Passive se Agreement
Passive Se with Agreement
Se can form a passive without a passive participle. A singular or plural subject determines the finite verb’s number.
How It Works
In this construction the former object is a nominative subject: Ovdje se prodaju knjige. The books are being sold; the sentence does not say that they sell themselves.
Past forms also agree with that subject: Ulaznice su se prodavale na blagajni. Both the auxiliary and the -l participle reflect plural ulaznice. Keep the ordinary clitic order for su and se.
Compare an impersonal construction such as Ovdje se ne puši, which has no affected noun promoted to subject. Se has several functions, so neither an automatic reflexive translation nor automatic singular agreement works for every se sentence.
Examples (3)
- U ovoj se trgovini prodaju domaći proizvodi.
Local products are sold in this shop.
- Prijave se primaju do petka.
Applications are accepted until Friday.
- Ulaznice su se prodavale na ulazu.
Tickets were sold at the entrance.
How It Connects
Learn This First
Passive se requires the patient subject’s number agreement, rather than an unchanging impersonal verb.
Related Patterns
- biti + Passive ParticipleA Passive Statement
Compare a passive built with biti and a passive participle.
Level 5 - Impersonal seAn Unnamed Human Agent
An impersonal se sentence does not have the same subject agreement.
Level 5 - Agreement With Collective Nouns
The noun’s agreement pattern still matters.
Level 4
Words in This Pattern
Practice Passive se Agreement in Bubblegum
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