AP Spanish Study Sheet: The Passive Voice

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1 Page 1 of 6 Figure It Out! Vendieron muchos vestidos en esta tienda. Muchos vestidos fueron vendidos en esta tienda. Se vendieron muchos vestidos en esta tienda. En esta tienda vendieron muchos vestidos. Read the four sentences above. Do they all say the same thing? Do they all really mean exactly the same thing? If you feel that there is a difference between the message that they convey, try to determine just what that difference is. Introduction It's a good thing there's more than one way to say something! It's part of what makes language interesting and fun to use. But when we say "the same thing," are we really always giving exactly the same message? Suppose a historical tour guide were to tell you that "this bed was slept in by George Washington." Is that the same as if she told you that "George Washington slept in this bed?" The two statements mean the same thing in the sense that they have the same REFERENCE; they refer to the same bare facts. But isn't there a difference in EMPHASIS? In one case we're talking about the bed, and in the other case we're talking about the first President of the United States. One method that both English and Spanish offer us for changing the emphasis or focus of a statement is the PASSIVE VOICE. Basically, this language structure lets us take what is the logical receiver of an action and make it the subject of the sentence. It lets us focus on who or what is acted upon, rather than who or what acts. Spanish is even richer than English in the variety of methods it offers to change focus and emphasis in this way. There are four different methods for changing sentence focus: structural passive "se" passive' impersonal "se" word order Structural Passive In Spanish, you can form a passive sentence with the verb ser and a past participle, just as you can form one in English with the verb to be and a past participle. The person or thing acted upon is the subject of the sentence, and the performer of the action, if you want to mention him, her, or it, shows up in a phrase usually with por in Spanish, or by in English. Here is an example: Las leyes fueron establecidas por el Congreso. The laws were established by the Congress All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only.

2 Page 2 of 6 Notice the following: 1. The Congress established the laws, so it is mentioned in the por ("by") phrase. 2. The laws were the things established, so they appear as the subject of the sentence. 3. You could rephrase the meaning as El Congreso estableció las leyes. 4. The past participle establecidas agrees in number and gender with the subject leyes. Here are two more examples: Estos repuestos fueron hechos en Corea. These parts were made in Korea. (no logical subject mentioned) Los autos serán reparados por mecánicos expertos. The cars will be repaired by expert mechanics. So far, it might appear that Spanish forms passive statements exactly like English. In fact, many Spanish students try to do just that, translating (or attempting to translate) English passive sentences straight into Spanish. The results are often clumsy or even ungrammatical, because there are a number of important differences between the English and Spanish passive voice, as described in the following table: CHARACTERISTICS OF ENGLISH PASSIVE VOICE COMPARED TO SPANISH ENGLISH Common in all types of writing and speech. Since the structural passive voice (be + past participle) is the most common way (and sometimes the only way) to change the focus, English speakers and writers use it constantly, in everything from casual conversation to formal writing. SPANISH Much more limited in relaxed, informal speech. Spanish provides several other options for changing sentence focus, and in fact does not even allow the passive voice in certain grammatical constructions. As a result, it is not very common in spontaneous speech and is used mostly in formal writing, especially official, journalistic, scientific, or bureaucratic communications. Can be used to focus on different sentence elements. English allows sentences such as the following: This bed was slept in by Washington. She was given a pass to the movies. Smoking is believed to be dangerous. These sentences bring into focus subjects that are logically 1) an object of a preposition, 2) an indirect object, and 3) the subject of a subordinate noun clause. Can focus only on the logical direct object of the verb. It's ungrammatical (in fact, it's downright unintelligible) in Spanish to say things like the following: (remember the * means that it's wrong) *Esta cama fue dormida en por Washington. *Ella fue dada un pase para ir al cine. *Fumar es creído ser peligroso. In all of these cases, you must use a different method to change the focus All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only.

3 Used equally in all tenses. Virtually any verb tense in English can sound totally natural in the structural passive. For example: The food is being prepared now. The shop windows are cleaned daily. The floors were polished each winter. Page 3 of 6 Quite unusual in some tenses. The structural passive, while grammatically "correct," often sounds strange in the present, imperfect, and progressive tenses. The English examples at the left could all be expressed in Spanish with the passive voice, but could sound awkward that way. The se Passive An Alternative to the Structural Passive English speakers tend to use the structural passive (ser + past participle) excessively when speaking and writing Spanish. But what alternatives are there? By far the most common one, and probably the most frequent method for forming "passive" statements in Spanish, is the use of the passive se. This se looks just like the se of reflexive verbs, except that it means that the subject, rather than acting upon itself, is acted upon by something or someone else: La comida se está preparando ahora. The food is being prepared now. Se limpian las vitrinas todos los días. The shop windows are cleaned daily. Los pisos se lustraban todos los inviernos. The floors were polished every winter. Note that all of the sentences above are completely identical to regular "reflexive" sentences, and they can even be interpreted that way if you don't mind suspending common knowledge and logic. But the reality is that food does not prepare itself, windows can't clean themselves, and floors aren't self-polishing. Therefore, the reader or hearer is forced to accept the "passive" meaning. While this structure is extremely useful in forming passive-like sentences in Spanish, keep in mind that certain limitations apply: 1. It's only used with third-person verbs. 2. The verb must be transitive. 3. Normally the subject is a non-human noun. 4. It doesn't allow you to specify the agent, meaning the one performing the action. Handling Unusual Passives. The se passive construction often comes in handy for conveying concepts that are expressed in English with complex passives that just don't "carry over" into Spanish. For example: Se considera que es peligroso fumar. Smoking is believed to be dangerous All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only.

4 Page 4 of 6 El Presidente se tiene en alta estima en esta región. The President is highly thought of in this area. Passive se with Auxiliary Verbs. If the verb that you want to make "passive" with se has an auxiliary verb with it like poder, deber, or querer, then it s the auxiliary verb that agrees with the subject, rather than the main verb. Also, you have the option of placing se before the string of verbs or appending it to the infinitive. You can also change the subjectpredicate order. Study the following examples to learn the various alternatives for word order and the placement of the passive se: Se puede cambiar el cheque en el banco. The check can be cashed at the bank. Puede cambiarse el cheque en el banco. " El cheque se puede cambiar en el banco. " El cheque puede cambiarse en el banco. " No se deben lustrar esos zapatos. Those shoes shouldn't be polished. No deben lustrarse esos zapatos. " Esos zapatos no se deben lustrar. " Esos zapatos no deben lustrarse. " Impersonal se When you want to make a statement using an intransitive verb without mentioning the logical subject (performer of the action), you can use the impersonal se structure, which looks a lot like a se-type passive but is not truly passive at all. It is mentioned here because of its similarity to passive se and because of its somewhat similar function; it allows you to refer to an action without focusing on the performer of the action. However, in this case you don't focus on the receiver of the action, either. The focus is entirely on the verb itself. To form an impersonal statement of this type, just put se before an intransitive verb (a verb with no object), or before an auxiliary verb preceding an intransitive verb. The verb must be third person singular. For example: No se habla en voz alta en la biblioteca. One doesn't speak out loud in the library. Se puede vivir bien en este país. One can (it's possible to) live well in this country. Ser and estar. It's even possible to use the impersonal se with the verbs ser and estar, which may sound very strange to the ears of English-speakers but is acceptable in Spanish, though not very common. Cómo se sabe si se es borracho? How can you know if you're drunk? Cuando se está perdido, lo primero que uno hace es buscar un punto de referencia. When you're lost, the first thing you do is look for a point of reference All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only.

5 Page 5 of 6 The "you" in the translation of these examples doesn't really mean "you" of course, but is the generic "you" that we use to mean "somebody". Transitive verbs. You can use the impersonal se with transitive verbs as well, as long as you don't mention the object of the verb. Here are two examples: Dicen que se come muy bien en Buenos Aires. They say that people eat well in Buenos Aires. Se predica mucho pero se hace muy poco. There's a lot of preaching but not much action. Use of Word Order to Change Focus There will be times when you really want to change the focus of the sentence, but can't use the structural passive because it's awkward in Spanish, and can't use the se passive because what you want to say doesn't fall within its restrictions. In these cases, Spanish often offers you a way out through flexible word order. Consider the following examples: En esta cama durmió George Washington. This bed was slept in by George Washington. [Literally: In this bed slept George Washington.] Al soldado le otorgaron una medalla de honor. The soldier was presented (with) a medal of honor. La vitrina la limpiaron los dueños ayer. The shop window was cleaned by the owners yesterday. A María la conoce medio mundo. Maria is known by just about everybody. Remember that, if you move the direct object to the front of the sentence for focus, you must reflect it with a redundant object pronoun, as shown by the word la in the last two examples and the indirect object le in the example before them. These word order "tricks" do not create true passives, but they do allow you to shift the focus and give a passive "feel" to the sentence where it might not be possible any other way. Summary Passive voice and similar techniques are used in English and Spanish to shift the focus of a sentence away from the actor or performer of a verb, and toward the thing acted upon. Spanish provides you with several passive or passive-like structures, including the following: Structural passive (ser + past participle), which works in a way very similar to English passives, but is much less common. Passive se, which allows you to make transitive, third-person verbs passive, especially when the subject is not human All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only.

6 Page 6 of 6 Impersonal se which, while not really a passive, allows you to leave out the subject of intransitive verbs, or transitive verbs where the object is not mentioned. Flexible word order, allowing you to simply move the focus to the beginning of the sentence All rights reserved. This material is intended for the exclusive use of registered users only.