Passive
Irish commonly uses the impersonal form (also called the autonomous form) instead of the passive voice.
| Buaileadh | an madra. |
| one beat (pret.) | the dog |
| "Someone beat the dog"/"The dog was beaten." | |
In the perfect, the passive voice is formed by using the passive participle with the existential verb.
| Tá | an fhuinneog | briste | (ag mo dheartháir.) |
| is | the window | broken | (by my brother) |
| "The window has been broken (by my brother)." | |||
Read more about this topic: Irish Syntax
Famous quotes containing the word passive:
“...if you are to gain any great amount of good from the world, you must attain a passive condition of mind. ...it is never to be forgotten that it is the rest of the world and not you that holds the great share of the world’s wealth, and that you must allow yourself to be acted upon by the world, if you would become a sharer in the gain of all the ages to your own infinite advantage.”
—Anna C. Brackett (1836–1911)
“She has taken her passive pigeon poor,
She has buried him down and down.
He never shall sally to Sally
Nor soil any roofs of the town.”
—Gwendolyn Brooks (b. 1917)
“We have not passed that subtle line between childhood and adulthood until we move from the passive voice to the active voice—that is, until we have stopped saying “It got lost,” and say, “I lost it.””
—Sydney J. Harris (b. 1917)