Kilo Lingo
Latin grammar Part of Chapter 7

CEFR A2-B1

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The Latin Passive and Deponent Verbs: amatur, locutus sum

By Michael McGettrickUpdated 12 October 2026

English makes a passive out of to be plus a participle: he calls, he is called. Latin does it with an ending in three tenses, and with two words, the English way, in the other three. Learn it as two systems.

the passive endingmasculinefeminineneuterWhat do the colours mean?
TenseActivePassive
present
imperfect
future
perfect
pluperfect

Quick check

Now use it: three quick questions on the chart above. The full practice is further down.

Spot the mistake

0/3

The participle must agree with its subject. Tap the word that does not.

In order: he is called, was being called, will be called, was called, had been called. The top three change the ending; the bottom two are participle plus .

The passive endings: -r, -ris, -tur

Swap the active personal endings for these:

PersonActivePassive
I
you
he, she, it
we
you (pl)
they

Five of the six are the active ending with an -r added or swapped in. -mini is the odd one out: learn it on its own.

  • Marcus . - The boy is called Marcus.
  • pacifici, . - Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. (Matthew 5:9, in the Vulgate)

The same endings go on every conjugation. The vowel before them is the one the active already has:

Personvideo (2nd)duco (3rd)audio (4th)
I
he
we
they

goes like : , he is taken; , they are taken.

The first sentence of Caesar's Gallic War ends on a present passive:

  • Celtae, Galli - who are called Celts in their own language, Gauls in ours (Caesar, Gallic War 1.1)

The imperfect and the future

They keep their own markers, -ba- and -bi- (or -e-), and take the same passive endings:

TenseLatinEnglish
imperfecthe was being called
future (1st, 2nd)he will be called
future (3rd, 4th)he will be led
  • , . - Ask, and it will be given to you. (Matthew 7:7, in the Vulgate)

Three forms that fool readers

FormTrapRead it as
present or future?either: context decides
looks like an infinitive, you will be called
he is seen?usually he seems, it seems

is you are led and you will be led; only vowel length, which this site does not mark, tells them apart. Writers often use - for -ris, mostly outside the present. And means I seem far more often than I am seen: is it seems to me.

The perfect passive: two words

the passive endingmasculinefeminineneuterWhat do the colours mean?

For the three perfect-stem tenses Latin takes the fourth principal part, the perfect participle, and adds a form of :

The fourth principal part gives vocatus, having been called; with est it means he was called
TenseLatinEnglish
perfect he was called
pluperfect he had been called
future perfect he will have been called

The participle agrees with the subject

It declines like , , , so it matches its subject in gender, number and case:

SubjectLatinEnglish
masculine .The boy was called.
feminine .The city was captured.
neuter .The war was waged.
masc. plural .The soldiers were sent.
neut. plural .The words were said.

The third of Genesis turns on this agreement, with feminine:

  • Dixitque : . . - And God said: Let there be light. And light was made. (Genesis 1:3, in the Vulgate)

Now and then the participle describes a state rather than an event. Caesar's famous opening is one:

  • Gallia . - Gaul, as a whole, is divided into three parts. (Caesar, Gallic War 1.1)

Participles to know on sight

VerbParticiple... est means
it was said
it was made, done
he was sent
he was taken
he was seen
he was led
it was written
he was beaten
it was given

Who did it: a or ab, or a bare ablative

ablative: the doerdativenominativeWhat do the colours mean?

English says by for both a person and a thing. Latin does not.

One person holds out a smiling book towards a second person, who reaches out happily to take it; a curved arrow with a heart runs from the giver to the receiver.

Liber puellae a puero datur: the book is given to the girl by the boy. A puero (by the boy) is a or ab plus the ablative, because the giver is a person. Liber (the book) is the subject; puellae (to the girl) is dative.

  • . - The book is given to the girl by the boy.
DoerLatinExample
a person or + ablative .
a thingablative, no preposition .

The first is we were beaten by the king, the second he was beaten by a sword. Ask whether the doer could have chosen to act: armies and gods count as persons, swords and rivers do not.

Use before a vowel or h, and usually before a consonant:

  • . - The city was captured by the enemy.

Deponent verbs: passive form, active meaning

true passivedeponent: active meaningWhat do the colours mean?

A group of very common verbs has passive endings and active meanings. Grammars call them : they have "laid aside" their active forms.

LatinEnglish
.The boy is called.
.The boy speaks.

Same ending, opposite direction. The dictionary tells you which: a headword ending in -or is .

VerbPrincipal partsMeaning
, , speak
, , follow
, , suffer
, , be born
, , rise
, , set out
, , go in
, , use
, , die

There are three principal parts, not four, because there is no separate passive to list. Every passive form you have learned applies; none of the passive meaning does.

They take ordinary objects

A transitive takes a plain accusative, like any active verb:

  • . - The soldiers follow the leader.
  • . - We suffer many evils.

is the exception inside the exception: its object goes in the ablative. ., he uses a sword.

The perfect is active too

is he spoke, and he was born (which is a passive only in English):

  • . - The king spoke.
  • Salvator - for unto you is born this day a Saviour (Luke 2:11, in the Vulgate)

If a passive-looking form cannot possibly have a passive meaning, it is a . Nobody is being died at: . is the old man is dying.

fio: the passive of facio

has no ordinary present passive. A separate verb, , fills the gap with active-looking endings:

LatinEnglish
I am made, I become
it is made, it becomes, it happens
they are made, they become

In the perfect, is regular again: , it was made, it became.

  • . - And the Word was made flesh. (John 1:14, in the Vulgate)

Mistakes English speakers make

WrongRightWhy
as nowhe was calledparticiple + is past
. .the participle agrees: is feminine
(passive)the passive of -tis is -mini
(by)a thing takes a bare ablative
as passivehe speaks is deponent

What to do next

  1. Say the six endings -r, -ris, -tur, -mur, -mini, -ntur on and until -mini comes without a pause.
  2. For every participle plus , say the English one tense back.
  3. Then read the participles, where stands on its own.

Practise: test yourself

Build the word

0/4

Make the active verb passive. Same person, same tense.

  1. he is called (vocat)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  2. they are led (ducunt)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  3. you (plural) are seen (videtis)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

  4. I am heard (audio)

    Accents optional

    Your word is empty.

Spot the mistake

0/3

The participle must agree with its subject. Tap the word that does not.

Sort into groups

0/6

Passive in form. Is the meaning passive, or is the verb deponent?

Tap a word, then the group it belongs in.

Pick the right one

0/3

A person takes a or ab; a thing takes a bare ablative. Tap the right one.

  1. He was beaten by the king: victus est.

  2. He was beaten by a sword: victus est.

  3. The boy is called by his father: Puer vocatur.

Matching

0/4

One verb, four tenses. Match each form to its English.

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Frequently asked questions

How do you form the passive voice in Latin?
It depends on the tense. The present, imperfect and future swap the active personal endings for passive ones: -r, -ris, -tur, -mur, -mini, -ntur. (he calls) becomes (he is called), becomes , becomes . The perfect, pluperfect and future perfect use two words instead: the perfect participle (the fourth principal part) plus , or . So , , .
Why does mean he was loved and not he is loved?
Because the participle is already finished. means having been loved, so is he was loved, or he has been loved. Read every participle plus one tense further back than suggests: is he had been loved, he will have been loved. Now and then it describes a state (Gallia , Gaul is divided), but read it as past until the sentence says otherwise.
What is a verb in Latin?
A verb with passive forms and an active meaning. looks like a passive but means I speak. The common ones are (speak), (follow), (suffer), (be born), (rise), (set out), (go in), (use) and (die). The dictionary gives three principal parts, not four: , , . The transitive ones take an ordinary object: , they follow the leader.
When do you use a or with the passive, and when just the ablative?
A or plus the ablative for a person, or anything acting like one: a , we were beaten by the king. A bare ablative, with no preposition, for a thing: , he was beaten by a sword. English says by for both. Use before a vowel or h ( ) and usually a before a consonant (a ).
What is the passive of in Latin?
In the present system it is , a separate verb with active-looking endings: , , fit, , , , meaning I am made, I become, it happens. In the perfect system is regular: , it was made, it became. The Vulgate's (John 1:14) is and the Word was made flesh.