incorrect — потписала is active and директорка is its nominative agent, so the patient must be accusative одлуку.
✅ Одлука је потписана јуче.
The decision was signed yesterday.
The original word string can be repaired as an active sentence by changing the clitic order and keeping the agent: Одлуку је директорка потписала јуче. Accusative одлуку then marks the fronted object.
Adding an agent to an ordinary se-passive
❌ Извештај се пише од стране новог тима.
Awkward bureaucratic mixing — an ordinary се passive backgrounds the agent, while од стране tries to restore it.
✅ Нови тим пише извештај.
The new team is writing the report.
Practice
Task 1: process, result, agent
Express the same situation as a routine, a completed result, and an agent-focused event.
Рачуни се проверавају сваког петка. Сви рачуни су проверени. Рачуне је проверила главна књиговођа.
Invoices are checked every Friday. All invoices have been checked. The chief accountant checked the invoices.
Task 2: passive or impersonal?
Use plural agreement to make the patient visible, then make a subjectless human activity.
У сали се постављају нове столице. У сали се ради до касно.
New chairs are being installed in the hall. People are working late in the hall.
Key Takeaways
- Use a се passive for many routines and processes; its nominative patient controls agreement.
- Use бити + passive participle for completed events, resultant states, and formal patient-centered reporting.
- Distinguish the se-passive from subjectless impersonal се by nominative agreement.
- Prefer an active clause when a concrete agent matters; Serbian can front the object to keep the patient topical.
- Од стране + genitive is possible but bureaucratic, and it is not a natural way to restore an agent to an ordinary se-passive.
Now practice Serbian
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Start learning Serbian →Related Topics
- The se-Passive and Impersonal ConstructionsB1 — Expressing 'one does / it is done' with se.
- The Periphrastic Passive (biti + participle)B1 — The 'be + done' passive and when Serbian actually uses it.
- The Passive Participle (trpni pridjev)B1 — The -n/-t participle for passives and resultant states.
- Topic, Focus, and Information StructureB2 — Putting given information first and new/emphasised information late.
- Impersonal and Subjectless SentencesB1 — Weather, states, necessity, and the experiencer dative.