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Passive voice
True passive
Sentences may be expressed in the active or the passive voice. The passive is alive and well in the Spanish language. There is no attempt to suppress the passive in non-academic writing as one finds in English.
Examples:
Active voice:
Ella escribió el libro. (She wrote the book.)
Passive voice:
El libro fue escrito por ella. (The book was written by her.)
The passive voice is formed by using the verb ser with the past
participle of the principal verb. The past participle must
agree in number and gender with the subject of the verb. To
indicate an agent who performs the action, the preposition
por is used. To summarize, the construction of the passive
voice is as follows:
Subject + Ser + Past Participle + Por + Agent
Example:
Roberto + fue + atropellado + por + el coche.–> Roberto fue atropellado por el coche.
Some other examples:
- El gobierno de Pinochet fue denunciado por el mundo entero. (Pinochet's government was denounced by the entire world.)
- Las cazas F/A-18 fueron importadas por España. (F/A-18 fighters were imported by Spain.)
Substitutes for the passive
Although in Spanish the passive voice is used frequently, it has some notable substitutes.
The impersonal "they"
As in English, when there is no expressed agent of the action,
an impersonal use of the subject pronoun "they" and the verb may
replace a true passive voice construction. Of course, syntactically
this is an active voice construction.
- Declararon una tregua. (They declared a truce. / A truce was declared.)
- Dicen que el pescado es bueno para la salud.
(They say that fish is good for one's health. / It is said that
fish is good for one's health.)
Reflexive substitute for the passive
When there is no expressed agent of the action, frequently a
reflexive substitute for the passive will be used.
- Se canceló el decreto. (The decree was cancelled.)
- Se abrieron nuevas negociaciones. (New
negociations were begun.)
