Passive Voice

The passive voice in Spanish is used to shift the focus from the subject to the action of the sentence. It is formed using the verb "ser" followed by the past participle of the main verb. The subject of the sentence usually becomes the agent introduced by the preposition "por".

Formation

To form the passive voice, follow these steps:

1. Start with the subject of the active sentence.
2. Place the verb "ser" in the appropriate form according to the subject.
3. Add the past participle of the main verb.
4. Include the preposition "por" followed by the agent (optional).

Here is the conjugation of the verb "ser" in the present tense to help you form the passive voice:

• Yo: soy
• Tú: eres
• Él/Ella/Usted: es
• Nosotros/Nosotras: somos
• Vosotros/Vosotras: sois
• Ellos/Ellas/Ustedes: son

Examples

Here are some examples to illustrate how the passive voice is formed:

• Active: "La empresa vende productos." (The company sells products.) Passive: "Los productos son vendidos por la empresa." (The products are sold by the company.)

• Active: "Las noticias sorprendieron a todos." (The news surprised everyone.) Passive: "Todos fueron sorprendidos por las noticias." (Everyone was surprised by the news.)

• Active: "Limpio la casa todos los días." (I clean the house every day.) Passive: "La casa es limpiada todos los días." (The house is cleaned every day.)

• Active: "El profesor corrigió los exámenes." (The teacher corrected the exams.) Passive: "Los exámenes fueron corregidos por el profesor." (The exams were corrected by the teacher.)

Notes

• The agent introduced by "por" is optional in passive voice constructions. If it is not included, the focus remains on the action rather than who performed it.
• The past participle of regular verbs is formed by adding "-ado" for -ar verbs and "-ido" for -er and -ir verbs.
• Irregular verbs have their own past participle forms, so it's important to learn them individually.

Remember that the passive voice is used to emphasize the action rather than the subject. It can be a useful tool to vary sentence structure and focus on different aspects of a sentence.