The True Passive Voice:

In a normal sentence, the subject does the work. "The chef cooks the dinner." Here, the chef is the boss. This is the active voice. In the passive voice, we flip the script. "The dinner is cooked by the chef." Now, the dinner is the subject. The dinner isn't doing anything. It is just sitting there being delicious. We use this when the result matters more than the person. It is like a grammar traffic light. It tells the listener to stop looking at the person. It tells them to look at what happened instead. It is very common when the "doer" is unknown. Or maybe you just want to be a bit mysterious.

1. 1Building this sentence is like following a recipe. You need four main ingredients.
2. 2The Subject: This is the person or thing receiving the action.
3. 3The Verb ser: You must conjugate this to match your subject. For A1, we usually use es or son.
4. 4The Past Participle: This is the main verb ending in -ado or -ido.
5. 5The Agent: Use the word por followed by the person who did it.
6. 6Crucial rule: The past participle is like an adjective here. It must match the subject in gender and number. If the subject is las cartas (the letters), the verb becomes enviadas. Yes, even native speakers forget this sometimes! Think of it as a matching game. If the subject is plural, the participle needs an s. If the subject is feminine, the participle needs an a.

Use this when you want to sound like a professional. It is great for job interviews. "The project was finished on time." It sounds much more impressive than "I finished it." You will also use it for historical facts. "The book was written in 1920." It is perfect for news headlines. "The bank was robbed." In these cases, the action is the big news. You can also use it when you want to avoid blame. "The vase was broken." Notice how you didn't say who broke it? That is a classic move. It is also common in academic writing and formal letters.

Do not use this for every sentence. Spanish speakers love the active voice. Saying "The coffee is drunk by me" sounds like a robot. In a cafe, just say "Bebo café." Using the passive voice too much makes you sound stiff. It is like wearing a tuxedo to a beach party. It is technically correct, but it feels weird. Avoid it in casual chats with friends. Also, if the action is very simple, keep it active. Don't say "The door is opened by him." Just say "He opens the door." Use it sparingly for maximum impact.

The biggest mistake is the "Agreement Trap." You might say La casa es vendido. That is wrong! La casa is feminine. So, it must be La casa es vendida. Always check your endings. Another mistake is using the verb estar. Estar describes a state or a result. Ser describes the action happening. If you say La puerta está cerrada, you mean it is already closed. If you say La puerta es cerrada, you mean someone is closing it right now. Finally, don't forget the por. Some people try to use de, but por is the standard for the agent.

You will often see the "Passive Se." This looks like Se venden casas. It is much more common in daily life. The ser passive is the "True Passive." It is more specific and formal. Think of the se version as your casual jeans. Think of the ser version as your fancy suit. The ser passive usually mentions who did the action using por. The se passive almost never mentions the doer. If you want to say "The cake was made by my grandma," use the ser passive. If you want to say "Cakes for sale," use the se passive.