The passive voice

You can make an impersonal sentence using "you" as an impersonal pronoun, as in this sentence.

We can also use "we" as an impersonal pronoun, as in this sentence.

Another way to make impersonal sentences in English is using the passive voice, so passive sentences are much more commonly used in English than in Spanish. Besides, they are not limited to formal, written English: they are very often used in spoken English. In this short paragraph there are no less than four passive sentences. Can you see them?

  1. To make a sentence passive in Spanish we have to follow these steps:

    a) Identify the direct object and use it as the passive subject:

      Colón descubrió América.
      América...
    b) Insert the verb SER in the same tense as the verb of the active sentence:

      América fue...
    c) Add the past participle of the main verb:

      América fue descubierta...

    d) Add the agent (it is not always obligatory, but putting the agent at the end rather than the subject at the beginning is often the reason to use the passive voice in Spanish):

      América fue descubierta por Colón.

    In this sentence, the agent is obligatory: "América fue descubierta" is a rather meaningless sentence.

  2. To make a sentence passive in English we can follow the same steps:

    Columbus discovered America.
    America was discovered by Columbus.

    N.B.: The preposition for the agent is BY.

  3. However, in English there is another possibility: we can use the indirect object as the passive subject instead of the direct one:

    Our boss always gives us precise instructions. Precise instructions are always given to us by our boss.
    Our boss always gives us precise instructions. We are always given precise instructions by our boss.

    N.B.: An object pronoun can become a subject pronoun (us ---> we).

    N.B.: The verb BE must agree in number with the new subject:

    They show him the photos. (Plural subject and plural verb) ---> He is shown the photos. (Singular subject and auxiliary verb)