The Passive Voice in Russian. Part 2

In the previous post, we looked at how passive forms are formed for imperfective verbs. Below, we will learn how the passive voice works with perfective verbs.

The first thing to remember is that in the passive voice, we do not use the perfective verb itself. Instead, we use the short participle formed from this verb. Let’s look at this using the verb ‘прочитать’ (to read) as an example.

• Текст прочитан = The text is read
• Книга прочитана = The book is read
• Письмо прочитано = The letter is read
• Стихи прочитаны = The poems are read

To indicate time (past or future), the verb ‘быть’ (to be) can be used together with the short participle:

• Дом был построен в 1957 году. = The house was built in 1957.
• Дом будет построен в 2027 году. = The house will be built in 2027.