24 The passive
Passive constructions have two principal functions:
- to bring a noun other than the subject of an active verb to the front of the
sentence.
- to allow for the possibility of not expressing the subject of an active verb.
Both these functions are carried out by the English construction ‘be’+ past participle.
This construction has a formal Spanish parallel in Spanish ser+ past participle; but the
latter is nowhere near so frequently used. This is partly because the ser+ past participle
construction is chiefly limited to formal written Spanish and partly because Spanish
has a number of other ways of expressing the passive idea, no two of which are exactly
equivalent.
24.1Ser+ past participle
Example:
Las nuevas medidas fueron adoptadas en seguida por el gobierno.
The new measures were adopted immediately by the government.
This construction is the most straightforward equivalent of the corresponding active
construction and, like the active construction, focuses on the action of the verb
(contrast estar+ past participle below, which focuses on a resultant state).
Este libro fue escrito por un amigo mío.
This book was written by a friend of mine. (action)
Contrast:
El libro estaba escrito en francés.
The book was written in French. (state)
It cannot be used to bring anything except the direct object of the verb to the front of the
sentence. The English sentence ‘I was given a book by Pedro’ cannot be rendered in
Spanish by *fui dado un libro por Pedro.
Although the ser+ past participle construction is infrequently used in spoken Spanish,
it is not necessarily to be avoided in the formal written language.
In the present and imperfect tenses, ser+ past participle must refer to an action actually
in progress, or to a series of repeated actions which are in progress:
