The passive

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

Ejemplos:
La voz activa He ate all of the cookies.(Comió
todas las galletas.)
La voz pasiva All of the cookies were eaten.(Todas
las galletas fueron comidas.)

Grammatical Rules

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 está escrito para el
presidente.)
 The house was built in 1975.(La casa fue construida en 1975.)
 The room will be cleaned while we are out.(Se limpiará la habitación
mientras estemos fuera.)

Para transformar una oración activa a pasiva tenemos en cuenta los siguientes
puntos:

1. El objeto de la oración 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 oración principal pasa a ser complemento agente de la
pasiva.

4. Si hacemos mención en la oración del sujeto que realiza la acción (sujeto

agente), este irá normalmente precedido por la preposición “by”.

Ejemplos:

La voz activa La voz pasiva

Mark Twain wrote the book. The book was written by Mark
Twain.

(Mark Twain escribió el libro.) (El libro fue escrito por Mark
Twain.)
The housekeeper will clean the The room will be cleaned by the
room. housekeeper.

(La ama de casa limpiará la (La habitación será limpiada por la

habitación.) ama de casa.)

Uses (Usos)

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

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 más importancia a lo que pasó,
que a quién realizó la acción o cuando no queremos decir quien la realizó.

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.
Active or passive?
Exercises: active A / passive P

Guernica was painted by Picasso.

The doctor talked to him.

The fire was put out.

My parents gave me a present.

English is spoken here.

 The dog has been taken to the vet.

Somebody has stolen my bag.

The car has been repaired.

Some people were laughing.

Olive oil is made from olives.

The work will be finished by two.

A comet was seen for a long time.

Passive voice - present

Use: am, is, are.

Spanish in many countries. (speak)

The cars by that man. (repair)

The kitchen every day. (clean)

Many tools from plastic. (make)

Paper from wood. (make)

I to school by my mother. (drive)

The cows every morning. (feed)

The shop by the manager. (close)

I to the hospital every week. (take)

The presidents by the people. (elect)

Passive voice - 1
Exercises: active to passive.

01.- An old woman feeds the pigeons.

The pigeons were fed/are fed by an old woman.

02.- A burglar broke the window.

The window was broken/is broken by a burglar.

03.- Someone has made a mistake.

A mistake was made/has been made.
04.- Everyone is going to love her.
She is going to be loved/was going to be loved by
everyone.

05.- Cervantes wrote 'Don Quixote'.

'Don Quixote' was written/has been written by Cervantes.

06.- She is helping my sister.

My sister is helped/is being helped by her.

07.- Pamela will drive the bus.

The bus will been driven/will be driven by Pamela.
 08.- I was watering the plants.
The plants are being watered/were being watered by me.

 My father bought the house.

 The chef cooks food every day.

 The teacher solved the problems.

 Millions of tourists visit Spain every year.

 The dog ate my dinner.

 The Romans built bridges with stone.

 Jimmy feeds the pigeons.

 The children answered the question.

 The postman delivered the letters

 The man drives a car.

 Graham Bell invented the telephone.

 The cat chased a mouse.

Passive: present - past
Use: am, is, are, was, were.

 Rose ________________ by the snake. (scare-past)

 Many cars ________________  in Japan. (make-present)
 The cinema ________________  by the police. (close-past)
 The work ________________  three times a day. (do-present)
 The pictures ________________  by Picasso. (paint-past)
 The cheese ________________  by the mice. (eat-past)
 These knives  ________________ to cut up food. (use-present)
 They ________________  the question two times. (ask-past)
 Our house ________________  in 1902. (build-past)
 Computers ________________  all over the world. (use-present)
 An ovation ________________  to the actors. (give-present)
 A bicycle ________________  from her garage. (steal-past)

Build sentences.

1. been The opened. has door:

2. is Walking the grass on prohibited.:

3. is Breakfast 8.30. at served:

4. shop. in that is English spoken:

 5. were this The morning. watered flowers:

6. has by your cat! stolen The meat been:

7. being hair is brushed. Your:

8. are naughty. punished The will children they if be:

9. car is repaired not yet. Your:

10. because been eaten! happy that I cake awful has am:

Rewrite the sentences in passive voice.

 He opens the door. -

 We set the table. -
 She pays a lot of money. -
 I draw a picture. -
 They wear blue shoes. -
 They don't help you. -
 He doesn't open the book. -
 You do not write the letter. -
 Does your mum pick you up? -
 Does the police officer catch the thief? –

Write passive sentences in Simple Past.

1. the test / write 

2. the table / set 
3. the cat / feed 
4. the lights / switch on 
5. the house / build 
6. dinner / serve 
7. this computer / sell / not 
8. the car / stop / not 
9. the tables / clean / not 
10. the children / pick up / not 

Complete with the complements

They gave him a present.
A present was given to him ... ...

I cleaned all the rooms.

All the rooms were cleaned ... ...

It impressed me.
I was impressed ... ...

I closed the door.

The door was closed ... ...

We shot the gun.

The gun was shot ... ...

We solved the problem.

The problem was solved ... ...

They built the house.

The house was built ... ...
 You sang a lot of songs.
A lot of songs were sung ... ...

He drove the bus.

The bus was driven ... ...

He caught the thief.

The thief was caught ... ...

She sent an email.

An email was sent ... ...

He chose the purple vase.

The purple vase was chosen ... ...

Write passive sentences in Simple Present.

1. the documents / print 
2. the window / open 
3. the shoes / buy 
4. the car / wash 
5. the litter / throw away 
6. the letter / send 
7. the book / read / not 
8. the songs / sing / not 
9. the food / eat / not 
10. the shop / close / not