La signora di “Attenzione pickpocket” è stata derubata… da un pickpocket :)

La forma passiva
The passive form

“il suo cellulare è stato rubato”
(her cellphone was stolen)

The sentence above is in the passive voice. 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”).
Only TRANSITIVE verbs (verbs with a direct object) can have a passive form.

You use passive rather than active verb:

1 – when you want to FOCUS on the person or thing AFFECTED by the action:

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

2 – when you don’t know WHO is the actual responsible for the action:

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

As in these examples, in Italian passive verbs are formed always with:

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

Note: the passive can also be formed using VENIRE instead of ESSERE, but not in the perfect or past perfect forms:

• La strada viene pulita ogni mattina. (The street is cleaned every morning.)
• Il nuovo edificio verrà inaugurato domani. (The new building will be inaugurated tomorrow.)
• Il film verrà proiettato al cinema questa settimana. (The movie will be shown at the theater this week.)