The Impersonal Passive
In English, a person can easily be the subject of a passive sentence even when they receive the action as an indirect object (e.g., "She was asked a question" or "We were ordered to wait").
In Italian, verbs that take an indirect object (such as credere a, chiedere a, ordinare a, or concedere a) cannot form a standard personal passive. You cannot literally translate "She was asked" using lei as the subject.
Instead, you must use an impersonal passive construction, rephrasing the idea as "It was asked to her."
To form this:
- Start with an indirect object pronoun (mi, ti, gli, le, ci, vi, gli).
- Add the 3rd-person singular of the verb essere (most commonly è stato in the passato prossimo).
- Add the past participle, which is always masculine singular (-o).
Because the grammatical subject is an invisible, impersonal "it" (or the action itself), the verb and past participle remain firmly in the 3rd-person singular, no matter who the pronoun refers to.
| The magistrate listened to the defendant, but he was not believed. | Il magistrato ha ascoltato l'imputato, ma non gli è stato creduto. |
| She was granted permission to speak during the hearing. | Le è stato concesso di parlare durante l'udienza. |
Even when the indirect object pronoun is plural (like ci, "to us"), the verb and participle do not change:
| We were ordered to wait in prison. | Ci è stato ordinato di aspettare in carcere. |
| She was asked to return to court. | Le è stato chiesto di tornare in tribunale. |
Rulings and Notifications
This impersonal passive structure is highly common in formal situations, such as official legal proceedings where a judge notifies, grants, or denies something to the parties involved.
| He was notified today in court. | Gli è stato notificato oggi in tribunale. |
| It was not granted to her by the judge. | Non le è stato concesso dal giudice. |