PASSIVE VOICE


As in Spanish, the passive voice is formed with the verb 'to be' and the past participle.


  • They made this car in 1963. (active)  This car was made in 1963. (passive)
The subject of a verb in passive corresponds to the object of a verb in active.


Verb TenseStructureExample
PRESENT SIMPLEam/are/is + ppSpanish is spoken here.
PRESENT CONTINUOUS  am/are/is being + ppYour questions are being answered.
FUTURE (WILL)will be + ppIt’ll be painted by next week.
FUTURE (GOING TO)am/are/is going to be + ppTerry is going to be made redundant next year.
PAST SIMPLEwas/were + ppWe were invited to the party, but we didn’t go.
PAST CONTINUOUSwas/were being + ppThe hotel room was being cleaned when we got back from shopping.
PRESENT PERFECThave/has been + ppThe President of America has been shot.
PAST PERFECThad been + ppWhen he got home he found that all of his money had been stolen.
FUTURE PERFECTwill have been + ppOur baby will have been born before Christmas.
In the forms of 'future progressive' (will be being + pp) and 'perfect progressive' (has been being + pp) is not very common use.

  To say who did the action or what caused it, use 'by'.

  • This house was built by my mother. / Esta casa fue construida por mi madre.
  • Washington was bombed by Pakistan. / Washington fue bombardeado por Pakistán

The passive voice is usually used when it is unknown or not interested to mention who or what the action does.

It is more normal to find in Spanish forms with 'se', for example: 'se habla', 'al alquila' or plural verbs such as 'sell', 'buy'.

  • German is spoken here / Aquí se habla alemán
  • When was this house built? / ¿Cuando se construyó ( fue construida) ésta casa? 
  • A lot of songs have been written about love / Se han escrito muchas canciones sobre el amor















EXERCISES:



1 .
1. car park - 2. pub - 3. restaurant - 4. airport - 5. shop
6. hotel - 7. library - 8. garage - 9. web page 

a)b)
c)d)
e)f)
g)h)
i)


2 - Complete each phrase with its corresponding past participle.

1. The beds in our room haven’t been  yet.
2. Do you think we’ll be  to the party?
3. La Mansión del Inglés is so successful it will probably be  into twenty different languages.
4. When our flat was  last month, my laptop computer was .
5. I went to work early to go to the meeting yesterday and I realised that the date had been  to the 13th February.
6. A new sports centre is being  in front of our house and it’s completely spoiling our view of the sea.
7. When I saw my grandmother yesterday she told me she had been  in the street on her way to bingo.
8. Cathy can’t use her office until next week as it’s being .
9. Elton John was  in Pinner, Middlesex, England.
10. I thought the interview went well, but I still wasn’t  the job.


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