Master Passive Constructions in Spanish
The passive voice (voz pasiva) is a grammatical construction that allows you to emphasize the action or the object that receives the action, rather than focusing on who performs it. This is especially useful when the person or thing performing the action is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from context.
In Spanish, there are two main ways to form the passive voice: the traditional passive (using ser + past participle) and the passive reflexive (using se). Both serve to shift focus away from the subject performing the action.
The passive voice is used when you want to:
Active Voice
Juan vende carros en frente de mi casa.
Juan sells cars in front of my house.
Focus: Juan (the subject doing the action)
Passive Voice (Traditional)
Carros son vendidos en frente de mi casa por Juan.
Cars are sold in front of my house by Juan.
Focus: Cars (the object receiving the action)
Passive Reflexive
Se venden carros en frente de mi casa.
They sell cars in front of my house. / Cars are sold in front of my house.
Focus: The action itself (subject is eliminated)
The passive voice allows you to eliminate or de-emphasize the subject to focus entirely on the action. This is particularly useful in formal writing, news reports, scientific texts, and when the doer of the action is unknown or irrelevant.
Subject + SER (conjugated) + Past Participle + (por + agent)
The past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject (the thing receiving the action).
La casa es construida por los obreros.
The house is built by the workers.
La casa (f. sing.) + es + construida (f. sing.) + por los obreros
Los libros son leídos por los estudiantes.
The books are read by the students.
Los libros (m. pl.) + son + leídos (m. pl.) + por los estudiantes
Las cartas fueron enviadas ayer.
The letters were sent yesterday.
Las cartas (f. pl.) + fueron + enviadas (f. pl.)
In the passive voice, you always use SER (not ESTAR) because you're describing an action, not a result or state.
SER + Past Participle = Action (Passive Voice)
La puerta es cerrada por María.
The door is closed by María. (The action of closing)
ESTAR + Past Participle = Result/State
La puerta está cerrada.
The door is closed. (The current state - it's already closed)
Note: While ESTAR + past participle is grammatically correct, it carries a completely different meaning. It describes a result or state, not an action. In passive voice, we always use SER to emphasize the action being performed.
The passive reflexive (also called "se pasivo" or "pasiva refleja") is a very common way to form passive sentences in Spanish. It's simpler than the traditional passive and is preferred in everyday speech.
The passive reflexive works by eliminating the subject and replacing it with SE, then matching the conjugation of the verb to the object (the thing receiving the action).
Need a refresher on se and object pronouns? .
SE + Verb (conjugated to match object) + Object
Se venden carros en frente de mi casa.
Cars are sold in front of my house.
SE + venden (3rd pl. to match "carros") + carros
Se vende el carro en frente de mi casa.
The car is sold in front of my house.
SE + vende (3rd sing. to match "el carro") + el carro
Se construyen casas nuevas.
New houses are built.
SE + construyen (3rd pl. to match "casas") + casas
Traditional Passive: The past participle must agree in both gender and number with the subject.
Passive Reflexive: The verb only agrees in number (singular/plural) with the object. Gender is not considered because the verb is conjugated, not a past participle.
Las casas son construidas. (f. pl.)
The houses are built.
Traditional: construidas agrees in gender (f) and number (pl)
Se construyen las casas.
The houses are built.
Reflexive: construyen only agrees in number (pl), not gender
The passive voice can be used in any tense. Simply conjugate SER in the desired tense and keep the past participle agreeing with the subject. For passive reflexive, conjugate the main verb in the desired tense.
Traditional Passive
El libro es leído por María.
The book is read by María.
Passive Reflexive
Se lee el libro.
The book is read.
Traditional Passive
La carta fue enviada ayer.
The letter was sent yesterday.
Passive Reflexive
Se envió la carta ayer.
The letter was sent yesterday.
Traditional Passive
Los edificios eran construidos en esa época.
Buildings were being built in that era.
Passive Reflexive
Se construían edificios en esa época.
Buildings were being built in that era.
Traditional Passive
El proyecto será completado el próximo mes.
The project will be completed next month.
Passive Reflexive
Se completará el proyecto el próximo mes.
The project will be completed next month.
Traditional Passive
Las ventanas han sido limpiadas.
The windows have been cleaned.
Passive Reflexive
Se han limpiado las ventanas.
The windows have been cleaned.
Traditional Passive
El problema sería resuelto fácilmente.
The problem would be solved easily.
Passive Reflexive
Se resolvería el problema fácilmente.
The problem would be solved easily.
Understanding passive voice is essential for advanced Spanish. Our native tutors can help you practice both traditional passive and passive reflexive constructions in real conversations.