Passive Voice

Use of Passive
Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is
performing the action.

Example: My bike was stolen.

In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.

Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:

Example: A mistake was made.

In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a
mistake.).

Form of Passive
Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)

Example: A letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

 the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
 the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
 the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)

Examples of Passive Level: lower intermediate

Tense Subject Verb Object
Active: Rita writes a letter.
Simple Present
Passive: A letter is written by Rita.
Active: Rita wrote a letter.
Simple Past
Passive: A letter was written by Rita.
Active: Rita has written a letter.
Present Perfect
Passive: A letter has been written by Rita.
Active: Rita will write a letter.
Future I
Passive: A letter will be written by Rita.
Active: Rita can write a letter.
Hilfsverben
Passive: A letter can be written by Rita.

Examples of Passive Level: upper intermediate

Tense Subject Verb Object
Active: Rita is writing a letter.
Present
Passive
Progressive A letter is being written by Rita.
:
Active: Rita was writing a letter.
Past Progressive Passive
A letter was being written by Rita.
:
Active: Rita had written a letter.
Past Perfect Passive
A letter had been written by Rita.
:
Active: Rita will have written a letter.
Future II Passive
A letter will have been written by Rita.
:
Active: Rita would write a letter.
Conditional I Passive
A letter would be written by Rita.
:
 Active: Rita would have written a letter.
Conditional II Passive
A letter would have been written by Rita.
:

Passive Sentences with Two Objects Level: intermediate

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the
subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to
put the focus on.

  Subject Verb Object 1 Object 2

Active: Rita wrote a letter to me.
Passive: A letter was written to me by Rita.
Passive: I was written a letter by Rita.
.

As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.

Personal and Impersonal Passive

Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive
sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.

Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.

Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal passive sentence (as there is no
object that can become the subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive
voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore this passive is called Impersonal Passive.

Example: he says – it is said

Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English,
Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men.

Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.

Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.

The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the sentence; the verb of perception is
put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain
auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).

Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to
become the subject of the passive sentence.
 CARACTERISTICAS
1. Se dice que una oración está en VOZ ACTIVA cuando la significación del verbo es
producida por la persona gramatical a quien aquél se refiere:
Pedro de Mendoza founded Buenos Aires.
(Pedro de Mendoza fundó Buenos Aires).
2. Se dice que una oración está en VOZ PASIVA cuando la significación del verbo es
recibida por la persona gramatical a quien aquél se refiere:
Buenos Aires was founded by Pedro de Mendoza.
(Buenos Aires fue fundada por Pedro de Mendoza).
3. Se forma con el auxiliar del verbo to be y el participio pasado del verbo que se
conjuga.
4. El complemento de la oración activa pasa a sujeto de la pasiva. Como en castellano,
el sujeto de la activa se puede conservar como sujeto agente.
5. Cuando un verbo tiene dos complementos se pueden hacer dos estructuras de
pasiva:
a) A book was sent to Tom by Mr. Smith, Un libro fue enviado a Tom por Mr. Smith.
b) Tom was sent a book by Mr. Smith (pasiva idiomática). Esta estructura no es
posible en castellano. 

MODELO DE VERBO EN VOZ PASIVA

TO BE SEEN = SER VISTO

PRESENTE
I am seen, soy visto
you are seen, eres visto
he is seen, es visto
we are seen, somos vistos
you are seen, sois vistos
they are seen, son vistos
PASADO
I was seen, fui visto
you were seen, fuiste visto
he was seen, fue visto
we were seen, fuimos vistos
you were seen, fuisteis vistos
they were seen, fueron vistos

PRETERITO PERFECTO FUTURO

I have been seen, he sido visto
you have been seen, has sido visto
he has been seen, ha sido visto
we have been seen, hemos sido vistos
you have been seen, habéis sido vistos
they have been seen, han sido vistos
I shall be seen, seré visto
you will be seen, serás visto
he will be seen, será visto
we shall be seen, seremos vistos
you will be seen, seréis vistos
they will be seen, serán vistos

PRETERITO PLUSCUAMPERFECTO:  I had been seen, había sido visto

CONDICIONAL:  I should be seen, sería visto
FUTURO PERFECTO:  I shall have been seen, habré sido visto
CONDICIONAL PERFECTO:  I should have been seen, habría sido visto

 
VOZ ACTIVA Y PASIVA: REGLAS PRACTICAS EN 4 PASOS.

1. La voz pasiva se forma con el verbo to be conjugado más el participio del

verbo principal. En inglés es mucho más frecuente que en español y, normalmente,
aparece cuando no es importante quien realiza una acción sino el hecho en sí. Por
eso, no siempre que veamos una pasiva, tenemos que traducirlo literalmente, puesto
que en español suena más forzado. Sólo es posible el uso de la voz pasiva con
verbos transitivos (verbos que llevan complemento directo).
VOZ ACTIVA VOZ PASIVA
Tom writes a letter A letter is written by Tom
Tom is writing a letter A letter is being written by Tom
Tom was writing a letter A letter was being written by Tom
Tom wrote a letter A letter was written by Tom
Tom has written a letter A letter has been written by Tom
Tom had written a letter A letter had been written by Tom
Tom will write a letter A letter will be written by Tom
Tom is going to write a letter A letter is going to be written by Tom
Tom can write a letter A letter can be written by Tom
Tom could write a letter A letter could be written by Tom
Tom must write a letter A letter must be written by Tom
Tom may write a letter A letter may be written...
Tom might write a letter A letter might be written...

2. El sujeto agente se expresa con by. Sin embargo, en la mayoría de las ocasiones
se prescinde del sujeto ya que no nos interesa saber quién exactamente ejecuta la
acción. Si una oración activa tiene complemento directo e indirecto, cualquiera de
los dos complementos puede ser sujeto paciente de la pasiva:
ACTIVE: Someone gives me a dog
PASSIVE 1: A dog is given to me
PASSIVE 2: I am given a dog (forma pasiva idiomática)
La forma pasiva de doing, seeing, etc es being done, being seen, etc.
ACTIVE: I don't like people telling me what to do
PASSIVE: I don't like being told what to do
En ocasiones en las que ocurre algo a veces imprevisto, no planeado o fortuito para la
formación de la voz pasiva se prefiere usar get y no be:
get hurt, get annoyed, get divorced, get married, get invited, get bored, get lost

3. Las construcciones impersonales (se dice, se comenta, etc.) son muy típicas de la
pasiva y difíciles de traducir para los hispanoparlantes. Este tipo de construcción
pasiva -utilizada cada vez con mayor frecuencia en los medios- se forma con la
estructura sujeto + to be + participle: It is reported (Se informa); It is said (Se
dice); It is known (Se sabe); It is supposed (Se supone); It is considered (Se
considera); It is expected (Se espera). Veamos algunos ejemplos:

ACTIVE: Everybody thinks Cathy works very hard.

PASSIVE 1: Cathy is thought to work very hard. (Se piensa que Cathy...)
PASSIVE 2: It is thought that Cathy works very hard. (Se piensa que Cathy...)
ACTIVE: They believe Tom is wearing a white pullover.
PASSIVE 1: Tom is believed to be wearing a white pullover. (Se cree que...)
PASSIVE 2: It is believed that Tom is wearing a white pullover. (Se cree que...)