Il 27 gennaio è la Giornata della Memoria

La forma passiva
The passive form

“…è stata istituita dall’ONU”
(…was established by the UN)

The passive is a verb form that is used when the subject of the verb is not the one doing the action, but the person or thing that is affected BY the action.
The element responsible for the action, when present, is introduced by the preposition “DA” (= “by”). In Italian, passive verbs are formed always with:

– ESSERE (same tense as active form) + PAST. PARTICLE of the verb

Let’s see some examples:

– Un uomo È STATO DERUBATO da un ladro (A man WAS ROBBED by a thief)
(→ active: Un ladro HA DERUBATO un uomo)

– La mia bici È STATA RUBATA ieri (My bike WAS STOLEN yesterday)
(→ active: Qualcuno HA RUBATO la mia bici)