The Reported Passive

Level 5Sounds Like preizkazan stradatelen zalog

Мостът бил построен от римляните. (The bridge was built by the Romans, reportedly.)

How It Works

1. From stated to reported. Take a passive with съм and put съм in its reported form:

  • Мостът е построен от римляните. (The bridge was built by the Romans.)
  • Мостът бил построен от римляните. (The bridge was built by the Romans, they say.)

2. Agreement. Both бил and the participle follow the subject: Мостът бил построен, Църквата била построена, Писмото било изпратено, Документите били изпратени. See the past passive participle.

3. No е in the third person. As in all third-person reported forms, there is no е or са: Писмото било изпратено. Писмото е било изпратено is a different form: the perfect passive (The letter has been sent), or a conclusion the speaker draws. It does not explicitly mark renarrative morphology, though an attributed perfect passive can still convey someone else’s words.

4. First and second person keep съм. Бил си поканен на сватбата? (So you were invited to the wedding?), Казаха, че сме били избрани (They said we had been chosen). See reported forms in the first and second person.

5. One form for several tenses. Бил построен can report an event in the present, the imperfect or the aorist. Time words tell you which: През 2020 г. сградата била ремонтирана (In 2020 the building was renovated, reportedly).

6. The се-passive. A passive with се becomes reported through its verb: Мостът се строял десет години (The bridge took ten years to build, they say).

Examples (6)

  1. Мостът бил построен от римляните.

    The bridge was built by the Romans, reportedly.

  2. Писмото било изпратено вчера.

    The letter was sent yesterday, they say.

    Било and изпратено are both neuter to agree with писмото.

  3. Според вестника двама души били арестувани.

    According to the newspaper, two people were arrested.

  4. Църквата била изписана от известен зограф.

    The church was painted by a famous icon painter, reportedly.

  5. Бил си поканен на сватбата, а не си ми казал!

    So you were invited to the wedding and didn't tell me!

    In the second person, си stays. The form also shows surprise at news just learned.

  6. Мостът се строял цели десет години.

    The bridge took ten whole years to build, they say.

    The reported form of the се-passive.

Common Mistakes

  • Not making бил and the participle agree with the subject.

    Писмото бил изпратен вчера.
    Писмото било изпратено вчера.

    Писмото is neuter, so both words take the neuter ending: било изпратено.

  • Dropping си in the second person.

    Ти бил поканен на сватбата.
    Ти си бил поканен на сватбата.

    Only the third person drops the form of съм. In the first and second person, keep съм, си, сме or сте.

How It Connects

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The Reported PassiveLevel 5

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The reported passive combines both.

Words in This Pattern