Focusing on the action - Giving and seeking factual informatio - Functions - A Practical Guide - Modern Italian Grammar

Modern Italian Grammar: A Practical Guide, Third Edition (2013)

Part B. Functions

I. Giving and seeking factual informatio

19. Focusing on the action

19.1 Introduction

Sometimes you want to focus on the action, or on the person or thing affected by the action, rather than on the person carrying out the action. In Italian there are various ways in which you can do this.

19.2 Focusing on the action using the passive

Normally, the focus of attention and the grammatical subject of the verb is the person carrying out an action; the verb form is therefore an active verb form:

I camerieri hanno servito la cena.

The waiters served dinner.

If you want to focus on the action or on the person/thing affected, you can use a passive verb form (see 2.1.10) and make the person or thing affected by the action (the object) the grammatical subject of the verb instead, so that it becomes more important than the ‘doer’:

La cena è servita alle ore 20.00.

Dinner is served at 8 pm.

19.2.1 With essere

The passive is normally formed with essere and the past participle (see 2.1.10). It has a full range of tenses in the same way as the active verb does. There may or may not be an agent (person carrying out the action) mentioned, but even when there is, the agent is at the end of the sentence, in a secondary position compared to the action or person affected:

Agent not mentioned:

Le destre sono state fermate.

The Right has been stopped.

La merce era stata scaricata a Genova.

The goods had been unloaded at Genoa.

Agent mentioned:

Stamattina il Vesuvio è ricoperto da un bianco manto di neve.

This morning Vesuvio is covered by a white mantle of snow.

Ogni mattina, quando mi alzo, i bagni sono sempre occupati dai miei figli.

Every morning, when I get up, the bathrooms are always occupied by my children.

Domani la Principessa sarà ricevuta dal Papa.

Tomorrow the Princess will be received by the Pope.

Nel 1943 Napoli è stata bombardata dagli Alleati.

In 1943 Naples was bombarded by the Allies.

I ladri furono scoperti dalla guardia mentre entravano da una finestra.

The thieves were discovered by the guard as they came in through a window.

I risultati delle elezioni erano attesi da una grande folla per le strade della città.

The results of the elections were awaited by a great crowd in the streets of the city.

Se avessi più pazienza, forse saresti ascoltato di più dai tuoi figli.

If you had more patience, perhaps you would be listened to more by your children.

Secondo i giornali, i quadri sarebbero stati rubati da una banda di ladri professionisti.

According to the newspapers, the pictures were stolen by a band of professional thieves.


NOTE For this use of the conditional mood to express report or rumour, see Chapter 31.


19.2.2 With venire

In the examples above, the passive construction is formed with the verb essere and the past participle. You can also use venire instead of essere. This is used only in a more formal register and only when the verb in the active sentence is in one of the simple tenses: presente, imperfetto, passato remoto, futuro semplice, condizionale presente, congiuntivo presente, congiuntivo imperfetto.

Venire tends to express the idea of something that happens regularly:

La cena viene servita da camerieri vestiti di giacca bianca.

Dinner is served by waiters dressed in white jackets.

Gli ordini ci venivano trasmessi dai nostri rivenditori italiani.

The orders were sent on to us by our Italian dealers.

Gli studenti verranno ammessi solo se muniti di tessera.

Students will be admitted only if in possession of a membership card.

The other reason for using venire is to avoid ambiguity. The passive, used with certain verbs, for example chiudere, aprire, can sound static (‘the door is already closed’) rather than expressing an action (‘the door is being closed’); this is particularly true when there is no agent mentioned, as shown by the examples below:

La porta è chiusa da Marco.

The door is shut by Marco. (action)

La porta è chiusa.

The door is shut / is being shut. (action or state: ambiguous)

This ambiguity can be avoided by using the verb venire:

La porta viene chiusa.

The door is being shut/gets shut. (action)

19.2.3 With andare

The passive can also be formed with andare, in which case it has a prescriptive sense, in other words talking about how things should be done:

Eventuali riparazioni vanno effettuate solo dai nostri tecnici qualificati.

Any repairs should be carried out only by our qualified technicians.

I vino bianco va servito fresco, mentre il vino rosso va servito a temperatura ambiente.

White wine should be served chilled, while red wine should be served at room temperature.

19.2.4 In scientific papers, news reports, etc.

While Italians tend to avoid the use of passive sentences in everyday speech, there are certain special contexts where the passive is preferred, for example scientific papers, news reports and bureaucratic language where it is used to express detachment and impartiality (see 42.79).

Sometimes the passive is used without mention of any agent, because the agent is not known, has already been mentioned, is unimportant, or is too obvious to be stated, especially in scientific writing.

Scientific papers

In the case of scientific papers, the intention is to stress the objectivity of experimental procedures; a passive sentence puts emphasis on the results of an action, rather than on the person who has carried it out (see also 42.8). When scientific observations are described, the ‘agent’ (i.e. the person or research group that carries them out) is often omitted, to stress the objective nature of the findings:

Il nuovo vaccino contro l'Aids è stato sperimentato presso l'Università di Pisa.

The new Aids vaccine has been tested at Pisa University.

L'eclissi è prevista alle 15.23 del 10 agosto.

The eclipse is expected at 15.23 on the 10th of August.

Il tasso medio di inflazione è calcolato sulla base di rilevazioni che vengono effettuate nelle principali città.

The average inflation rate is calculated on the basis of surveys which are conducted in the main cities.

There can be exceptions where the discovery has made the scientist or inventor famous:

La penicillina fu scoperta da Fleming nel 1928.

Penicillin was discovered by Fleming in 1928.

News reports

Passive statements are widely used in the reporting of news by the press (see also 42.9). Again this is due to the need to present events as facts and to suggest they are true, impartial and accurately verified:

La legge finanziaria è stata approvata dal Parlamento.

The budget bill has been approved by Parliament.

I due ostaggi saranno liberati domani.

The two hostages will be released tomorrow.

Media headlines often omit the avere/essere element of the passive and use the subject and the past participle only:

Somalia: liberati due ostaggi occidentali.

Somalia: two western hostages freed.

(http://www.vita.it/news/view/117629, retrieved 22 February 2012)

Omofobia: bocciata la proposta di legge.

Homophobia: proposal for new law rejected.

(http://www.articolo21.org/3207/notizia/omofobia-bocciata-la-proposta-di-legge.html, retrieved 22 February 2012)

Bureaucratic language

Legal and bureaucratic language uses passive statements to emphasise the impersonality of rules and duties (see also 42.7). Here dovere is used along with a dependent passive infinitive (essere timbrato, essere comunicato):

I biglietto deve essere timbrato all'inizio del viaggio.

The ticket must be stamped at the beginning of the journey.

Ogni cambiamento di indirizzo dovrà essere comunicato per iscritto.

Any change of address should be reported in writing.

19.3 Situations when the passive is not used

19.3.1 Verbs with an indirect object only

Unlike English verbs, in Italian only a transitive verb (a verb taking a direct object) can be turned into a passive in Italian, as shown below:

In English the active sentence

Anna told Franco to call the plumber.

can be rephrased using the passive:

Franco was told by Anna to call the plumber.

In Italian you can use the active form

Anna ha detto a Franco di chiamare l'idraulico.

but you cannot turn this sentence round into a passive construction. You can only turn a sentence into the passive when there is a direct object which can become the subject of the action. An indirect object (English ‘to Franco, toher’) cannot be turned into the grammatical subject. Verbs which take an indirect object include telefonare, dire, raccontare, where the action does not affect the person directly, but indirectly (‘to telephone to me’, ‘to say to him’, ‘to tell to them’).

Here are some more examples where an English passive sentence cannot be translated directly into a passive form in Italian, because the person affected is not the direct object. No agent is mentioned, so Italian uses the ‘anonymous’ third person verb form, for example hanno telefonatothey phoned’ (see 19.3.3):

Mi hanno telefonato a casa.

I was telephoned at home.

Gli hanno detto di sbrigarsi.

He was told to hurry up.

19.3.2 Verbs with a direct and indirect object

In the case of verbs such as dare, dire, inviare, mandare, passare, presentare, prestare, raccontare, regalare, rubare, spedire, there is often a direct object and an indirect object. The equivalent verbs in English have two direct objects (‘to send you it’, ‘to lend you it’, etc.).

Take as an example this sentence in English:

I've had my watch stolen.

You cannot make the person who has had his/her watch stolen the subject of the action in Italian. In this example, mi is an indirect object and cannot be made the subject of a passive sentence. So you have two options.

The direct object can become the subject of a passive verb:

Mi è stato rubato l'orologio.

(Literally: My watch has been stolen from me.)

Alternatively, you can use the third person plural active verb form (see 19.3.3). In informal spoken or written Italian, this is probably the more common of the two options:

Mi hanno rubato l'orologio.

(Literally: They have stolen my watch from me.)

The same applies to the next example. You cannot make the person (gli) the subject of a passive sentence. So you have two options.

English sentence:

He was offered a good job.

You can either make the direct object (un buon posto) the subject of a passive verb:

Gli è stato offerto un buon posto.

Or you can use the third person plural active verb form (see 19.3.3 below):

Gli hanno offerto un buon posto.

Of the two options, the use of the third person plural active verb form is probably the most common in informal spoken or written Italian.

19.3.3 Use of third person plural instead of passive

In Italian the passive construction is used very sparingly. In everyday language an Italian native speaker would almost always prefer to use the corresponding active sentence, if at all possible. Often the third person verb forms are preferred, even where the passive would technically be possible.

So instead of using the passive construction:

Sono stata invitata a una festa.

I 've been invited to a party.

most Italians would prefer to use the active construction:

Mi hanno invitata a una festa.

They (some unspecified people) have invited me to a party.

The same applies to this second example.

Passive construction:

Sono state mandate dieci casse di spumante.

Ten crates of spumante were sent.

Most Italians would prefer to use the active construction:

Hanno mandato dieci casse di spumante.

They sent ten crates of spumante.

19.4 Focusing on the action using si passivante (passive form with si)

Another way of emphasising the action - rather than the subject of the action - is to use the si passivante (see 2.1.11), where the pronoun si is added to the active form to give the verb (in this case, possono vedere) a passive meaning. This is only possible with the third person form, singular or plural.

The si passivante can be used only when there is no mention of the agent or author of the action. This construction is very common in Italian, because of the reluctance to use the plain passive forms, especially in the more colloquial register.

Like the passive, si passivante can only be used with verbs taking a direct object.

So instead of the passive construction

Da Manfredonia, le isole Tremiti possono essere viste.

From Manfredonia, the Tremiti islands can be seen.

you can use the si passivante:

Da Manfredonia si possono vedere le isole Tremiti.

From Manfredonia, the Tremiti islands can be seen.

When the object or person affected is plural, use a plural verb:

Qui si parla italiano.

Italian is spoken here.

In Alto Adige si parlano sia l'italiano che il tedesco.

In Alto Adige both Italian and German are spoken.

In quel concessionario Lancia si vendono 25 automobili al giorno.

At that Lancia dealer, 25 cars are sold every day.

Le vendite si registrano su questo libro.

Sales are recorded in this book.

In questo club si deve mettere la cravatta.

In this club a necktie must be worn.

Al centro di Milano, si vende un appartamento di quattro vani per lo stesso prezzo di una villa.

In the centre of Milan, a four-room apartment is being sold for the same price as a villa.

Often in the ‘small ads’ a reverse combination of verb + si is used to give forms such as affittasi, vendesi. In the plural form, the final vowel is dropped before si is attached (affittano > affittan):

Vendesi appartamento di quattro vani.

Four-room apartment for sale.

Affittasi monolocale.

One-room apartment for rent.

Affittansi camere.

Rooms for rent.

19.5 Si impersonale (impersonal si)

The si impersonale structure (see 2.1.12), equivalent of English ‘one’, is often confused with si passivante (see 19.4 above). Whereas the si passivante is always used with a transitive verb, and has both singular and plural forms, the si impersonale is used with an intransitive verb and is only singular.

In genere, quando si va all'aeroporto, si parte un po’ in anticipo.

In general, when one is going to the airport, one leaves a little ahead of time.

Often the si impersonale is not really impersonal but is used to indicate ‘we’:

Domenica si va al mare.

On Sundays we go to the seaside.

Both past participle and adjectives, when used with si impersonale, are plural. The compound tenses such as passato prossimo take essere:

La sera dopo una giornata di lavoro, si è stanchi.

In the evening, after a day at work, one is tired.

Si è partiti la mattina presto, e si è arrivati la sera tardi.

We left in the morning early, and we arrived in the evening late.

19.6 Focusing on the object of the action

Italian has more freedom to change word order than English does (see also 40.6). The normal sentence order of subject, verb, object either does not emphasise any particular element of the sentence or else puts a little more emphasis on the subject. It does not put any emphasis on the object.

You can emphasise the object of an action simply by reversing the order of a sentence. You keep the active form of the sentence, but by placing the object in a more prominent position (before the verb), you give more emphasis to it. This is known as ‘dislocation’.

Compare the two examples below. In the second example, the pronoun (lo) is used as well (see 3.4.8) to mark the unusual and emphatic position of the object:

(Normal order: subject-verb-object)

Il direttore ha già firmato il contratto.

The manager has already signed the contract.

(Reverse order: object-pronoun-verb-subject)

Il contratto lo ha già firmato il direttore.

The contract has already been signed by the manager.