Spanish Passive Voice:

In a normal sentence, the subject performs the action. "Juan buys the bread." Juan is doing the work. In the passive voice, the bread is the subject. But the bread does nothing. It just sits there being bought. The sentence becomes: "The bread is bought by Juan." The focus is now on the bread. This is very useful when the person doing the action is unknown. It is also useful when the person is not important. Imagine you find a lost dog. You might say, "The dog was found." You don't care who found it. You just care that the dog is safe. In Spanish, we use the verb ser to build this. We also use a past participle. It works very similarly to English. If you can say it in English, you can likely say it in Spanish. Just remember that Spanish loves agreement. We will talk about that soon.

1. 1Building a passive sentence is like following a recipe. You need three main ingredients. Follow these steps to get it right:
2. 2Start with the thing receiving the action. This is your new subject.
3. 3Add the verb ser. You must conjugate it to match your subject.
4. 4Add the past participle of the main action verb.
5. 5Change the ending of the past participle. It must match the subject's gender.
6. 6Change the ending to match the subject's number (singular or plural).
7. 7Optional: Add por followed by the person who did the action.
8. 8Example: Las cartas (The letters) + fueron (were) + escritas (written) + por María (by María). Notice how escritas is feminine and plural. It matches las cartas. Yes, even native speakers mess this up sometimes. Just take it slow. Think of it as a matching game.

When should you pull out this grammar tool? Use it in formal writing. It is perfect for a job interview. You can say, "The goals were achieved." This sounds very professional. It is also great for news headlines. "The bank was robbed" uses the passive voice. Use it when the "who" is a mystery. If someone ate your lunch, say, "My sandwich was eaten!" You don't know the thief yet. Use it in history class. "The city was founded in 1500." It makes the event the most important part. It is also common in literature. It adds a poetic or serious tone. Think of it as your "serious voice." Use it when you want to sound objective. It removes personal bias from the sentence.

Don't use this for every sentence. If you do, you will sound like a robot. In casual conversation, Spanish speakers avoid this. If you are ordering tacos, don't say, "The tacos are wanted by me." That sounds very strange. Just say, "I want tacos." Avoid it when the action is simple. Don't use it if you want to be direct. Passive voice can feel a bit distant. It can even feel a bit cold. If you are talking to friends, stay active. Also, Spanish has a "shortcut" called the Passive Se. We use se + verb for most daily passive things. For example, Se vende pan (Bread is sold). This is much more common than the ser version. Use the ser version for formal situations only.

The biggest mistake is forgetting agreement. In English, "written" never changes. In Spanish, it does. If the subject is a girl, the verb ending changes. If the subject is plural, add an "s." Another mistake is using estar instead of ser. La puerta está cerrada means "The door is closed" (a state). La puerta fue cerrada means "The door was closed" (an action). Don't mix them up! It is like mixing up salt and sugar. They look the same but taste very different. Also, don't forget the word por. Some learners use de or para by mistake. Always use por to introduce the person doing the action. Finally, don't overuse it. Keep your speech natural and active.

Let's compare the Passive Voice with the Active Voice. Active: El gato come el pez (The cat eats the fish). Passive: El pez es comido por el gato (The fish is eaten by the cat). See the flip? Now, let's look at the "Passive Se." This is the most common way to be passive. Se habla español (Spanish is spoken). This is much shorter than El español es hablado. Most signs in Spain use the se version. The ser version is for specific, one-time events. The se version is for general rules or habits. Think of ser passive as a specific movie scene. Think of se passive as a general documentary. Both have their place in your toolkit.