Passive Voice
Spanish, like English, uses the passive voice to emphasize the action or the receiver of the action rather than who performs it. There are two main ways to form the passive voice in Spanish: theserpassive and thesepassive.
Ser Passive
Theserpassive is formed with the verbser+ past participle (agreeing in gender and number with the subject).
Formation
Usage
- Used to emphasize the action and its result.
- Common in formal writing and where the doer is mentioned (introduced bypor).
Se Passive
Thesepassive (or passivese) is formed usingse+ verb (in third person singular or plural, according to the noun).
Formation
Usage
- Used for general statements or when the doer is unknown or irrelevant.
- More common in everyday language.
Differences
Examples
Summary
- Useser+ past participle for a traditional passive construction, especially when naming the agent.
- Usese+ verb for a more impersonal, widely used passive form.
- Both forms shift the focus from the doer to the action or its recipient.
- Gender and number agreement is important in theserpassive but not in thesepassive.
- Choose the form that best fits the context and emphasis you want to convey.
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Last updated: Thu Jul 17, 2025