The Passive Voice

La voz pasiva
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Hasta ahora hemos hablado de la voz activa donde enfocamos la accin del verbo
en el sujeto. Pero cuando queremos dar ms importancia a la accin y no a quien la
ha realizado, utilizamos la voz pasiva.
Ejemplos:
La voz activa

He ate all of the cookies. (Comi todas las galletas.)

La voz pasiva

All of the cookies were eaten. (Todas las galletas fueron comidas.)

Grammatical Rules

(Reglas gramaticales)

Se forma la voz pasiva con el verbo auxiliar to be y el participio pasado del

verbo.
Sujeto + verbo auxiliar (to be) + participio pasado
Ejemplos:
The speech is written for the president. (El discurso est escrito para el presidente.)
The house was built in 1975. (La casa fue construida en 1975.)
My wallet has been stolen. (Ha sido robada mi cartera.)
The room will be cleaned while we are out. (Se limpiar la habitacin mientras
estemos fuera.)

Para transformar una oracin activa a pasiva tenemos en cuenta los siguientes
puntos:
1. El objeto de la oracin activa pasa a ser el sujeto de la pasiva.
2. El verbo principal se sustituye por el auxiliar to be, en su mismo tiempo, junto
al verbo principal en participio.

3. El sujeto de la oracin principal pasa a ser complemento agente de la pasiva.

4. Si hacemos mencin en la oracin del sujeto que realiza la accin (sujeto
agente), este ir normalmente precedido por la preposicin by.
Ejemplos:
La voz activa:
Mark Twain wrote the book. (Mark Twain escribi el libro.)
La voz pasiva:
The book was written by Mark Twain. (El libro fue escrito por Mark Twain.)
La voz activa:
The housekeeper will clean the room. (La ama de casa limpiar la habitacin.)
La voz pasiva:
The room will be cleaned by the housekeeper. (La habitacin ser limpiada por la
ama de casa.)

Uses

(Usos)

1. Usamos la voz pasiva cuando no sabemos quien ha realizado la accin.

Ejemplos:
A civilian has been killed. (Un civil ha sido asesinado.)
The car was stolen. (El coche fue robado.)
2. Usamos la voz pasiva cuando queremos dar ms importancia a lo que pas, que
a quin realiz la accin o cuando no queremos decir quien la realiz.
Ejemplos:
The letter was delivered yesterday. (La carta fue entregada ayer.)
A mistake was made. (Un error fue cometido.)

Nota: No podemos usar la voz pasiva con verbos intransitivos como die,
arrive o go. Verbos intransitivos son verbos que no llevan un objeto directo.

LA VOZ PASIVA
FUNCIONES DE LA VOZ PASIVA
La voz pasiva se utiliza para mostrar inters por la persona o cosa que es objeto de una accin, en
lugar de la persona o cosa que realiza dicha accin. Dicho de otro modo, la persona o cosa ms
importante pasa a ser el sujeto de la oracin.

EJEMPLOS

The passive voice is used frequently. (= nos interesa la voz pasiva, no quin la usa.)

The house was built in 1654. (= nos interesa la casa, no quin la construy.)

The road is being repaired. (= nos interesa la carretera, no quin la est arreglando.)

En ocasiones empleamos la voz pasiva porque desconocemos o no queremos mencionar quin

realiz la accin.

EJEMPLOS

I noticed that a window had been left open.

Every year thousands of people are killed on our roads.

All the cookies have been eaten.

My car has been stolen!

La voz pasiva suele utilizarse en textos formales. Cambiar a la voz activa har que lo que escribes
resulte ms claro y fcil de leer.

Pasiva

Activa

A great deal of meaning is conveyed by a few well-chosen

words.

A few well-chosen words conv

meaning.

Our planet is wrapped in a mass of gases.

A mass of gases wrap around

Waste materials are disposed of in a variety of ways.

The city disposes of waste m

ways.

Si queremos decir quin o qu realiza la accin en una construccin en pasiva, empleamos la

preposicin "by". Cuando sabemos quin realiz la accin y el sujeto nos interesa, siempre es
mejor optar por la voz activa.

Pasiva

Activa

"A Hard Day's Night" was written by the Beatles.

The Beatles wrote "A Hard

The movie ET was directed by Spielberg.

Spielberg directed the mov

This house was built by my father.

My father built this house.

Consulta ms informacin sobre la voz pasiva y sus equivalentes en activa para todos los tiempos
verbales del ingls.

FORMACIN DE LA VOZ PASIVA

En ingls, la voz pasiva est compuesta por dos elementos:
la forma apropiada del verbo "to be" + "past participle"

Afirmativa

Negativa

Interrogativa

Inte

The house was built in

1899.

The house wasn't built in

1899.

Was the house built in

1899?

Wasn
1899

These houses were built in

1899.

These houses weren't built in

1899.

Were these houses built in

1899?

Were
1899

"TO CLEAN", VOZ PASIVA

Sujeto

+ "to be" (conjugado)

+ "past participle"

+ resto d

is

cleaned

every day.

is being

cleaned

at the mom

was

cleaned

yesterday.

was being

cleaned

last week.

has been

cleaned

since you l

Simple present

The house

Present continuous

The house

Simple past

The house

Past continuous

The house

Present perfect

The house

Sujeto

+ "to be" (conjugado)

+ "past participle"

+ resto d

had been

cleaned

before the

will be

cleaned

next week

cleaned

tomorrow.

would be

cleaned

if they had

would have been

cleaned

if it had be

must be

cleaned

before we

Past perfect

The house

Future

The house

Future continuous

The house

will be being

Present conditional

The house

Past conditional

The house

Inifinitivo

The house

LA VOZ PASIVA CON INFINITIVOS

El infinitivo en la voz pasiva se emplea detrs de los verbos modales y de la mayora de los verbos
que normalmente van seguidos de infinitivo.

EJEMPLOS

You have to be tested on your English grammar.

John might be promoted next year.

She wants to be invited to the party.

I expect to be surprised on my birthday.

You may be disappointed.

LA VOZ PASIVA CON EL "GERUND"

El "gerund" en la voz pasiva se utiliza despus de las preposiciones y verbos que normalmente van
seguidos de "gerund".

EJEMPLOS

I remember being taught to drive.

The children are excited about being taken to the zoo.

The children are excited to be taken to the zoo.

Most film stars hate being interviewed.

Most film stars hate to be interviewed.

Poodles like to be pampered.

Poodles like being pampered.

USO DE "TO BE BORN"

"To be born" es una formacin pasiva y suele emplearse en pasado. Sin embargo, en algunos
casos, el presente o el futuro resultan apropiados.

EJEMPLOS

I was born in 1976.

Where were you born?

Around 100 babies are born in this hospital every week.

We don't know on exactly which day the baby will be born.

En ocasiones, la voz pasiva se forma utilizando los verbos "to get" o "to have" en lugar del
verbo "to be". Estas particularidades se tratan en una pgina aparte, modos alternativos de formar
la voz pasiva.

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
Tense

Subject

Verb

Object

Simple Present

Active:
Passive:

Simple Past

Active:
Passive:

Present Perfect

Active:
Passive:

Future I

Active:
Passive:

Hilfsverben

Active:
Passive:

writes

a letter.

is written

by Rita.

wrote

a letter.

A letter

was written

by Rita.

Rita

has written

a letter.

has been written

by Rita.

will write

a letter.

will be written

by Rita.

can write

a letter.

can be written

by Rita.

Rita
A letter
Rita

A letter
Rita
A letter
Rita
A letter

Examples of Passive
Tense

Present Progressive

Subject

Active:
Passive:

Past Progressive

Active:
Passive:

Past Perfect

Active:
Passive:

Rita
A letter
Rita
A letter
Rita
A letter

Verb

Object

is writing

a letter.

is being written

by Rita.

was writing

a letter.

was being written

by Rita.

had written

a letter.

had been written

by Rita.

Future II

Active:

Rita

Passive:
Conditional I

A letter

Active:

Rita

Passive:
Conditional II

A letter

Active:

Rita

Passive:

A letter

will have written

a letter.

will have been written

by Rita.

would write

a letter.

would be written

by Rita.

would have written

a letter.

would have been written

by Rita.

Passive Sentences with Two Objects

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

Active:

Rita

Verb

Object 1

Object 2

wrote

a letter

to me.

Passive:

A letter

was written

to me

by Rita.

Passive:

was written

a letter

by Rita.

.
As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant.
Thats 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.