The Latin Passive Voice: Amor, Amāris, Amātur
How Latin turns 'I love' into 'I am loved', the passive endings, the perfect passive with sum, and deponent verbs that look passive but mean active.
In an active sentence the subject acts; in a passive one, the subject is acted on. Latin has a full set of passive endings.
Present passive endings
| Person | Ending | amō → passive | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| I | -or | amor | I am loved |
| you | -ris | amāris | you are loved |
| he/she/it | -tur | amātur | he/she is loved |
| we | -mur | amāmur | we are loved |
| you (pl.) | -minī | amāminī | you are loved |
| they | -ntur | amantur | they are loved |
The agent: ā/ab + ablative
To say who does the action, use ā or ab with the ablative:
- Puella ā puerō amātur. — The girl is loved by the boy.
- Urbs ab hostibus oppugnātur. — The city is attacked by the enemy.
Perfect passive
The perfect passive uses the perfect participle and a form of sum:
| Person | Latin | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| I | amātus sum | I was loved / have been loved |
| you | amātus es | you were loved |
| he | amātus est | he was loved |
| she | amāta est | she was loved |
| we | amātī sumus | we were loved |
| they | amātī sunt | they were loved |
The participle agrees with the subject in gender and number: puella amāta est, puerī amātī sunt.
- Rōma nōn ūnō diē aedificāta est. — Rome was not built in a day.
Deponent verbs
Some verbs have passive forms but active meaning. They are called deponent:
| Verb | Meaning |
|---|---|
| loquor, loquī, locūtus sum | I speak |
| sequor, sequī, secūtus sum | I follow |
Sequitur means "he follows", not "he is followed". The English word sequence comes from the same root.
Spotting the passive
- Look at the ending: -or, -ris, -tur, -mur, -minī, -ntur.
- Look for ā/ab + ablative naming the agent.
- Check the dictionary: deponent verbs are marked.
Tips
- Learn the passive endings.
- Learn the perfect passive with sum.
- Use the dictionary to check whether a verb is deponent.
English Latin Dictionary
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