The Passive Keeps the Dative
Honum var hjálpað. (He was helped.) The dative honum stays dative.
How It Works
Dative verbs. Many everyday verbs take a dative object, and their passive keeps it:
- Einhver stal hjólinu mínu. Passive: Hjólinu mínu var stolið. (My bike was stolen.)
- Þeir aflýstu fluginu. Passive: Fluginu var aflýst. (The flight was cancelled.)
- Þau frestuðu fundinum. Passive: Fundinum var frestað. (The meeting was postponed.)
- Þau buðu okkur í mat. Passive: Okkur var boðið í mat. (We were invited to dinner.)
Genitive verbs. The same happens with genitive objects: Þeirra var saknað. (They were missed.) Mannsins er enn leitað. (The man is still being searched for.)
The fixed forms. The verb stays in the third person singular, even when the dative is plural: Börnunum var hjálpað. The participle stays in the neuter singular, which looks like the supine: hjálpað, stolið, frestað. The same forms go with verða: Fundinum verður frestað.
A state is different. A participle can also describe a state, like an adjective, with a nominative subject: Búðin er lokuð. (The shop is closed.) The event of closing it keeps the dative: Búðinni var lokað klukkan sex. (The shop was closed at six.)
Two objects. With verbs like gefa and segja, the dative person stays dative and the thing becomes the subject: Mér var gefin bók. (I was given a book.) Here gefin agrees with bók. See verbs with two objects.
Examples (6)
- Honum var hjálpað.
He was helped.
Word by Word: Him (dative) was helped.
- Dyrunum var lokað.
The door was closed.
Word by Word: The door (dative) was closed.
dyr is a plural-only noun and dyrunum is its dative, but the verb is still var.
- Þeirra var saknað.
They were missed.
Word by Word: Them (genitive) was missed.
sakna takes a genitive object, and the genitive stays.
- Fluginu var aflýst vegna veðurs.
The flight was cancelled because of the weather.
Word by Word: The flight (dative) was cancelled because of weather.
- Manninum var bjargað úr sjónum.
The man was rescued from the sea.
Word by Word: The man (dative) was rescued out of the sea.
- Okkur var boðið í mat.
We were invited to dinner.
Word by Word: Us (dative) was invited in food.
Even with a plural person, the verb stays var.
Common Mistakes
Turning a dative object into a nominative subject.
Maðurinn var bjargaður úr sjónum.Manninum var bjargað úr sjónum.bjarga takes a dative object, so the passive keeps the dative manninum and the neuter bjargað.
Letting the participle agree when an event is described.
Fundurinn var frestaður um viku.Fundinum var frestað um viku.fresta takes a dative object. When you tell what happened to the meeting, keep the dative: Fundinum var frestað.
Making the verb plural.
Börnunum voru hjálpað.Börnunum var hjálpað.The dative is not a nominative subject, so the verb does not agree with it. It stays in the singular: var.
How It Connects
Learn This First
The dative passive builds on the passive and dative verbs.
Related Patterns
- Verbs With a Genitive Object
Verbs with a genitive object keep the genitive too: Þeirra var saknað.
Level 4 - Subjects in the Dative or Accusative
Another way a dative can stand at the front of the sentence: mér finnst.
Level 2 - Verbs With Two Objects
With two objects, the dative stays and the thing becomes the subject: Mér var gefin bók.
Level 3 - Impersonal Passive (það var dansað)
Another passive with a fixed neuter participle and a singular verb.
Level 4
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice The Passive Keeps the Dative in Bubblegum
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