Breakdown of Il magistrato ha ascoltato l'imputato, ma non gli è stato creduto.
essere
to be
ma
but
non
not
ascoltare
to listen / to listen to
credere
to believe
l'imputato
the defendant
il magistrato
the magistrate
Questions & Answers about Il magistrato ha ascoltato l'imputato, ma non gli è stato creduto.
Why does the second half use gli instead of translating 'he was not believed' directly as non è stato creduto?
In English, 'he' is the subject of the passive verb 'was believed'. But in Italian, 'to believe a person' is credere a qualcuno, which takes an indirect object. Verbs that take an indirect object cannot form a normal personal passive where the person becomes the subject. Instead, Italian uses an impersonal passive: è stato creduto (literally 'it was believed') combined with the indirect object pronoun gli (to him).
Since creduto is a past participle used with essere, does it need to agree with the pronoun gli?
No, the past participle remains in the masculine singular form. In this impersonal passive structure, gli is an indirect object, not the subject. The grammatical subject is an invisible, impersonal 'it' (literally 'it was believed to him'), so the past participle simply takes the default masculine singular ending. Even if the defendant were female, it would be le è stato creduto, still ending in -o.
The first half of the sentence treats the defendant as a direct object (ha ascoltato l'imputato). Why does the second half switch to an indirect object?
The grammar depends entirely on the verb being used. Ascoltare (to listen to) is a direct transitive verb in Italian, so it takes a direct object. However, credere (to believe) requires the preposition a when you are talking about believing a person. Therefore, when referring back to the defendant for the second verb, you must use the indirect pronoun gli.
Could I use the passive si here instead, and say non gli si è creduto?
Yes, non gli si è creduto is another perfectly natural way to express this impersonal meaning. Both constructions are valid and common at the B2 level. The è stato + past participle form used in this sentence sounds slightly more formal, which fits perfectly with the legal context of a magistrate and a defendant.
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