The si passivante

Level B1 · Focus on the action rather than who did it, using si + a third-person verb that agrees with the noun that follows.

In Italia si mangia molta pasta.In Italy a lot of pasta is eaten.

Sometimes the person who does the action does not matter, or the speaker means "people in general". In Italian a very natural way to say this is si + a verb in the third person. This is the si passivante ("passive-making si"). It sounds lighter than the passive with essere, and you meet it all the time on signs, in recipes, in ads and in everyday talk.

Quick shortcut: si + verb in the third person, singular or plural to match the noun that follows. Si vende la casa. / Si vendono le case.

1. How it works

The noun that would be the direct object in an active sentence works like the subject, and the verb agrees with it:

With a singular noun	With a plural noun
Qui si parla* italiano.* (Italian is spoken here.)	Qui si parlano* due lingue.* (Two languages are spoken here.)
Si vende la casa. (The house is for sale.)	Si vendono le case. (The houses are for sale.)
Si beve un caffè* al bar.* (A coffee is drunk at the bar.)	Si bevono molti caffè* in Italia.* (A lot of coffee is drunk in Italy.)

So the verb is third person singular with a singular noun and third person plural with a plural noun. The noun can also come first, with the same agreement: Le case si vendono qui.

Only transitive verbs, those that can take a direct object, make this construction. It is built from the same idea as the passive with essere: the focus is on the thing, not on the doer.

2. No agent

Because the doer is left out, the si passivante does not allow an agent with da. When you want to name who does the action, use the passive with essere or an active sentence:

❌ Il libro si legge dagli studenti. → ✅ Il libro è letto dagli studenti. / Gli studenti leggono il libro.

This is also what makes it useful: it is the neat choice for rules, instructions and general facts.

In questo ristorante si servono piatti tipici. (Typical dishes are served in this restaurant.)
Si tagliano le cipolle e si aggiunge l'olio. (The onions are cut and the oil is added.)
Non si fumano sigarette qui. (Cigarettes are not smoked here.)
Affittasi appartamento. (Flat to let.) Vendesi casa. (House for sale.)

In the last two examples si is attached to the end of the verb, which you find in notices and small ads. In normal speech and writing, si goes before the verb.

3. Compound tenses

In the passato prossimo the si passivante uses essere, and the participle agrees in gender and number with the noun:

Ieri si è venduta la casa. / Ieri si sono vendute le case.
Si è letto un libro interessante. / Si sono letti due libri interessanti.

Never use avere here: ✅ Si è venduta la casa, never ❌ Si ha venduto la casa. The auxiliary is essere even with verbs that normally take avere.

When a modal verb comes before an infinitive, the modal usually agrees with the noun that follows:

Si può comprare il biglietto online. / Si possono comprare i biglietti online.
Si deve pagare la multa. / Si devono pagare le multe.

For negation, non goes before si: Non si sentono rumori. (No noises are heard.)

5. Si passivante or the passive with essere?

Both put the thing first, but they don't feel the same:

	Si passivante	Passive with essere
Agent with da	not possible	possible
Typical use	general statements, signs, recipes, habits	news, written reports, a specific event
Example	Qui si parla* inglese.*	L'inglese è parlato* da molte persone.*

For a specific event in the past with a known doer, the passive with essere is usually the better choice (Il ladro è stato arrestato dalla polizia).

A related pattern is the si impersonale (Si è contenti, In Italia si mangia bene with no noun to agree with), which has its own article: The si impersonale. Don't confuse si here with the reflexive si (Maria si lava), which refers back to the subject: in the si passivante there is no one doing the action to themselves.

Common mistakes

❌ Si vende le case. → ✅ Si vendono le case. (the verb agrees with the noun that follows)
❌ Si ha venduto la casa. → ✅ Si è venduta la casa. (compound tenses take essere)
❌ Ieri si sono venduto la casa. → ✅ Ieri si è venduta la casa. (the participle agrees with the noun)
❌ Il vino si produce da contadini. → ✅ Il vino è prodotto dai contadini. (no da + agent with si)
❌ Si può comprare i biglietti. → ✅ Si possono comprare i biglietti. (the modal agrees too)

Quick check

Here are four sentences to say with si:

Here people sell fresh bread. (pane fresco, singular)
They sell fresh eggs in this shop. (uova fresche, plural)
Yesterday they sold the old car. (la macchina vecchia)
You can see the sea from here. (il mare)

Show answers

Qui si vende pane fresco. 2. In questo negozio si vendono uova fresche. 3. Ieri si è venduta la macchina vecchia. 4. Da qui si vede il mare.

Key takeaways

Si + third-person verb focuses on the action; the doer is not named.
The verb agrees with the noun that follows: si vende la casa, si vendono le case.
In compound tenses use essere and make the participle agree: si è venduta la casa, si sono vendute le case.
Modal verbs agree too: si possono comprare i biglietti.
No agent with da: for that, use the passive with essere.
For statements with no noun to agree with, see the si impersonale.