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La oracin pasiva (1):

passive sentences (present, past, will)

Fjate en estas oraciones:

Oracin en activa
SUJETO

VERBO EN ACTIVA

Ann

OBJETO DIRECTO

took

these photos.

Oracin en pasiva
SUJETO

VERBO EN PASIVA

These photos

COMPLEMENTO AGENTE

were taken

by Ann.

Las dos oraciones se refieren a la misma accin, pero la cuentan de manera diversa. En la primera frase, lo
que interesa es lo que hizo Ann, que es el sujeto, mientras que en la segunda lo que tiene ms importancia
es las fotos que se hicieron (por eso es el sujeto en pasiva), y quin las hizo slo tiene una importancia
secundaria.
La voz pasiva se utiliza en ingls para:
Acciones cuyo sujeto activo se desconoce o
no es importante.

Our car was made in Korea.

(No s qu personas concretas, y probablemente
no importa.)

Enfatizar una parte concreta de la oracin.

We finished the work today. (Lo que interesa es

que nosotros hemos terminado, por ejemplo si
hemos estado trabajando muy duro.)
The work will be finished today. (Si queremos
tranquilizar a nuestro cliente de que la tarea que
nos encarg va a estar lista a tiempo.)

Observa que por lo general, las oraciones

pasivas no incluyen el complemento agente
(by + nombre). ste slo aparece si es un dato
verdaderamente relevante.

Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.

NO: Hamlet was written for Shakespeare.

El verbo pasivo est compuesto de un tiempo de be + PARTICIPIO. Estos son algunos ejemplos:
ACTIVA

PASIVA

Present Simple: take, takes

is/are taken

Present Continuous: am/is/are taking

am/is/are being taken

Past Simple: took

was/were taken

Past Continuous: was/were taking

was/were being taken

will: will take

will be taken

going to: am/is/are going to take

am/is/are going to be taken

Ejercicios
A

Complete the sentences with a passive form of the verb in brackets.

0 Bread

is made

(make) from flour.

0 I was at school when these houses

1 Cakes

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were being built

(make) from flour.

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(was building).

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2 We lived in a caravan in the garden while our house

3 These cups

(was building).

(broke) when we arrived.

Make questions from the passive sentences in brackets.

0 (That car was made in Germany.) Where

was that car made?

1 (Mary was examined by the doctor this morning.) When

2 (The food will be ready soon.) When
3 (This window has been broken three times.) How many times

Write the negative of the sentences in exercise B.

0 That car was not made in Germany.
1 Mary
2 The food
3 This window

Each of the following sentences tells us something about a person. Express the
same fact in a sentence that tells us about the thing and that has a passive verb.
Use by.
0 Picasso painted Guernica.

Guernica was painted by Picasso.

1 Alexander Fleming discovered the drug penicillin.
2 The Beatles wrote the song Yesterday.
3 Agatha Christie created the detective Hercule Poirot.
4 Beethoven composed the Eroica symphony.
5 Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind.
6 Steven Spielberg directed Jurassic Park.
7 Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa.

Put these sentences into the passive.

0 The criminals are holding me hostage. I am being held hostage by the criminals.
1 They were rescuing the passengers at 9 oclock.
2 Shes not going to eat the apples in the fridge.
3 They will shoot the new Harry Potter film in Brazil.
4 Are they painting their bathroom again?
5 Theyll leave the milk on our doorstep.
6 Was everyone watching the match?
7 Pavarotti is going to sing a beautiful aria tonight.
8 They are printing the report for the next meeting.
Gramtica Oxford

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