Present System Passive
Form the passive personal endings -r/-ris/-tur/-mur/-mini/-ntur and apply them across the present, imperfect, and future tenses of all four conjugations. Translate accurately in each tense.
A lesson of Latin A2 — Elementary, in Passive Voice, about 10 minutes.
By the end of this lesson, you will form and translate the present, imperfect, and future passive across all four conjugations using the passive personal endings.
The Passive Voice: What It Means
In a passive sentence, the subject receives the action rather than performing it:
- Active: Milites hostes vincunt. — "The soldiers conquer the enemies."
- Passive: Hostes a militibus vincuntur. — "The enemies are conquered by the soldiers."
Latin expresses this shift by changing the verb ending. No auxiliary verb ("is," "are," "was") is added — the ending does all the work.
Passive Personal Endings
The passive endings replace the active endings in the present system (present, imperfect, future):
| Person | Active | Passive |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | -o / -m | -r (or -or in present) |
| 2nd sg. | -s | -ris |
| 3rd sg. | -t | -tur |
| 1st pl. | -mus | -mur |
| 2nd pl. | -tis | -mini |
| 3rd pl. | -nt | -ntur |
Memory aid: the passive endings always have an -r in them (except 2nd plural -mini). Once you know -r signals passive, you can spot passives quickly in prose.
Present Passive: All Four Conjugations
1st Conjugation: amare (to love)
| Person | Form | Translation |
|---|---|---|
| 1st sg. | amor | I am loved |
| 2nd sg. | amaris | you are loved |
| 3rd sg. | amatur | he/she is loved |
| 1st pl. | amamur | we are loved |
| 2nd pl. | amamini | you all are loved |
| 3rd pl. |