In English, we form the passive voice using the verb "to be" plus the preposition "by" and the past participle of the action (transitive) verb. That is true in Italian too. We use the verb essere (to be), the preposition da, and the past participle of the transitive verb. 

Here is an example:

Londra. È stato venduto a un'asta di gioielli da Christie's.

London. It was sold at a jewelry auction at Christie's.

Caption 2, La Ladra EP. 12 - Come ai vecchi tempi - Part 4

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See this lesson for an overview of the passive voice in Italian.

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But there are other ways of forming the passive voice in Italian and it can be a bit confusing. If we think of using "get" in English (informally), it might be a bit less confusing. For example:

The paper gets delivered every morning at six. 

We could also say:

The paper is delivered every morning at six. 

Using "get" makes the sentence feel more active, while having a passive construction. We don't really need to know who delivers the paper so the passive voice is handy in this case. There is no apparent agent or doer. 

In Italian, in addition to using the verb essere, we can form the passive voice with the "auxiliary" verb venire (to come). In fact, it is often considered to be more formal than using essere. But, as with "get," it's also a more active way of using the passive voice.

It's easy to forget this kind of passive construction because venire is also a common action verb. When we use it in the passive voice, as an auxiliary, it doesn't really mean "to come." At least, not if we are translating. If we translate it with "get," it might be easier to grasp as part of the passive construction. 

While it's useful to know the grammar, the best thing is to listen or read and repeat. Hearing venire used in everyday (passive) contexts will help you assimilate it and then get accustomed to using it when appropriate. Let's look at some examples.

Keep in mind that:

1) the passive voice has to do with transitive verbs,

2) using venire as a passive auxiliary works only with simple tenses of the "action verb," not compound ones,

3) when using venire, there is usually no agent, called complemento d'agente, no doer.

4) venire is often used instead of essere to avoid confusion (we'll look at some examples further down on the page).

Ed è proprio per la sua fattura [che] non viene chiamata "farina", ma "semola".

And it is precisely because of its processing [that] it's not called "flour," but "semolina."

Captions 14-15, Vocaboliamo La pasta - Part 3

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L'ispettore Ginko è figlio di un giudice che viene arrestato per corruzione.

Inspector Ginko is the son of a judge who is arrested for corruption.

Captions 18-19, Fumettology Diabolik - Part 5

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In this next example, the verb venire is in the future tense.  

Domani verrà convocato Giulio Bruno, eh.

Tomorrow, Giulio Bruno will be summoned, huh.

Caption 60, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP3 I giardini della memoria - Part 19

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Of course, venire is also an action verb, so we might find the same future tense used with no participle after it. In the following example, it really does mean "to come" and is not forming any passive voice. 

Stamattina mi ha telefonato Franco, mio figlio, ha detto che verrà a trovarmi a Natale.

This morning, Franco called me, my son, he said he will come and see me at Christmas.

Captions 62-63, I Bastardi di Pizzofalcone EP4 Gelo - Part 16

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Here, we have venire in the third person plural of venire.

Di solito questi luoghi diventano musei, dove gli antichi attrezzi vengono appesi alle pareti come vestigia di un passato remoto e obsoleto,

Usually, these places become museums, where old tools are hung on the walls as vestiges of a remote and obsolete past,

Captions 27-29, Formaggi D'autore - Part 5

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If, instead of using the verb venire, we use the verb essere to form the passive, it won't be wrong, but it might be confusing. If we use essere we can imagine the tools already hanging on the wall: gli attrezzi sono appesi alle pareti (the tools are hanging on the walls and appesi answers the question "where"), but with venire, we can picture the action of hanging the tools on the wall. 

Here is a final example where the verb venire is in the imperfetto.

È vero che Suo fratello a scuola veniva chiamato Cenerentola?

Is it true that your brother was called Cinderella at school?

Caption 6, Imma Tataranni Sostituto procuratore S1 EP3 I giardini della memoria - Part 26

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Further exploration:

For each of these examples in the passive voice, try replacing the verb venire with essere. They might work equally well. Try using "get" instead of "to be" in English. Try transforming the passive phrases into active ones.

Finally, in the video tab, do a search of various conjugations of venire and see if you can distinguish the examples that have to do with the passive voice (hint: look for a past participle following it). It's kind of fun. 

In a future lesson, we will discuss another "auxiliary" verb we can use to form the passive voice: andare (to go). It works much the same way as venire but has a different feel to it as well as a different function. 

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