Lesson 28: The Passive Voice of the Present System

Verbs have one of two voices: active or passive. Until now, we've only seen the active voice, which is used when the subject of the sentence performs the action of the verb:

• The dog chases the cat.

The passive voice is used when the subject is the person or thing acted upon:

• The cat is chased by the dog.

In English, we normally represent the passive with a participle, like “chased” in that sentence. Latin does this too, in the past tense; but in the present system (present, imperfect, and future tenses), it uses special personal endings instead. Let's compare them to the active personal endings that we know so well by now.

As you can see, there are similarities, but plenty of differences too, so we simply have to memorize these like we did the active endings.

To form the present, imperfect, and future tense in the passive, we add these endings with the same tense-signs that we did in the active, with a couple exceptions. Let's see the first conjugation, and then we'll compare all four conjugations side-by-side, with the exceptions in bold.

Notice that -or replaces the -a- of the stem just as -o does in the active. Also notice that -a- becomes long except before -ntur.

Notice that the first person singular ending here is -r, not -or, since amabaor would be difficult to pronounce and -bor will be used in the future tense.

Note the -i- of the tense-sign becomes -e- in the future passive second person singular. We'll see this in the other conjugations as well. The stem vowel becomes -u- in the third person plural just as it does in the future active.

The passive imperative endings are -re (singular) and -minī (plural).

Now let's look at all the conjugations side-by-side.

Note the exceptions in bold. In the present passive second person singular, third conjugation verbs replace the -i- of the stem with -e-. In the future passive second person singular, the same thing happens to the -i- of the tense-sign in the first and second conjugation. In the imperative singular of third conjugation I-stems, the -i- of the stem becomes -e-, just as it does in the active voice.

Other than those exceptions, there's nothing new here except the endings. Take the verb stem, apply the tense-signs as we've learned them, and add the passive endings.

(No new vocabulary this lesson; I think there's enough to learn already, and nearly all the verbs we already know can be used in the passive voice.)

Some verbs are never used in the passive voice. These verbs can be recognized by the lack of a fourth principal part. We've seen a couple of them already.

• timeō, timēre, timuī, —-, fear, be afraid
• bibō, bibere, bibī, —-, drink

So the Romans never said, “The wine was drank by Marcus,” at least not with the word bibō.

1. All the men were being called into the middle of the town.
2. The baggage will be carried across the long bridge within three hours.
3. Caesar's death is being reported far and wide.
4. My king, if you are good you will be loved.
5. After the battle we captives were being guarded near the camp.
6. A great song will be heard for a long time.
7. The horses are led out of the fields late in the day.
8. Our town was being captured in the winter.
9. Three white horses will be found in the forest.
10. The lieutenant was being warned about the battle late at night.

1. Adventus imperatoris magna cum cura exspectabatur.
2. Cena in villa parva paratur.
3. Dona multa regi et reginae dabuntur.
4. Mille servi post proelium liberabuntur.
5. Tria milia telorum in campo post bellum cogebantur.
6. Duae naves relinquentur cum exercitus ad Hispaniam navigabit.
7. Populus Romanus saepe male regebatur.
8. Puer secundus Juliae Marcum appellabitur.
9. Lapides multi ad feros canes iaciebantur.
10. Num vincar?

The passive of all four conjugations is a lot to absorb, so I kept this lesson short and didn't add anything else. Next lesson we'll cover the past tenses of the passive, which are very simple.

1. All the men were being called into the middle of the town. - Omnes viri in medium oppidum vocabantur.
2. The baggage will be carried across the long bridge within three hours. - Impedimenta trans pontem longum tribus horis portabuntur.
3. Caesar's death is being reported far and wide. - Mors Caesaris longe et late nuntiatur.
4. My king, if you are good you will be loved. - Si bonus es, mi rex, amaberis.
5. After the battle we captives were being guarded near the camp. - Captivi post proelium ad castra servabamur.
6. A great song will be heard for a long time. - Carmen magnum diu audietur.
7. The horses are led out of the fields late in the day. - Equi ex agris multo die ducuntur.
8. Our town was being captured in the winter. - Oppidum nostrum hieme capiebatur.
9. Three white horses will be found in the forest. - Tres albi equi in silva invenientur.
10. The lieutenant was being warned about the battle late at night. - Legatus de proelium multa nocte monebatur.

1. Adventus imperatoris magna cum cura exspectabatur. - The arrival of the general was being awaited with great anxiety.
2. Cena in villa parva paratur. - Dinner is being prepared in the small farmhouse.
3. Dona multa regi et reginae dabuntur. - Many gifts will be given to the king and queen.
4. Mille servi post proelium liberabuntur. - A thousand slaves will be set free after the battle.
5. Tria milia telorum in campo post bellum cogebantur. - Three thousand weapons were being collected on the plain after the war.
6. Duae naves relinquentur cum exercitus ad Hispaniam navigabit. - Two ships will be left behind when the army sails to Spain.
7. Populus Romanus saepe male regebatur. - The Roman people were often being ruled badly.
8. Puer secundus Juliae Marcum appellabitur. - Julia's second boy will be named Marcus.
9. Lapides multi ad feros canes iaciebantur. - Many stones were being thrown at the wild dogs.
10. Num vincar? - I will not be caputured, will I?