Passive in Serbian

What is passive? 

 

Passive is a mode of a verb (passive voice) that within a sentence describes “what is being done” rather than “who does something”. Through that, we show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action, and here is why:

 

Active sentence: I am reading a book. (I, the subject is doing the action – reading. The book is just an object we are reading.)

 

Passive sentence: A book is being read. (The book, previously the subject (in the active sentence) has now become the subject. The former subject, I, is not important or, in some cases, it is implied (example: a bridge is being built – it is implied through our understanding of the world that it is people/workers who are building).

 

* NOTE: Sometimes, the passive voice is used for the exact opposite – TO EMPHASISE THE SUBJECT FROM ITS ACTIVE SENTENCE: Ivo Andrić wrote this book -> This book was written by Ivo Andrić. – It is a paradox as, usually, the former subject is not important in passive sentences, but here it is even emphasised.

 

Passive sentences in Serbian

 

There are two forms of passive sentences:

 

1..BITI (in the exact tense used in the active sentence, so it can be any tense) + “trpni glagolski pridev” (passive participle – no tenses, this is a “descriptive verb” as it has all the grammatical features of an adjective – gender, number, and case)

Primer: Domaći zadatak je urađen. (From the active sentence (the subject used at random as we don’t have any information about it from the passive sentence so it is impossible to reconstruct for certain): Uradila sam domaći zadatak.)

 

2. Present tense verb (only 3rd person – singular or plural, depending on the subject) + SE (reflexive) – it is usually used to describe present tense passive constructions.

Primer: U ovom restoranu se kuva dobar pasulj. (From the active sentence (the subject used at random as we don’t have any information about it from the passive sentence so it is impossible to reconstruct for certain: Kuvari kuvaju dobar pasulj u ovom restoranu.)

 

* NOTE: If it is important to emphasise the subject from the active sentence, in Serbian it is done with this construction: od (strane) + genitiv (by someone/something).

Primer: Ova kuća je izgrađena od strane mojeg dede. (From the active sentence (and now whe know the subect of the sntence: Moj deda je izgradio ovu kuću.)

 

About the “trpni glagolski pridev” – passive participle

 

  • It is formed from transitive verbs (the verbs that don’t make much sense without an object: čitati knjigu).
  • It can’t be formed from all transitive verbs + there are some intransitive verbs that can also be used: zaljubiti se (to fall in love) – zaljubljen.
  • It can have 4 different endings:
  1. -n (from verbs that have the -ati infinitive ending, but not -nati): čitati -> čitan
  2. -en (from verbs that have these infinitive endings -sti, -ći (the verbs that in the present tense have -čem: pečem), -iti (the verbs that in the present tense have -ijem: pijem OR -im: radim), -eti (the verbs that in the present tense have -im: sedim): raditi -> rađen
  3. -ven (from verbs that have these infinitive endings -iti, -uti (but not -nuti), -eti (usually irregular verbs): pokriti -> pokriven
  4. -t (from verbs that have these infinitive endings -nuti, -ati, -eti (usually irregular verbs like uzeti – uzmem…): početi -> počet

– Because their formation is so complex, it seems like an impossible job to learn all of this, so the best thing is to use this site: http://www.lexicom.rs/Lexicon/Search.aspx and type in a verb, scroll down, find “trpni glagolski pridev” and see the forms.

 

If you have any questions about the Serbian language, feel free to write to me at info@e-word.co or visit the e-word blog.