Spanish Passive Voice - Voz pasiva - Using and Avoiding the Passive Voice

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Spanish Passive Voice ~ Voz pasiva ~ Usage

The Spanish voz pasiva is used for two reasons:

1. To focus on the person or thing performing the action
Un niño escribió este libro.	vs	Este libro fue escrito por un niño
A child wrote this book.	vs	This book was written by a child.

2. To focus on an action without identifying the performer
José escribió este libro.	vs	Este libro fue escrito en 1927.
José wrote this book.	vs	This book was written in 1927.

La voz pasiva is rather formal and is much less common in spoken Spanish than spoken English. In Spanish, the passive tends to be reserved for writing, such as newspapers and literature. The passive is used mainly when there is a named agent (e.g., Este libro fue escrito por un niño). However, there are several alternatives to la voz pasiva (besides la voz activa) when you want to focus on an action without identifying the performer:

	La verdad está sabida.	El libro es leído pronto.	Eso no es dicho.
Reflexive se	Se sabe la verdad.	Se lee pronto el libro.	No se dice.
Ellos conjugation (without pronoun)	Saben la verdad.	Leen pronto el libro.	No dicen eso.
Todo el mundo/ Nadie	Todo el mundo sabe la verdad.	Todo el mundo lee pronto el libro.	Nadie dice eso.
La gente	La gente sabe la verdad.	La gente lee pronto el libro.	La gente no dice eso.

Part I: Introduction Spanish Verb Index

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