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.)

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

writes a letter.
Simple Present Active: Rita

Passive: A letter is written by Rita.

Simple Past Active: Rita wrote a letter.

Passive: A letter was written by Rita.

Present Perfect Active: Rita has written a letter.

Passive: A letter has been written by Rita.

Future I Active: Rita will write a letter.

Passive: A letter will be written by Rita.

Hilfsverben Active: Rita can write a letter.

Passive: A letter can be written by Rita.

Examples of Passive

Tense Subject Verb Object

 is writing a letter.
Present Progressive Active: Rita

Passive: A letter is being written by Rita.

Past Progressive Active: Rita was writing a letter.

Passive: A letter was being written by Rita.

Past Perfect Active: Rita had written a letter.

Passive: A letter had been written by Rita.

Future II Active: Rita will have written a letter.

Passive: A letter will have been written by Rita.

Conditional I Active: Rita would write a letter.

Passive: A letter would be written by Rita.

Conditional II Active: Rita would have written a letter.

Passive: 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 Verb Object 1 Object 2

wrote a letter to me.

Active: Rita

Passive: A letter was written to me by Rita.

Passive: I 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

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 A few well-chosen words convey a great deal
well-chosen words. of meaning.

Our planet is wrapped in a mass of gases. A mass of gases wrap around our planet.

Waste materials are disposed of in a variety of The city disposes of waste materials in a
ways. variety of 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 The Beatles wrote "A Hard Day's Night".
Beatles.

The movie ET was directed by Spielberg. Spielberg directed the movie ET.

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 Interrogativa negativa

The house was built The house wasn't Was the house built in Wasn't the house built in
in 1899. built in 1899. 1899? 1899?

These houses were These houses weren't Were these houses Weren't these houses
built in 1899. built in 1899. built in 1899? built in 1899?
"TO CLEAN", VOZ PASIVA

Sujeto + "to be" (conjugado) + "past participle" + resto de la oracin

Simple present

The house is cleaned every day.

Present continuous

The house is being cleaned at the moment.

Simple past

The house was cleaned yesterday.

Past continuous

The house was being cleaned last week.

Present perfect

The house has been cleaned since you left.

Past perfect

The house had been cleaned before they arrived.

Future

The house will be cleaned next week.

Future continuous
 Sujeto + "to be" (conjugado) + "past participle" + resto de la oracin

The house will be being cleaned tomorrow.

Present conditional

The house would be cleaned if they had visitors.

Past conditional

The house would have been cleaned if it had been dirty.

Inifinitivo

The house must be cleaned before we arrive.

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.