We can express ideas in two ways, in active voice or in passive voice, depending on where we want to focus attention.
Active Voice
Sometimes we use the passive voice when the person who does/did the action is not known or is not important:
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Passive Voice
Active →
Passive →
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Active →
Passive →
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Alfred Nobel invented dynamite.
subject verb object
In English, the passive voice is used a lot, but in Spanish and in Catalan, it is often preferred to translate the verb into active or reflexive passive voice.
How is the passive voice formed?
In affirmative sentences, the object of the active voice becomes the subject of the passive voice. Then follows the verb "to be" (am/is/are in the present, or was/were in the past) and the past participle (verb of the 3rd column or -ed). If it is necessary to clarify who does/did the action, this agent complement is introduced with "by."
Someone stole my car last week.
My car was stolen last week.
Present Simple: Subject + am/is/ are + past participle (+ by agent)
Olive oil is produced in Mediterranean countries.
People speak/They speak French in some parts of Canada.
French is spoken in some parts of Canada.
Bread is baked every day.
Hacen pan cada día. /Se hace pan cada día.
Past Simple:
Subject + was / were + past participle (+ by agent)
America was discovered in 1492 by Christopher Columbus.
For negative sentences, simply put the verb "to be" in negative:
The classroom isn't cleaned on Tuesdays.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
To form questions, simply put the verb "to be" in front of the subject and with Yes/No:
Are these articles written by the students? → Yes, they are.
Was the book printed in Spain? No, it wasn't.
Special Case
With bitransitive verbs (or ditransitive, which usually complement with two objects: direct and indirect), in Spanish/Catalan, the direct object of the active voice is used as the subject of the passive voice. In English, however, it is preferred to use the indirect object of the active voice as the subject of the passive voice.
Active →
Passive →
If the indirect object is a pronoun, remember that after a verb we use the object pronoun form, but as a subject we use the subject pronoun form:
Active →
Passive →
They showed him the photos.
He was shown the photos. / The photos were shown to him.
Remember the subject and object (or complement) pronouns:
Subject Pron. Object Pron.
I
You
He
She
It
We
You
They
me
you
him
her
it
us
you
them
