The Passive Voice Flashcards
Uses of Incomplete/Complete Passive Voice
Incomplete: When subject is unknown. A sentence in the incomplete passive voice indicates that an action is performed, but there is no named agent performing the action.
Complete: When the agent is known but you want to put emphasis on the action.
Formation of the Passive Voice
Incomplete: Se + verb in third person singular/plural
Complete: noun + ser + adjectival form of the past participle + por + agent.
The house is built
Se construye la casa.
The houses are built
Se construyen las casas.
Spanish is spoken here.
Se habla español aquí.
They say that education is the key to success.
Se dice que la educación es la clave del éxito.
You need eggs in order to bake a cake.
Se necesitan huevos para cocer una torta.
You shouldn’t swim after a big meal.
No se debe nadar después de una comida grande.
The lights are turned off at 10pm.
Se apagan las luces a las diez de la noche.
You turn left on Elm Street.
Se dobla a la izquierda en la calle Elm.
The bills are paid every Friday.
Se pagan las cuentas cada viernes.
This house was built in 1956
Se construyó esta casa en 1956.
When I was young, you couldn’t eat meat on Fridays
Cuando yo era joven, no se podía comer carne los viernes.
This house will be finished next year.
Se terminará esta casa el año que viene.
A person would die on Pluto
Se moriría en Plutón.
They’ve written this book for cat lovers.
Se ha escrito este libro para los enamorados de los gatos.
The house hadn’t been painted until 1945.
No se había pintado la casa hasta 1945.
The bridge will have been finished for a year in April.
Se habrá terminado el puente hace un año en abril.
The house would have been repainted, but we decided not to sell it.
Se habría repintado la casa, pero decidimos no venderla.
I hope that they don’t serve hot dogs at the reception.
Espero que no se sirven perritos caliente en la recepción.
It was ridiculous that you had to pay so much for cable TV.
Fue ridículo que se tuviera que pagar tanto por televisión.
She hopes that they haven’t sold the dress she wants.
Ella espera que no se haya vendido el vestido que quiere.
She hoped that they hadn’t sold the dress she wanted.
Ella esperaba que no se hubiera vendido el vestido que quería.
The portrait is seen by everyone.
El retrato es visto por todos.
