се (пасив и безлично)

Passive Se and Impersonal Se

Level 4Sounds Like se pasiv i bezlično se

The particle се can de-agentivize a sentence in two primary ways: creating a reflexive passive (where the direct object becomes a nominative subject and the verb agrees with it) or an impersonal construction (where an intransitive verb freezes in the 3rd person singular to mean 'one / people in general do something').

How It Works

Serbian uses both the reflexive passive (primarily with imperfective verbs) and the periphrastic participial passive (especially with perfective verbs), though standard Serbian overall prefers active or impersonal phrasing over heavy passive structures.

Key Distinctions:

  • Aspect and Construction Type: The reflexive passive (Мост се гради) is predominantly imperfective, naturally framing ongoing processes, habitual actions, or general procedures ('The bridge is being built'). The participial passive formed with passive participles can occur with both aspects, but predominantly combines with perfective verbs (Мост је изграђен) to express completed results and resultant states ('The bridge has been built'). Imperfective participial passives (e.g. Мост је годинама грађен) also exist, but the reflexive passive is often stylistically favored for ongoing actions.
  • Agreement Rule: In standard Serbian, the reflexive passive must agree with the promoted nominative noun, strictly limited to the 3rd person (singular or plural). 1st and 2nd person forms are excluded from this construction because they are invariably interpreted as true reflexives (Ја се хвалим = 'I praise myself'). Never leave the logical object in the accusative case with се (*Гради се нову кућу is ungrammatical in standard Serbian; the promoted noun must be nominative: Гради се нова кућа, plural: Граде се нове куће).
  • Impersonal Se: When there is no direct object promoted to subject, the construction is truly subjectless. The verb is locked in the default 3rd person singular present (говори се о проблему) or neuter singular in past forms (говорило се о проблему).
  • Inherent Reflexives Excluded: Verbs that already contain lexical се (verbs like смејати се, бојати се) cannot form a reflexive passive primarily because they are intransitive, possessing no accusative direct object to promote to subject. Furthermore, the ban on clitic doubling (*смеје се се) prevents them from entering impersonal се constructions.
  • Agents: An overt agent complement with од стране + генитив is syntactically ungrammatical and contradictory with the reflexive passive (*Кућа се гради од стране радника) because the particle се inherently de-agentivizes the clause by suppressing or absorbing the subject position. In participial passives (Кућа је изграђена од стране радника), expressing the agent this way is syntactically possible but widely treated as an unnatural bureaucratic calque (канцеларизам). In standard Serbian, whenever an agent is known and relevant, an active clause is preferred (Радници граде кућу).

Examples (5)

  1. У овом делу града тренутно се граде нови мостови.

    New bridges are currently being built in this part of the city.

    Word by Word: In this part of-city currently self build new bridges.

    Reflexive passive: the logical object 'нови мостови' becomes the nominative subject, forcing the verb into the 3rd person plural ('граде се').

  2. Та књига се лако чита.

    That book is read easily / That book is an easy read.

    Word by Word: That book self easily reads.

    Reflexive passive with a singular feminine subject ('та књига') agreeing with the 3rd person singular verb.

  3. О том проблему се мора отворено разговарати.

    One must talk openly about that problem.

    Word by Word: About that problem self must openly to-talk.

    Impersonal construction with a modal verb: frozen in the 3rd person singular neuter/default.

  4. Синоћ се до касно певало и играло.

    Last night there was singing and dancing until late.

    Word by Word: Last-night self until late sung and danced.

    Impersonal 'se' in the past tense: intransitive verbs take the invariant neuter singular past ending '-ло'.

  5. Овде се увек добро јело и пило.

    One has always eaten and drunk well here.

    Word by Word: Here self always well ate and drank.

    General human activity foregrounded without specifying who the eaters and drinkers were.

Common Mistakes

  • Failing to make the verb agree with a plural promoted patient in the reflexive passive.

    У граду се тренутно гради нове зграде.
    У граду се тренутно граде нове зграде.

    Unlike Polish or certain regional non-standard South Slavic dialects, standard Serbian strictly requires nominative plural agreement ('граде се нове зграде') rather than an accusative object with a default singular verb.

  • Adding an overt agent phrase ('од стране...') to a reflexive passive.

    Ова књига се чита од стране студената.
    Студенти читају ову књигу.

    The reflexive passive naturally suppresses the agent. If an agent is specified, standard Serbian prefers the active voice or, where appropriate, an adjectival passive participle.

  • Using the reflexive passive with people, where it can also be read as reflexive.

    Different MeaningРадници се плаћају на крају месеца.
    Раднике плаћају на крају месеца.

    'Радници се плаћају на крају месеца' is correct and natural: it means workers are paid. With people, a reflexive reading ('pay themselves') is possible in theory, so when you want to be sure, use the active impersonal clause 'Раднике плаћају...' or the participle 'Радници су плаћени'.

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се (пасив и безлично)Level 4Passive Se and Impersonal Se

Learn This First

To contrast and learn reflexive passives and impersonal 'se' constructions, you need a firm grasp of ordinary reflexive verbs, basic impersonal 'se' sentences, and the conceptual mechanics of passive structures.

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