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### Forming the Passive Voice

The passive voice shifts the focus to the receiver of an action. To form it in simple tenses, use the auxiliary verb **essere** (to be) plus the **past participle** of the main verb. 

The past participle must agree in gender and number with the new subject. To introduce the agent (who or what performs the action), use the preposition **da** (by).

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When the agent requires a definite article, **da** combines with it (e.g., *da* + *il* = **dal**, *da* + *l'* = **dall'**). 

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### Using Different Simple Tenses

You can form the passive voice in any simple tense just by conjugating *essere*. The tense of *essere* dictates when the action happens, while the past participle always changes to match the subject.

**Imperfetto** (Describing an ongoing past action):

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**Presente** (Notice the masculine plural agreement *-i* for *i mattoni*):

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**Futuro** (Notice the feminine singular agreement *-a* for *la facciata*):

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Passive voice in simple tenses (essere + da)

adjective

adjective/adverb

adverb

conjunction

determiner

interjection

noun

numeral

preposition

pronoun

proper noun

sentence

verb

Subject pronouns and the verb to be (io sono)

Singular definite articles (il, la)

Singular demonstratives (questo, questa)

Basic verbal negation (non)

Yes/No questions

Coordinating conjunctions (e, ma, o)

Regular plurals and definite articles (-i, -e, i, le)

Plural verb to be (noi siamo, voi siete)

Plural demonstratives (questi, queste)

Nouns ending in -e

Special singular articles (lo, l')

The plural article (gli)

Special indefinite articles (uno, un')

Demonstrative adjectives (quello, quella)

Adjective endings (-o, -a, -i, -e)

Expressing quantity (molto, poco, tanto)

The verb to have (ho, hai, ha...)

There is / there are (c'è, ci sono)

The preposition of (di)

Singular possessives (il mio, la mia)

Numbers 1 to 10 (uno, due, tre...)

Numbers 11 to 20 (undici, dodici...)

Numbers 21 to 100 (trenta, quaranta...)

Idiomatic avere (avere fame, avere anni)

Plural possessive adjectives (i miei, le mie)

Possessives with family members (mio padre)

Formal address (dare del Lei)

Present tense of -are verbs (-o, -i, -a)

Question words (chi, cosa, dove)

Present tense of -ere verbs (-o, -i, -e)

Question words (quando, come, perché)

Question word agreement (quanto, quanta, quanti, quante)

Regular -ire verbs

Verbs with -isc- (capisco, capisci, capisce)

Pronouns after prepositions (me, te, lui)

The verb fare (faccio, fai, fa)

The verb andare (vado, vai, va)

The verb stare (sto, stai, sta)

The verb venire (vengo, vieni, viene)

The verb uscire (esco, esci, esce)

Location and destination (a, in)

Origin and movement (da)

Articulated prepositions with a (al, alla)

Articulated prepositions with in (nel, nella)

Articulated prepositions with di and da (del, dal)

Simple prepositions (con, per, su, tra)

Articulated prepositions with su (sul, sulla)

Months of the year

Telling time (sono le...)

Dates (il + number)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primo, secondo, terzo...)

The verb to want (volere)

The verb can (potere)

The verb must (dovere)

The verb to know (sapere)

Reflexive verbs (mi lavo, ti lavi)

Indirect object pronouns (gli, le, ci...)

Expressing preferences (mi piace)

Plural preferences (mi piacciono)

Comparatives (più... di, meno... di)

The passato prossimo with avere (ho parlato)

Irregular past participles (fatto, letto, preso)

The passato prossimo with essere (sono andato)

Reflexive verbs in the past (mi sono svegliato)

Time adverbs with the past tense (già, mai, ancora)

Third-person direct object pronouns (lo, la, li, le)

First and second-person direct object pronouns (mi, ti, ci, vi)

The four seasons

Prepositions of place (vicino a, davanti a)

Conversational words (beh, allora, davvero)

Indefinite adjectives for some (qualche, alcuni)

Indefinite adjectives for every and all (ogni, tutti)

Indefinite pronouns (qualcosa, qualcuno)

Noun suffixes (-ino, -one)

Adverbs of manner (-mente)

Comparisons of equality (così... come)

The relative superlative (il più)

The absolute superlative (-issimo)

Irregular comparatives (migliore, peggiore)

Present progressive (stare + -ando, -endo)

Imminent actions (stare per)

The locative pronoun (ci)

The partitive pronoun (ne)

Pronoun placement with modal verbs

Impersonal subjects (si)

Prepositions of time (da, per, tra, fra)

Past participle agreement with pronouns

Question	Answer
to design	progettare
by (agent of a passive verb)	da
the architect	l'architetto
This famous museum will be designed by a foreign architect.	Questo famoso museo sarà progettato da un architetto straniero.
the dome	la cupola
by the (agent of a passive verb)	dal
The new dome is drawn by the best architect.	La nuova cupola è disegnata dall'architetto migliore.
the tower	la torre
to surround	circondare
Before, the old tower was surrounded by the woods.	Prima, la vecchia torre era circondata dal bosco.
to admire	ammirare
the tourist	il turista
Today the cathedral is admired by too many tourists.	Oggi la cattedrale è ammirata da troppi turisti.
the stone	la pietra
That precious stone was sought by many thieves.	Quella pietra preziosa era cercata da molti ladri.
the facade	la facciata
The facade will be ruined by the pollution.	La facciata sarà rovinata dall'inquinamento.
A few tourists observe the facade, but it is not yet known by everyone.	Qualche turista osserva la facciata, ma non è ancora conosciuta da tutti.
That ancient dome is no longer admired by anyone.	Quella cupola antica non è più ammirata da nessuno.
The castle was surrounded by a stone wall.	Il castello era circondato da un muro di pietra.
The architect tells me so: the bridge will be designed by him.	Me lo dice l'architetto: il ponte sarà progettato da lui.
Every tower is visited by many tourists.	Ogni torre è visitata da molti turisti.
the brick	il mattone
This red brick will be used by the architect for the floor.	Questo mattone rosso sarà usato dall'architetto per il pavimento.
The bricks are chosen by the architect for the facade.	I mattoni sono scelti dall'architetto per la facciata.