The Passive Voice Agent

In a normal sentence, the subject does the action. "The chef has prepared the meal." This is active and direct. But sometimes, the meal is more important than the chef. Or maybe the chef wants to stay anonymous. In those cases, we flip the sentence. "The meal has been prepared." In Portuguese, we use a combination of three verbs to make this happen. You need the verb ter (to have), the verb ser (to be), and your main action verb. It is like a relay race where each verb passes the baton. The focus shifts entirely to the result. It is elegant, precise, and very common in formal writing.

1. 1Building this structure is like following a recipe. You just need to get the order right.
2. 2Start with the object that receives the action. This is now your subject.
3. 3Add the auxiliary verb ter. Conjugate it according to the tense you need (e.g., tem, tinha, terá).
4. 4Insert the word sido. This is the past participle of ser. It never changes form here.
5. 5Add the past participle of your main verb (like feito, visto, comido).
6. 6CRITICAL STEP: The main verb's participle must agree with your new subject. If the subject is feminine, use a. If it is plural, add s.
7. 7Optional: Use pelo or pela if you want to mention who did it.
8. 8Think of sido as the glue holding the sentence together. Without it, the whole thing falls apart like a wet pastel.

Use this when the action is the star of the show. It is perfect for news reports. "The law has been approved" sounds much more official than "They approved the law." It is also great for when you don't know who did something. Did someone eat your yogurt in the office fridge? O iogurte tem sido comido (The yogurt has been eaten). You don't know who the thief is. This structure keeps it mysterious. You will also see this in academic papers and formal emails. If you are describing a project's progress to a boss, use this. It makes you sound objective and serious. Yes, even native speakers mess this up sometimes, so take your time.

Avoid this in casual conversations with friends. If you say A cerveja tem sido bebido por mim at a bar, people will look at you funny. It is way too stiff for a party. Use the active voice instead. "I've been drinking the beer" is much more natural. Also, avoid it if the sentence becomes too long and clunky. Portuguese loves flow. If a sentence feels like a tongue twister, simplify it. Don't use it if you want to be direct and take credit. If you won an award, say "I won." Don't say "The award has been won by me." It sounds like you're reading a legal contract.

The biggest trap is the agreement of the past participle. If you are talking about as cartas (the letters), you must say têm sido escritas. Many learners forget to change the o to as. It's a small detail that makes a big difference. Another mistake is forgetting the word sido. Without it, you are just using a normal compound tense, and the meaning changes completely. Some people also mix up ter and haver. While haver is possible, ter is much more common in modern Portuguese. Stick with ter to sound natural. Think of it like a grammar traffic light. If the genders don't match, the light is red. Stop and fix it!

How is this different from the simple passive voice? The simple passive is A lei foi aprovada (The law was approved). The compound version is A lei tem sido aprovada (The law has been approved). The compound version implies the action happened recently or is repetitive. It adds a layer of time that the simple version lacks. You might also see the "passive se" like Aluga-se casa. This is much more common for signs and general statements. The compound passive is more specific to a particular event or report. It is the difference between a quick snapshot and a short video. Both show the action, but one has more depth.