Active Passive: They Made This Car in 1963. This Car Was Made in 1963

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Como en español, la voz pasiva se forma con el verbo 'to be' (ser) y el participio pasado.

They made this car in 1963. (active) This car was made in 1963. (passive)

El sujeto de un verbo en pasiva corresponde al objeto de un verbo en activa.

Spanish  is spoken in Argentina    PASIVA

(sujeto)
Argentinians speak  Spanish ACTIVA

(objeto)

Estudia la siguiente lista de las formas del verbo en pasiva.


(pp = participio pasado)

Verb Tense Structure Example


PRESENT SIMPLE am/are/is + pp Spanish is spoken here.
PRESENT
CONTINUOUS  
am/are/is being + pp Your questions are being answered.
FUTURE (WILL) will be + pp It’ll be painted by next week.
am/are/is going to
FUTURE (GOING TO) Terry is going to be made redundant next year.
be + pp
PAST SIMPLE was/were + pp We were invited to the party, but we didn’t go.
The hotel room was being cleaned when we got
PAST CONTINUOUS was/were being + pp
back from shopping.
PRESENT PERFECT have/has been + pp The President of America has been shot.
When he got home he found that all of his
PAST PERFECT had been + pp
money had been stolen.
Our baby will have been born before
FUTURE PERFECT will have been + pp
Christmas.

CARACTERISTICAS
1. Se dice que una oración está en VOZ ACTIVA cuando la significación del verbo es
producida por la persona gramatical a quien aquél se refiere:
Pedro de Mendoza founded Buenos Aires.
(Pedro de Mendoza fundó Buenos Aires).
2. Se dice que una oración está en VOZ PASIVA cuando la significación del verbo es
recibida por la persona gramatical a quien aquél se refiere:
Buenos Aires was founded by Pedro de Mendoza.
(Buenos Aires fue fundada por Pedro de Mendoza).
3. Se forma con el auxiliar del verbo to be y el participio pasado del verbo que se
conjuga.
4. El complemento de la oración activa pasa a sujeto de la pasiva. Como en castellano,
el sujeto de la activa se puede conservar como sujeto agente.
5. Cuando un verbo tiene dos complementos se pueden hacer dos estructuras de
pasiva:
a) A book was sent to Tom by Mr. Smith, Un libro fue enviado a Tom por Mr. Smith.
b) Tom was sent a book by Mr. Smith (pasiva idiomática). Esta estructura no es
posible en castellano. 

MODELO DE VERBO EN VOZ PASIVA


TO BE SEEN = SER VISTO

PRESENTE PASADO
I am seen, soy visto I was seen, fui visto
you are seen, eres visto you were seen, fuiste visto
he is seen, es visto he was seen, fue visto
we are seen, somos vistos we were seen, fuimos vistos
you are seen, sois vistos you were seen, fuisteis vistos
they are seen, son vistos they were seen, fueron vistos

PRETERITO PERFECTO FUTURO


I have been seen, he sido visto I shall be seen, seré visto
you have been seen, has sido visto you will be seen, serás visto
he has been seen, ha sido visto he will be seen, será visto
we have been seen, hemos sido vistos we shall be seen, seremos vistos
you have been seen, habéis sido vistos you will be seen, seréis vistos
they have been seen, han sido vistos they will be seen, serán vistos

PRETERITO PLUSCUAMPERFECTO:  I had been seen, había sido visto


CONDICIONAL:  I should be seen, sería visto
FUTURO PERFECTO:  I shall have been seen, habré sido visto
CONDICIONAL PERFECTO:  I should have been seen, habría sido visto

VOZ ACTIVA Y PASIVA: REGLAS PRACTICAS EN 4 PASOS.

1. La voz pasiva se forma con el verbo to be conjugado más el participio del


verbo principal. En inglés es mucho más frecuente que en español y, normalmente,
aparece cuando no es importante quien realiza una acción sino el hecho en sí. Por
eso, no siempre que veamos una pasiva, tenemos que traducirlo literalmente, puesto
que en español suena más forzado. Sólo es posible el uso de la voz pasiva con
verbos transitivos (verbos que llevan complemento directo).
VOZ ACTIVA VOZ PASIVA
Tom writes a letter A letter is written by Tom
Tom is writing a letter A letter is being written by Tom
Tom was writing a letter A letter was being written by Tom
Tom wrote a letter A letter was written by Tom
Tom has written a letter A letter has been written by Tom
Tom had written a letter A letter had been written by Tom
Tom will write a letter A letter will be written by Tom
Tom is going to write a letter A letter is going to be written by Tom
Tom can write a letter A letter can be written by Tom
Tom could write a letter A letter could be written by Tom
Tom must write a letter A letter must be written by Tom
Tom may write a letter A letter may be written...
Tom might write a letter A letter might be written...

2. El sujeto agente se expresa con by. Sin embargo, en la mayoría de las ocasiones
se prescinde del sujeto ya que no nos interesa saber quién exactamente ejecuta la
acción. Si una oración activa tiene complemento directo e indirecto, cualquiera de
los dos complementos puede ser sujeto paciente de la pasiva:
ACTIVE: Someone gives me a dog
PASSIVE 1: A dog is given to me
PASSIVE 2: I am given a dog (forma pasiva idiomática)
La forma pasiva de doing, seeing, etc es being done, being seen, etc.
ACTIVE: I don't like people telling me what to do
PASSIVE: I don't like being told what to do
En ocasiones en las que ocurre algo a veces imprevisto, no planeado o fortuito para la
formación de la voz pasiva se prefiere usar get y no be:
get hurt, get annoyed, get divorced, get married, get invited, get bored, get lost

3. Las construcciones impersonales (se dice, se comenta, etc.) son muy típicas de la
pasiva y difíciles de traducir para los hispanoparlantes. Este tipo de construcción
pasiva -utilizada cada vez con mayor frecuencia en los medios- se forma con la
estructura sujeto + to be + participle: It is reported (Se informa); It is said (Se
dice); It is known (Se sabe); It is supposed (Se supone); It is considered (Se
considera); It is expected (Se espera). Veamos algunos ejemplos:

ACTIVE: Everybody thinks Cathy works very hard.


PASSIVE 1: Cathy is thought to work very hard. (Se piensa que Cathy...)
PASSIVE 2: It is thought that Cathy works very hard. (Se piensa que Cathy...)
ACTIVE: They believe Tom is wearing a white pullover.
PASSIVE 1: Tom is believed to be wearing a white pullover. (Se cree que...)
PASSIVE 2: It is believed that Tom is wearing a white pullover. (Se cree que...)

4. USOS ADICIONALES DE SUPPOSE


a) Se usa en afirmativo para acciones que estaban planeadas, que se supone que van
a realizar, u obligaciones que uno debería cumplir.
You were supposed to be here at 9:00 am!!
b) Otras veces, el uso de supposed indica que estos planes o obligaciones finalmente
no se cumplieron:
The train was supposed to arrive at 5 o'clock. (but it arrived at 8 o'clock)
You were supposed to go to the supermarket. (but you didn't go)
c) Por el contrario, en negativo, supposed significa la no conveniencia o prohibición de
hacer algo:
You are not supposed to smoke here. (you are not allowed to smoke here)
You are not supposed to copy our web files. (you must not copy our web files)

THE PASSIVE VOICE

Select from the follow ing

Passive and Active Voices


Verbs are also said to be either active (The executive committee approved the new
policy) or passive (The new policy was approved by the executive committee) in voice. In
the active voice, the subject and verb relationship is straightforward: the subject is a be-er
or a do-er and the verb moves the sentence along. In the passive voice, the subject of the
sentence is neither a do-er or a be-er, but is acted upon by some other agent or by
something unnamed (The new policy was approved). Computerized grammar checkers can
pick out a passive voice construction from miles away and ask you to revise it to a more
active construction. There is nothing inherently wrong with the passive voice, but if you
can say the same thing in the active mode, do so (see exceptions below). Your text will
have more pizzazz as a result, since passive verb constructions tend to lie about in their
pajamas and avoid actual work.

We find an overabundance of the passive voice in sentences created by self-protective


business interests, magniloquent educators, and bombastic military writers (who must get
weary of this accusation), who use the passive voice to avoid responsibility for
actions taken. Thus "Cigarette ads were designed to appeal especially to children"
places the burden on the ads — as opposed to "We designed the cigarette ads to
appeal especially to children," in which "we" accepts responsibility. At a White
House press briefing we might hear that "The President was advised that certain members
of Congress were being audited" rather than "The Head of the Internal Revenue service
advised the President that her agency was auditing certain members of Congress" because
the passive construction avoids responsibility for advising and for auditing. One further
caution about the passive voice: we should not mix active and passive constructions in the
same sentence: "The executive committee approved the new policy, and the calendar for
next year's meetings was revised" should be recast as "The executive committee approved
the new policy and revised the calendar for next year's meeting."

Take the quiz (below) as an exercise in recognizing and changing passive verbs.

The passive voice does exist for a reason, however, and its presence is
not always to be despised. The passive is particularly useful (even
recommended) in two situations:

 When it is more important to draw our attention to the person or


thing acted upon: The unidentified victim was apparently struck
during the early morning hours.
 When the actor in the situation is not important: The aurora borealis can be
observed in the early morning hours.

The passive voice is especially helpful (and even regarded as mandatory) in scientific
or technical writing or lab reports, where the actor is not really important but the process or
principle being described is of ultimate importance. Instead of writing "I poured 20 cc of
acid into the beaker," we would write "Twenty cc of acid is/was poured into the beaker."
The passive voice is also useful when describing, say, a mechanical process in which the
details of process are much more important than anyone's taking responsibility for the
action: "The first coat of primer paint is applied immediately after the acid rinse."

We use the passive voice to good effect in a paragraph in which we wish to shift
emphasis from what was the object in a first sentence to what becomes the subject in
subsequent sentences.

The executive committee approved an entirely new policy for dealing with academic
suspension and withdrawal. The policy had been written by a subcommittee on student
behavior. If students withdraw from course work before suspension can take effect, the
policy states, a mark of "IW" . . . .

The paragraph is clearly about this new policy so it is appropriate that policy move from
being the object in the first sentence to being the subject of the second sentence. The
passive voice allows for this transition.†

Passive Verb Formation


The passive forms of a verb are created by combining a form of the "to be verb" with
the past participle of the main verb. Other helping verbs are also sometimes present: "The
measure could have been killed in committee." The passive can be used, also, in various
tenses. Let's take a look at the passive forms of "design."

Auxiliary Past
Tense Subject
Singular Plural Participle
Present The car/cars is are designed.
Present perfect The car/cars has been have been designed.
Past The car/cars was were designed.
Past perfect The car/cars had been had been designed.
Future The car/cars will be will be designed.
Future perfect The car/cars will have been will have been designed.
Present progressive The car/cars is being are being designed.
Past progressive The car/cars was being were being designed.

A sentence cast in the passive voice will not always include an agent of the action. For
instance if a gorilla crushes a tin can, we could say "The tin can was crushed by the
gorilla." But a perfectly good sentence would leave out the gorilla: "The tin can was
crushed." Also, when an active sentence with an indirect object is recast in the passive, the
indirect object can take on the role of subject in the passive sentence:

Active Professor Villa gave Jorge an A.


Passive An A was given to Jorge by Professor Villa.
Passive Jorge was given an A.

Only transitive verbs (those that take objects) can be transformed into passive
constructions. Furthermore, active sentences containing certain verbs cannot be
transformed into passive structures. To have is the most important of these verbs. We can
say "He has a new car," but we cannot say "A new car is had by him." We can say "Josefina
lacked finesse," but we cannot say "Finesse was lacked." Here is a brief list of such verbs*:

resemble look like equal agree with


mean contain hold comprise
lack suit fit become

Verbals in Passive Structures


Verbals or verb forms can also take on features of the passive voice. An infinitive
phrase in the passive voice, for instance, can perform various functions within a sentence
(just like the active forms of the infinitive).

 Subject: To be elected by my peers is a great honor.


 Object: That child really likes to be read to by her mother.
 Modifier: Grasso was the first woman to be elected governor in her own right.

The same is true of passive gerunds.

 Subject: Being elected by my peers was a great thrill.


 Object: I really don't like being lectured to by my boss.
 Object of preposition: I am so tired of being lectured to by my boss.

With passive participles, part of the passive construction is often omitted, the result being
a simple modifying participial phrase.

 [Having been] designed for off-road performance, the Pathseeker does not
always behave well on paved highways.

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