The passive agent (av)

The Passive Agent with av

In a passive sentence, the focus is on the action itself or its receiver. To state who performed the action (the agent), use the preposition av (by).

The experiment is performed by the chemist.
Experimentet utförs av kemisten.
The laboratory was built by the company.
Laboratoriet byggdes av företaget.

Pronouns as Agents

Because av is a preposition, any pronoun that follows it must take its object form (such as mig, dig, henne, honom, or dem).

I know that the laboratory is always cleaned by him.
Jag vet att laboratoriet alltid städas av honom.

Scientific Discoveries

Here are a few more examples of the passive agent used with laboratory and science vocabulary:

The dangerous bacteria are analyzed by the doctor.
De farliga bakterierna analyseras av läkaren.
The discovery was recently published by the researcher.
Upptäckten publicerades nyligen av forskaren.
The fantastic invention is used by everyone.
Den fantastiska uppfinningen används av alla.
New inventions are often created by young engineers.
Nya uppfinningar skapas ofta av unga ingenjörer.
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