Passive Voice in Spanish

Passive Voice / Voz pasiva The sentences so far have all been “active”. The subject performs the action and the direct object receives the action: That boy broke the window. In a passive voice sentence it is the grammatical subject which receives the action of the verb: The window was broken by that boy.

Passive Voice / Voz pasiva Some passive sentences have an agent: The law was abolish by Parliament. Others do not: The road was asphalted las week.

There are three ways to form the passive voice in Spanish

Passive Voice / Voz pasiva 1.This form is simple because the structure is the same as in English: Subject + SER + past participle + por + the agent La ley es abolida por el Parlamento

Vamos a practicar America ___ _________ ___ Cristóbal Colon. Romeo y Julieta ___ ______ ___ Shakespeare. La tarea __ ________ ____ los estudiantes.

Passive Voice / Voz pasiva 2. Passive Voice with “se” You already learned how to use se as the third person reflexive pronoun (El se despierta. Ellos se visten. Ella se baña.). Se can also be used to form constructions in which the person performing the action is not expressed or is de-emphasized.

In Spanish, verbs that are not reflexive can be used with se to form impersonal constructions. These are statements in which the person performing the action is not expressed or defined. In English, the passive voice or indefinite subjects (you, they, one) are used. Se habla español en Costa Rica. Spanish is spoken in Costa Rica. Se puede leer en la sala de espera. You can read in the waiting room. Se hacen operaciones aquí. They perform operations here. Se necesitan medicinas enseguida. They need medicine right away. Impersonal constructions with se

The Impersonal and Passive se (El se impersonal y pasivo) Se dice que nuestro piloto tiene mucha experiencia. ¡Menos mal! Me da miedo viajar en avión.

The impersonal se You will remember using the reflexive pronoun se to talk about what people do to or for themselves. Marta se lava el pelo los lunes. Marta washes her hair on Mondays. Spanish often uses this se in an impersonal sense, that is, without mentioning a particular person. Aquí se lava la ropa los martes. Here you wash clothes on Tuesdays. Some English equivalents would be: Here one washes clothes on Tuesdays. Here they wash clothes on Tuesdays.

The impersonal se Following are other examples of this type of usage: Se dice que hay oro al final del arco iris. They say that there is gold at the end of the rainbow. People say that there is gold at the end of the rainbow. It is said that there is gold at the end of the rainbow. ¿Aquí se permite fumar? Is smoking permitted here? Do they permit smoking here? Can you smoke here?

The impersonal se The third-person plural of the verb may be used without se to express these impersonal subjects. Dicen (Se dice) que no hay mal que por bien no venga. They say that every cloud has a silver lining. Creen (Se cree) que Dora es muy aplicada. People think that Dora is very studious.

The passive se The pronoun se may also be used with the third-person singular or plural form of the verb as a substitute for the passive voice in Spanish. The agent, or person who does the action, is not mentioned in this type of construction since the speaker is making a general reference. Se The lost soccer ball was found this morning. Use seplus the third-person singularwhen the noun acted upon is singular. encontróel balón perdido esta mañana.

The passive se The pronoun se may also be used with the third-person singular or plural form of the verb as a substitute for the passive voice in Spanish. The agent, or person who does the action, is not mentioned in this type of construction since the speaker is making a general reference. No se Tickets are not sold on Sundays. Use seplus the third-person pluralwhen the noun acted upon is plural. vendenentradas los domingos.

¡INTÉNTALO! Completa las frases de la columna A con se impersonal y los verbos correspondientes en presente. A 1. (enseñar) ______ cinco lenguas en esta universidad. 2. (comer) ______ muy bien en El Cráter. 3. (vender) ______ muchas camisetas allí. 4. (servir) ______ platos exquisitos cada noche. 5. (necesitar) ______ mucho dinero. 6. (buscar) ______ secretaria.

Passive Voice / Voz pasiva 3. Use an unspecified 3 rd person plural, just like the English equivalent: Dicen que tiene mucho dinero / They say he has a lot of money.

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