Agentless passive in formal prose
An institutional agentless passive uses the di- prefix without naming the actor. It is common in news, laws, and academic papers when the event or affected entity matters more than who performed the action.
How It Works
In formal Indonesian (Bahasa Indonesia Baku), the agentless passive is a strong stylistic convention and pragmatic preference for certain registers. While active voice remains grammatically correct, this form is preferred to maintain a professional tone.
1. Structure:
It is formed by attaching the di- prefix to a transitive verb root. Crucially, there is no oleh (by) phrase and no pronoun attached to the verb.
Example: Rencana itu disetujui (The plan was approved).
2. Institutional Nuance:
This pattern is used to create an 'institutional voice.' When a journalist writes 'Tersangka ditangkap' (The suspect was arrested), readers may infer the police from context. The grammar does not specify whether one officer or several people acted.
3. General Utility:
Beyond formal prose, this form is used when the agent is unknown (e.g., 'Rumah itu dirampok' - The house was robbed) or when the agent is so obvious it does not need to be mentioned (e.g., 'Sampah dibuang pada tempatnya' - Trash is [to be] thrown in its place).
4. Obfuscating Responsibility:
Because the agent is hidden, this form is frequently used in politics and journalism to report on controversial actions without naming a specific person to blame. It acts as a 'hedging' device to make claims sound objective.
5. Register:
Agentless passives also occur naturally in everyday conversation, for example Sudah dibayar (It has been paid). Institutional style comes from the wider wording and context, not agent omission alone. Active clauses and object voice offer other ways to organize the information.
Examples (5)
- Undang-undang tersebut disahkan kemarin.
The law was passed yesterday.
Word by Word: Law that was-enacted yesterday.
The agent (the parliament) is omitted to focus on the legal status of the law itself.
- Hal itu dianggap sebagai tantangan besar.
That matter is considered a great challenge.
Word by Word: Matter that is-considered as challenge big.
Using 'dianggap' (is considered) instead of 'saya menganggap' (I consider) makes the statement sound like an objective consensus.
- Pembangunan jembatan itu ditunda hingga tahun depan.
The construction of the bridge is postponed until next year.
Word by Word: Construction bridge that is-postponed until year front.
The focus is on the delay of the project, not the specific official who decided to postpone it.
- Data penelitian ini dikumpulkan selama tiga bulan.
This research data was collected over three months.
Word by Word: Data research this was-collected during three month.
Common in academic writing to foreground the data collection process rather than the researcher.
- Rumah itu dirampok tadi malam.
That house was robbed last night.
Word by Word: House that was-robbed just-now night.
The agentless passive is also used when the actor is unknown or unidentified.
Common Mistakes
Inserting a first or second-person agent directly with the 'di-' prefix.
Laporan itu di-saya tulis.Laporan itu saya tulis.Do not insert an independent pronoun inside the di- verb. With saya as the actor, use object voice: Laporan itu saya tulis. This correction concerns the structure di-saya tulis, not a universal ban on all first-person agents in every di- construction.
Confusing intentional institutional passive with accidental 'ter-' passive.
Pintu itu terbukakan oleh satpam.Pintu itu dibukakan oleh satpam.Use di- for the intended ordinary passive action here. The ter- prefix can express an unintended event or a resulting state, depending on the verb. Institutional contexts can describe either; they do not make all actions intentional.
How It Connects
Learn This First
To understand the institutional agentless passive, learners must first be comfortable with the basic di- passive construction and the general concept of omitting an agent. This pattern builds on those foundations by applying them to formal, journalistic, or bureaucratic contexts where the actor is often an institution or is intentionally obscured.
- Passive with omitted actor
Understanding the general omission of an actor in passive sentences is necessary before analyzing the specific rhetorical and formal implications of institutional agentless passives.
Level 3 - olehPassive Agent with Oleh
Learners must understand how agents are typically marked (with oleh) to recognize the significance and potential ambiguity of their omission in formal prose.
Level 2
Related Patterns
- di-Basic Passive with Di-
The basic morphological building block for all 'di-' passive constructions.
Level 2 - Object voice with saya or aku
Object voice is a useful standard model for first- and second-person agents and also occurs with third-person pronouns.
Level 3 - ter- (tak sengaja)Unplanned Events with Ter-
A different type of agentless passive that implies lack of intention or control.
Level 2 - Agency in formal nominalizations
A related formal strategy where verbs are turned into nouns to further obscure who is performing the action.
Level 6 - dapat di-Formal Possibility Passive
A common formal variation expressing possibility within the agentless passive framework.
Level 5
Learn Next
Patterns that build on this one.
Practice Agentless passive in formal prose in Bubblegum
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