Active and Passive
There are two voices in Latin: the active voice and the passive voice. All the verbs
we have looked at up until now have been in the active voice, as the subject of
the sentence (ie the nominative) has also been the person doing the action.
eg - puer puellam pulsit - the boy hits the girl
In this sentence, puer is the subject who is doing the verb to the object (puellam).
However, in the passive voice, the subject is on the receiving end of the verb - it is
getting the action done to it.
eg - puer a puella pulsitur - the boy is kicked by the girl (in this case, the girl is in
the ablative).
Recognising if a verb is in the passive voice is easy in Latin, as most present,
imperfect and future active verbs can be converted to their passive equivalents by
adding on the passive person endings:
Active endings Passive endings
-o -r
-s -ris
-t -tur
-mus -mur
-tis -mini
-nt -ntur
Here are some examples of the difference between active and passive verbs:
portas (you carry) —> portaris (you are carried)
monebamus (we were warning) —> monebamur (we were being warned)
audient (they will hear) —> audientur (they will be heard)
Note that the tense (present, imperfect etc) and the person (I, you, he etc) do not
change, the only thing that changes is whether the action is done to them or by
them.
There are two voices in Latin: the active voice and the passive voice. All the verbs
we have looked at up until now have been in the active voice, as the subject of
the sentence (ie the nominative) has also been the person doing the action.
eg - puer puellam pulsit - the boy hits the girl
In this sentence, puer is the subject who is doing the verb to the object (puellam).
However, in the passive voice, the subject is on the receiving end of the verb - it is
getting the action done to it.
eg - puer a puella pulsitur - the boy is kicked by the girl (in this case, the girl is in
the ablative).
Recognising if a verb is in the passive voice is easy in Latin, as most present,
imperfect and future active verbs can be converted to their passive equivalents by
adding on the passive person endings:
Active endings Passive endings
-o -r
-s -ris
-t -tur
-mus -mur
-tis -mini
-nt -ntur
Here are some examples of the difference between active and passive verbs:
portas (you carry) —> portaris (you are carried)
monebamus (we were warning) —> monebamur (we were being warned)
audient (they will hear) —> audientur (they will be heard)
Note that the tense (present, imperfect etc) and the person (I, you, he etc) do not
change, the only thing that changes is whether the action is done to them or by
them.
