Passive and Impersonal Constructions in Basque

Overview

Basque does not have a true passive voice in the way English does ("The book was written by Jon"). Instead, it achieves similar effects through impersonal constructions, agent omission, and structural rearrangement. At the B2 level, understanding these strategies is essential for formal writing, news language, and expressing ideas where the agent is unknown, unimportant, or deliberately omitted.

The most common "passive-like" strategy in Basque uses the intransitive auxiliary with a transitive meaning: Liburua saldu da (The book has been sold — literally "The book sold itself/has sold"). This construction places the patient (the thing affected) as the absolutive subject with an intransitive auxiliary, effectively removing the agent.

Other strategies include using indefinite subjects, the potential mood for general possibility, and the pronoun construction with impersonal meaning.

How It Works

Main passive-like strategies:

Strategy	Pattern	Example	Translation
Intransitive restructuring	Patient + verb + izan	Liburua saldu da.	The book has been sold.
Impersonal subject	General subject omitted	Hemen euskara hitz egiten da.	Basque is spoken here.
Potential passive	Patient + verb + daiteke	Hau egin daiteke.	This can be done.
Third person plural	Haiek + verb	Etxea eraiki zuten 1990ean.	They built the house in 1990.

Intransitive restructuring (most common):

Active	Passive-like	Translation
Jonek liburua idatzi du.	Liburua idatzi da.	The book has been written.
Norbaitek atea ireki du.	Atea ireki da.	The door has been opened.
Jendeak euskara hitz egiten du.	Euskara hitz egiten da.	Basque is spoken.

Examples in Context

Basque	English	Note
Liburua saldu da.	The book has been sold.	Agent omitted
Hemen euskara hitz egiten da.	Basque is spoken here.	Impersonal
Etxea eraiki zen 1990ean.	The house was built in 1990.	Past passive-like
Hori esaten da.	That is said.	General opinion
Legea aldatu da.	The law has been changed.	Formal register
Erabakia hartu da.	The decision has been made.	Administrative
Atea itxita dago.	The door is closed.	Resultant state
Lan hau egin behar da.	This work needs to be done.	Impersonal obligation
Ez da onartzen.	It is not accepted/allowed.	Prohibition
Txartela aurkeztu behar da.	The ticket must be presented.	Impersonal instruction

Common Mistakes

Trying to use a "by" agent phrase

• Wrong: Liburua Jonek saldu da. (trying to keep the agent in passive)
• Right: Liburua saldu da. (agent removed) or Jonek liburua saldu du. (active voice)
• Why: Basque passive-like constructions typically omit the agent entirely. If you need to mention the agent, use the active voice.

Using transitive auxiliaries in passive constructions

• Wrong: Liburua saldu du. (meaning "the book has been sold")
• Right: Liburua saldu da. (using izan, not ukan)
• Why: The passive-like construction uses the intransitive auxiliary (izan: da, zen, etc.), treating the patient as an intransitive subject.

Overusing passive constructions

• Wrong: Making every sentence passive
• Right: Basque strongly prefers active voice; use passive-like constructions only when the agent is genuinely unknown or unimportant
• Why: Basque is fundamentally an active-voice language. Excessive use of passive constructions sounds unnatural.

Usage Notes

Passive-like constructions are most common in formal registers: news reports, legal documents, academic writing, and official announcements. In everyday spoken Basque, active constructions with explicit or implied agents are strongly preferred. The construction with the potential mood (egin daiteke — it can be done) is particularly useful for expressing general rules and possibilities. The resultant-state construction with egon (atea itxita dago — the door is closed) describes the state resulting from an action, which is functionally similar to a passive in English.

Practice Tips

1. Take five active sentences and convert them to passive-like constructions by removing the agent and switching to izan auxiliaries.
2. Practice impersonal constructions for rules and signs: Hemen ez da erretzea onartzen (Smoking is not allowed here). Sarrera ordaindu behar da (Entrance must be paid).
3. Read Basque news articles and identify passive-like constructions. Note which strategy is used each time.

Related Concepts

• Transitive Verb Agreement (NOR-NORK)