passiveadverbial

Passiveadverbial is a term used in linguistics to describe an adverbial element that occurs with passive clauses to convey information about the action, most often by identifying the agent or circumstance of the event. The label and its exact scope are not universally standardized; some grammars treat passiveadverbials as a subset of agentive adjuncts in passives, while others include any adverbial modifier that co-occurs with a passive verb form.

In English, the classic case involves the agent phrase introduced by by after a passive verb: The novel was written by Jane Austen. Here the by-phrase functions as an agentive adjunct, optional in many contexts, and the sentence remains grammatical without it (The novel was written). Some analyses also treat adverbial modifiers that accompany passive verbs—such as slowly, recently, or accidentally—as passiveadverbials when they participate in signaling the action’s manner or speaker-oriented stance within a passive construction.

Cross-linguistically, passiveadverbials may be realized differently. Some languages use dedicated morphological markers, dedicated adverbials, or instrumental/dative-like phrases to express agenthood or related circumstances in passives. In many systems, agent markings are optional and may be omitted when the agent is unknown, irrelevant, or recoverable from context, while other languages require explicit agent marking in passives.

The concept is primarily of interest in syntax and cross-linguistic typology, where researchers examine how languages encode agency, manner, or other circumstantial information in passive statements. Related concepts include passive voice, agentive adjuncts, and adverbial modifiers.

See also: passive voice, agentive adjunct, adverbial phrase, instrumental case.