A. SER + PAST PARTICIPLE
The passive voice is formed in Spanish in the same way as in English, with the appropriate form of the verb
ser and the
past participle (which, as an
adjective, must agree in
gender and number with the
subject). The agent, if mentioned, comes after the preposition
por.:
Este libro es leído por todo el mundo. Las rosas fueron compradas por la niña. La ventana fue rota por la policía. | This book is read by everyone. The roses were bought by the girl. The window was broken by the police. |
For use of
estar with past participle, see
§25.
To review the forms of the past participle, see §
26.
B. PASSIVE CONSTRUCTIONS USING SE
• Spanish avoids the passive with ser when the agent of the action is unknown or irrelevant. The most common way of expressing a passive idea in Spanish –that something happens, but without expressing who in particular does it–, is by using se with a verb in the third person:
Aquí se habla español. Se necesita tener paciencia. Se come bien en Francia. ¿Se puede viajar sin visa? Ese modelo ya no se usa. | Spanish is spoken here. You need to be patient. One eats / People eat well in France. Is it possible to travel without a visa? That model is not used (in use) anymore. |
• When the
subject (
modelo in the above example) is plural, the verb must be plural:
Esos modelos ya no se usan. Se venden camisas en esta tienda. En América no se conocían los caballos. | Those models are not used anymore. Shirts are sold in this store. Horses were not known in America. |
• Similar to English, Spanish can also use an impersonal
They..., without the
subject pronoun:
Allá no respetan los derechos humanos. Firmaron el acuerdo esta mañana. O: El acuerdo se firmó esta mañana. | They don't respect human rights there. They signed the agreement this morning. The agreement was signed this morning. |
C. SE + INDIRECT OBJECT PRONOUNS (SE ME, SE LES, ETC.)
• The passive se may be followed by an
indirect object pronoun indicating the person who undergoes the action of the verb (
to whom?):
Se le mandaron flores (a ella). Se les ofreció el trabajo (a ellos). No se me dijo eso (a mí). | Flowers were sent to her. (She was sent flowers) The job was offered to them. (They were offered...) That wasn't told to me. (I wasn't told that). |
These examples illustrate the common "false passive" in English, that is, a construction that uses the indirect object (
to whom?) as the
subject: "She was sent flowers"; "They were offered the job";“I was told”.
The passive with ser won’t work for this type of constructions. Use
se and
indirect object pronouns instead, being careful to always use the verb in the third person:
We were given directions.
Se nos dieron instrucciones.You were told what to do.
Se te dijo qué hacer.
• The combination of
se + indirect object pronoun (
se me, se te, se le[s], se nos, etc.) is also used to express ideas such as losing, breaking, forgetting and dropping, when not deliberate, underlying that something happened by accident. The passive
se indicates that the event was involuntary; the
object pronouns refer to the person(s) affected by the event; and the verb uses the third person singular or plural to agree with the things lost, broken, forgotten, etc. Examples:
By accident | Somewhat deliberate: |
Se le rompieron dos costillas. He broke two ribs (by accident). | Rompió su promesa. He broke his promise. |
Se les perdió la llave. They lost their key. | Perdieron el partido. They lost the game (match). |
Se me cayó el libro. I dropped the book. | Caí en una trampa. I fell into a trap. |
Se te olvidó mi dirección. You forgot my address. | Olvidaste tus malos recuerdos. You forgot your bad memories. |
Se nos acabó la gasolina. We ran out of gas. | Acabamos el trabajo. We finished the paper (or the job).
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