Active and Passive Verb Pairs

Level 4

פרסם and פורסם can express published something and was published. The affected item becomes the subject of the passive sentence.

How It Works

An Actual Pair

לפרסם has active past פרסם and passive past פורסם. Compare מפרסם with מפורסם and יפרסם with יפורסם. The passive family is called פועל, commonly transliterated Pu’al.

Change the Subject Relationship

In the active sentence, the publisher is the subject and the notice is the object. In the passive sentence, the notice is the subject, so it no longer receives the definite direct-object marker את. The publisher can be omitted or expressed with על ידי when relevant.

Lexical Limits

Not every פיעל verb has an equally ordinary passive in daily use. A participle such as מפורסם can also describe a lasting property, as in famous. Context determines whether it reports a publication event or a lexical adjective meaning. Ordinary passive Pu’al has no productive learner infinitive corresponding to the active לפרסם.

Examples (4)

  1. החברה פרסמה הודעה.

    The company published a notice.

    The publisher is the active subject.

  2. ההודעה פורסמה.

    The notice was published.

    The notice becomes the feminine passive subject.

  3. הפרטים יפורסמו מחר.

    The details will be published tomorrow.

    The future passive agrees with the plural subject.

  4. הסיפור סופר לילדים.

    The story was told to the children.

    סופר is the passive counterpart of סיפר in this context.

Common Mistakes

  • Keeping the definite object marker before the passive subject.

    את ההודעה פורסמה.
    ההודעה פורסמה.

    The notice is now the subject, not the direct object.

How It Connects

Tap a pattern to see what it builds on and what it leads to.

Active and Passive Verb PairsLevel 4

Learn This First

Relate familiar Pi'el vocabulary to attested Pu'al forms without guessing a passive meaning for every root.