B2 · The passive · about 4 minutes
The passive with venire
It separates what « is closed » leaves together.
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“New to me”: the explanation first, then practice. “Test myself”: 3 short questions – get at least two right and you go straight to the harder exercises.
Words you will need6
They appear in this topic’s examples and exercises and are new at this point on the learning path.
- la regolathe rule
- il modulothe form
- compilareto fill in
- il clientethe customer
- pubblicareto publish
- il sitothe website
Understand
Remembervenire in the simple tenses only; essere always.
- Signal words
- viene
- vengono
- veniva
- verrà
The form
How the forms are built
Each row gives the meaning first, then the form in Italian. The colours show what changes from one form to the next.
stem (regular) tense marker auxiliary verb
| the door is being closed | la porta viene chiusa |
| the door is closed (shut) | la porta è chiusa |
| the form is filled in | il modulo viene compilato |
| the letters used to be read | le lettere venivano lette |
| it will be published tomorrow | verrà pubblicato domani |
| it was closed | è stata chiusa |
| I get called | (io) vengo chiamato |
| you get called | (tu) vieni chiamato |
| he gets called | (lui) viene chiamato |
| we get called | (noi) veniamo chiamati |
| you get called (plural) | (voi) venite chiamati |
| they get called | (loro) vengono chiamati |
The rules one by one
The form this topic is about
venire always means an event.
Il museo viene chiuso alle sei.The museum is closed at six.
In compound tenses only essere is possible.
Il museo è stato chiuso alle sei.The museum was closed at six.
The participle agrees here too.
Le regole vengono rispettate da tutti.The rules are respected by everybody.
For a state it is essere.
Il museo è chiuso il lunedì.The museum is shut on Mondays.
Example sentences
Il modulo viene compilato dal cliente.The form is filled in by the customer.
Queste regole vengono rispettate da tutti.These rules are respected by everybody.
Una volta le lettere venivano scritte a mano.Letters used to be written by hand.
1 more example sentences
Il risultato verrà pubblicato sul sito.The result will be published on the website.
The trap English speakers fall into
Watch out
There is no compound passive with venire. È venuta chiusa occurs in no Italian sentence: the moment the passive moves into the past it becomes è stata chiusa. Nothing is lost by that, because the ambiguity venire exists to resolve does not arise in the compound tenses in the first place.
Quick check
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The full explanation
Read it all · about 1 min
La porta è chiusa is ambiguous in exactly the way « the door is closed » is: it can be an event or a state. La porta viene chiusa alle sei is not ambiguous — something happens.
Venire therefore stands wherever a process is meant: in rules, in instructions, in descriptions of how something is done. Il modulo viene compilato dal cliente. English has to reach for « gets » or rewrite the sentence to make the same point.
It works only in the simple tenses. As soon as the passive is compound, essere is required: è stata chiusa — è venuta chiusa does not exist.
That is the whole division of labour: venirefor the event in the simple tensesesserefor everything else and for the state
The verbs on this page, in every form: venire · essere · pubblicare