The voice of the verb refers to a basic relationship between the verb

and its subject. There are two voices: active and passive.

THE ACTIVE VOICE—A sentence is said to be in the active voice when the

subject is the performer of the verb. In this instance, the verb is called

an active verb.

The teacher writes the exam.

I I I

subject verb direct object

Paul ate an api1ile.

I I

subject verb direct object

Lightning has struck the tree.

subject verb direct object

In all these examples, the subject performs the action of the verb and

the direct object is the receiver of the action.

THE PASSIVE VOICE—A sentence is said to be in the passive voice when

the subject is the receiver of the action. In this instance, the verb is

called a passive verb.

The exam is written by the teacher.

I we I

subject verb agent

The apple was eaten by Paul.

i we I

subject verb agent

The tree was struck by lightning.

we I

subject verb agent

In all these examples, the subject is having the action of the verb per-

formed upon it. The performer of the action, if it is mentioned, is

introduced by the word by. The performer is called the agent.

IN ENGLISH

The passive voice is expressed by the verb to be conjugated in the

appropriate tense + the past participle of the main verb. The tense of

the passive sentence is indicated by the tense of the verb to be.

The exam is written by the teacher.

present

The exam was writt n by the teachen

past

The exam will be written by the teacher.

future

IN SPANISH

As in English, a passive verb can be expressed by the auxiliary verb

ser (to be) conjugated in the appropriate tense + the past participle of

the main verb. The tense of the passive sentence is indicated by the

tense of the verb ser.

El examen es escrito por el profesor.

present

The exam is written by the teacher

El examen fue escrito por el profesor.

preterite

The exam was written by the teacher

El examen será escrito por el profesor.

future

The exam will be written by the teacher

Note that all past participles agree in gender and number with the sub-

ject.

Esas cartas fueron escritas por el profesor.

fern. p1. fern. p1.

Those letters were written by the teacher

Careful

Be careful not to confuse a passive sentence in the past tense with an

active sentence in the present perfect. For instance, ha cerrado is the

present perfect of the verb cerrar (to close) and fue cerrado is the

past passive. As you can see in the following examples, the same

changes occur in English.

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active The teacher has written the exam.

auxiliary to have —* present perfect

passive The expm was written by the teacher

auxiliary to be — past passive

active El profesor ha escrito el examen.

auxiliary to have -4 present perfect

passive El examen fue escrito por el profesor.

auxiliary to be —+ past passive

Changing an Active Sentence to a Passive Sentence

The steps to change an active sentence to a passive sentence are the

same in English and in Spanish.

1. The direct object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the

passive sentence.

active The teacher writes the exam.

direct object

passive The exam is written by the teacher.

subject

2. The tense of the verb of the active sentence is reflected in the tense

of the verb to be in the passive sentence.

active The teacher writes the exam.

present

passive The exam is written by the teacher.

present

active The teacher wrote the exam.

4. past

passive The exam was written by the teacher.

past

active The teacher will write the exam.

4. future

passive The exam will be written by the teacher.

we

future

3. The subject of the active sentence becomes the agent of the passive

sentence introduced with by. The agent is often omitted.

active The teacher writes the exam.

subject

passive The exam is written by the teacher

agent

Avoiding the Passive Voice in Spanish

Although Spanish has a passive voice, it does not favor its use as Eng-

lish does, and whenever possible Spanish speakers try to avoid the

passive construction by replacing it with an active one. This is particu-

lary true for general statements, that is, when we don’t know who is

doing the action.

English is spoken in many countries.

[We don’t know who is speaking.]

The office opens at 9:00.

[We don’t know who is opening the office.]

There are two ways a passive sentence can be avoided in Spanish.

1. by using the se construction

The word se corresponds to the English one, they, you, or it used in

a general sense as in “One should eat when one is hungry”or “They

say he’s a nice guy.~~

To avoid a passive construction, Spanish often uses se as a replace-

ment for the passive voice.

English is spoken in many countries.

Se habla inglés en muchos paises.

[word-for-word: English speaks itself in many countries]

The office opens at 9:00.

Se abre la oficina a las nueve.

[word-for-word: the office opens itself at nine o’clock]

2. by using the third person plural of the verb

To avoid the passive construction Spanish often makes they (the

third person plural) the subject of an active sentence. The “they”

corresponds to a general subject such as “They say Mexico is very

interesting.”

active The teacher has written the exam.

auxiliary to have —* present perfect

passive The expm was written by the teacher

auxiliary to be —> past passive

active El profesor ha escrito el examen.

we

auxiliary to have —+ present perfect

passive El examen fue escrito por el profesor.

we

auxiliary to be -4 past passive

Changing an Active Sentence to a Passive Sentence

The steps to change an active sentence to a passive sentence are the

same in English and in Spanish.

1. The diiect object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the

passive sentence.

active The teacher writes the exam.

direct object

passive The exam is written by the teacher.

subject

2. The tense of the verb of the active sentence is reflected in the tense

of the verb to be in the passive sentence.

active The teacher writes the exam.

present

passive The exam is written by the teacher.

present

active The teacher wrote the exam.

past

passive The exam was written by the teacher.

past

active The teacher will write the exam.

future

passive The exam will be written by the teacher.

we

future

English is spoken in many countries.

Hablan inglés en muchos paises.

[word-for-word: they speak English in many countries]

The office opens at 9:00.

Abren la oficina a las nueve.

[word-for-word: they open the office at nine o’clock]