The passive voice

The passive voice
Forma
1.- La voz pasiva se forma poniendo el verbo to be en el mismo tiempo que el verbo de la voz activa y
añadiendo el participio de pasado de ese verbo activo:
Active voice
We keep the butter here.
They broke the window.
People have seen wolves in the streets.
Passive voice
The butter is kept here.
The window was broken.
Wolves have been seen in the streets.
Nótese la forma pasiva de los tiempos continuos; requiere el uso de una forma continua del verbo to be:
Active voice
They are repairing the bridge.
They were carrying the injured player off the field.
Passive voice
The bridge is being repaired.
The injured player was being carried off the field.
Otras formas continuas se usan rara vez en pasiva, así oraciones del tipo:
They have/had been repairing the road.
They will/would be repairing the road.
no se usan normalmente en pasiva.
2.- Las combinaciones de auxiliar + infinitivo se vuelven pasivas utilizando un infinitivo pasivo:
Active voice
You must shut these doors.
You ought to open the windows.
They should have told him (Perfect infinitive active)
Passive voice
These doors must be shut.
The windows ought to be opened.
He should have been told. (Perfect infinitive passive)
Nótense también constucciones del tipo:
Active voice
Passive voice
His decision is to be regretted.
If he is to be believed …
We regret his decision
If we believe him …
3.- El gerundio pasivo es being + participio de pasado:
Active voice
I remember my father taking me to the zoo.
Passive voice
I remember being taken to the zoo by my father.
4.- Véase la siguiente equivalencia entre formas activas y sus correspondientes pasivas:
Tense/verb form
Simple present
Present continuous
Simple past
Past continuous
Present perfect
Past perfect
Future
Conditional
Perfect conditional
Present infinitive
Perfect infinitive
Present participle/gerund
Perfect participle
Active voice
keeps
is keeping
kept
was keeping
has kept
had kept
will keep
would keep
would have kept
to keep
to have kept
keeping
having kept
Passive voice
is kept
is being kept
was kept
was being kept
has been kept
had been kept
will be kept
would be kept
would have been kept
to be kept
to have been kept
being kept
having been kept
Uso
La voz pasiva se usa en inglés cuando es más conveniente o interesante recalcar la cosa hecha que su
agente, o cuando el agente es desconocido: My watch was stolen es mucho más frecuente que Thieves stole my
watch.
Nótese que en teoría una oración con objeto directo e indirecto podría tener dos formas pasivas:
Active voice
Someone gave her a bulldog.
Passive voice
She was given a bulldog.
A bulldog was given to her.
La primera, el objeto indirecto como sujeto de la pasiva, es mucho más frecuente.
Preposiciones con verbos pasivos
En una oración pasiva el agente, a menudo, no es mencionado. Cuando se menciona, es precedido por la
preposición by:
Active voice
Picasso painted this picture.
Who wrote it?
What caused this crack?
Passive voice
This picture was painted by Picasso.
Who was it written by?
What was this crack caused by?
Cuando se trata de materiales y no de agentes, sin embargo:
Active voice
Smoke filled the room.
Paint covered the lock.
Passive voice
The room was filled with smoke.
The lock was covered with paint.
Cuando una combinación verbo + preposición + objeto se pone en pasiva, la preposición permanece
inmediatamente después del verbo:
Active voice
We must write to him.
You can play with these cubs quite safely.
Passive voice
He must be written to.
These cubs can be played with quite safely.
De la misma forma con combinaciones verbo + preposición/adverbio:
Active voice
They threw away the old newspapers.
He looked after the children well.
Passive voice
The old newspapers were thrown away.
The children were well looked after.