-н / -т

Passive Participle Formation

Level 4Sounds Like pasiv na -n; -t

The passive verbal adjective (трпни глаголски придев) is formed from transitive verbs using one of three morphological suffixes: -н, -ен, or -т. It inflects for gender, number, and case like a regular adjective, denoting a resultant state or quality, and forms periphrastic passive predicates when combined with auxiliary forms of бити.

How It Works

The passive verbal adjective (трпни глаголски придев) denotes a property or state of an entity that undergoes or suffers the action expressed by the verb (трпи вршење радње). When formed from imperfective verbs (e.g., чуван, плетен, зидан), it designates a past durative or habitual event (e.g., Кућа је зидана три године – 'The house was being built for three years') or an adjectival property/quality (e.g., Овај аутор је читан – 'This author is widely read'); it does not express an ongoing present action. When formed from perfective verbs (e.g., написан, плаћен, отворен), it conveys a completed action or its resultant state. In attributive position (e.g., написано писмо – 'a written letter', зидана кућа – 'a brick-built house'), it functions as a descriptive modifier. In predicative position with present forms of be or other tenses of бити (forming passive constructions), it creates a periphrastic passive predicate. In personal passive constructions, the participle agrees strictly in gender and number with the grammatical subject; in impersonal (subjectless) passives (e.g., О томе је писано у новинама, Речено му је да дође), it appears in a default, invariant neuter singular form ending in -о.

Standard Serbian reference grammars distinguish between two main functional readings when a passive participle combines with the present forms of бити (је, су):
1) Пасивни перфекат (перфекат пасива): Denotes a completed past passive event with perfective verbs (e.g., Фабрика је отворена 1947. године – 'The factory was opened in 1947') or a durative past passive event with imperfective verbs (e.g., Мост је грађен годинама – 'The bridge was being built for years').
2) Презент стања (стативни пасив): Expresses a current resultant state existing in the present (e.g., Врата су затворена – 'The door is closed / The doors are shut'; Рачуни су плаћени – 'The bills are paid').

1. The Three Morphological Suffixes:
Morphologically, Serbian grammars classify all passive verbal adjectives under three suffixes: -н, -ен, and -т.

• -н (-на, -но; -ни, -не, -на) attaches directly to infinitive stems ending in -а-:
написати → написан, чувати → чуван. A few verbs allow doublets with -т (e.g., продати → продат / продан).

• -ен (-ена, -ено; -ени, -ене, -ена) is used in several stem environments:
1) True consonant stems: The suffix attaches without jotation to dental and sibilant consonant stems (e.g., плести [stem плет-] → плетен, довести [stem довед-] → доведен, довести [stem довез-] → довезен). Verbs of the донети type form standard doublets using different stems: донесен derives from the consonant stem (донес-) with suffix -ен, while донет derives from the vocalic infinitive stem (доне-) with suffix -т (similarly пренети → пренесен / пренет). Velar consonant stems undergo first palatalization: испећи (stem испек-) → испечен.
2) Vocalic stems in -ити and -ети (with -им present): Suffixation triggers historical jotation (јотовање) before -ен:
– т → ћ: платити → плаћен, прихватити → прихваћен
– д → ђ: градити → грађен, видети (present видим) → виђен
– с / з → ш / ж: носити → ношен, возити → вожен
– Labials (п, б, м, в) insert epenthetic -л- yielding пљ, бљ, мљ, вљ: купити → купљен, сломити → сломљен, најавити → најављен.
3) Stems with -ј- or -в- before -ен: When added to monosyllabic vocalic roots, -ен attaches to the present stem ending in -ј- (e.g., попити [stem попиј-] → попијен, убити [stem убиј-] → убијен, добити [stem добиј-] → добијен) or to roots extended by -в- (e.g., шити [stem шив-] → шивен, лити [stem лив-] → ливен, млети [stem млев-] → млевен, обути [stem обув-] → обувен).

• -т (-та, -то; -ти, -те, -та) attaches to:
1) Verbs with stems in -ну- (infinitive in -нути: окренути → окренут, скинути → скинут).
2) Verbs ending in -знати (признати → признат, познати → познат).
3) Certain root-vowel verbs (чути → чут).
4) Verbs in -ети with an alternating nasal consonant in the present stem (-ем class), attaching directly to the vocalic infinitive stem, such as узети (узмем) → узет and почети (почнем) → почет.

2. Register and Usage Nuances:
• For dynamic actions in progress in contemporary Serbian, speakers do not use the periphrastic participle; instead, they overwhelmingly use passive se with an imperfective verb (e.g., Кућа се зида – 'The house is being built', not *Кућа је зидана).
• Passive sentences naming an explicit agent via prepositional phrases (од стране + генитив) belong primarily to administrative, legal, and bureaucratic registers; natural Serbian prefers active phrasing when the agent is known.

Examples (5)

  1. Рачун је већ плаћен.

    The bill has already been paid.

    Word by Word: Bill is already paid.

    Formed from the verb 'платити' with the suffix '-ен', undergoing regular jotation (т → ћ).

  2. Сва врата су била закључана пре него што смо отишли.

    All the doors were locked before we left.

    Word by Word: All doors were been locked before than what we left.

    Formed from 'закључати' with '-н', showing neuter plural agreement with 'врата'.

  3. План је прихваћен, а нови предлог је успешно решен.

    The plan was accepted, and the new proposal was successfully resolved.

    Word by Word: Plan is accepted, and new proposal is successfully resolved.

    Demonstrates perfective verbs in '-ити' producing '-ћен' ('прихватити' → 'прихваћен') and '-шен' ('решити' → 'решен').

  4. Све је било спремно, а сто је већ био постављен.

    Everything was ready, and the table had already been set.

    Word by Word: All was ready, and table is already been set.

    Derived from 'поставити' with epenthetic -л- ('постављен') in masculine singular agreement.

  5. Посао је завршен и новац је узет на време.

    The job is finished and the money was taken on time.

    Word by Word: Job is finished and money is taken on time.

    Contrasts '-en' jotation ('завршити' → 'завршен') with the root '-t' suffix ('узети' → 'узет').

Common Mistakes

  • Omitting jotation or epenthetic 'l' when adding '-en' to '-iti' stems.

    Рачун је платен, а стан је купен.
    Рачун је плаћен, а стан је купљен.

    Verbs in '-iti' trigger consonant sound changes before '-en': 'т' becomes 'ћ' and labial consonants ('п, б, м, в') insert an epenthetic 'л'.

  • Using adjectival '-an' instead of '-t' for stems ending in '-uti' or monosyllabic vowel roots.

    Капут је скинуан, а посао је почеан.
    Капут је скинут, а посао је почет.

    Verbs ending in '-uti' (skinuti) and monosyllabic roots (početi, uzeti) strictly form their passive participle with '-t', not '-n'.

  • Overusing passive forms with 'од стране' to mimic English passive agency.

    Књига је прочитана од стране ученика.
    Ученици су прочитали књигу.

    Serbian avoids heavy periphrastic passive constructions with agent phrases. Active voice is much more natural unless the agent is completely unknown or irrelevant.

How It Connects

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-н / -тLevel 4Passive Participle Formation

Learn This First

To form passive participles with suffixes -н and -т, learners need an understanding of verbal aspect, standard adjectival agreement rules, and how the passive participle functions syntactically.

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