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Voz Pasiva (1)

Observa la diferencia entre estos dos grupos de oraciones:

She ate an apple.

An apple was eaten (by her).
Jill washed the dishes.
The dishes were washed (by Jill).
They buy the newspaper on Sundays.The newspaper is bought (by them) on Sundays.
We feed the dog every day.
The dog is fed (by us) every day.

Las oraciones del primer grupo estn en voz activa y las del segundo en pasiva. Al transformar
una oracin activa en otra pasiva el sujeto y la forma verbal cambian.

Puede ser el complemento directo de la oracin activa el que pasa a ser el sujeto de la
oracin pasiva:
She ate an apple.
(an apple = complemento directo)

An apple was eaten (by her).

(an apple = sujeto)

La estructura verbal de las oraciones pasivas es esta:

sujeto + verbo to be (en cualquier tiempo) + participio pasado del verbo principal
She ate an apple.
(ate = pasado simple de eat)

An apple was eaten (by her).

(was eaten = pasado de to be + participio de eat)

ACTIVA
I read a book every week.
She is cooking dinner now.
They bought too many vegetables.
They were discussing the film.
I have done all the work.
Weve been reading that book.
She had cleaned everything.
They had been learning that.

PASIVA
A book is read by me every week.
Dinner is being cooked by her now.
Too many vegetables were bought by them.
The film was being discussed.
All the work has been done by me.
That book has been being read. (poco frecuente)
Everything had been cleaned by her.
That had been being learnt by them. (muy poco

I will pay that.

Hell have finished the work.

That will be paid by me.

The work will have been finished.

frecuente)

El sujeto agente (la persona o cosa que realiza la accin) se puede indicar en la oracin pasiva
si se desea. Tiene que ir precedido de by:
She ate an apple.
(she = sujeto)

An apple was eaten (by her).

(by her = sujeto agente)

Pero muchas veces no se menciona quien realiza la accin en la pasiva porque se entiende por el
contexto o no interesa.

Los m ej ores recursos grat uit os para aprender y ensear ingls

www.english- area.com

El complemento indirecto de una oracin activa puede convertirse tambin en el sujeto de

una oracin pasiva, algo que no es posible en espaol:

His parents gave him a present.

(him = CI, a present = CD)

He was given a present by his parents.

A present was given to him by his parents.

Otros ejemplos:
-

They told her the truth She was told the truth.
He paid me I was paid by him.
They sent him a letter He was sent a letter.

La voz pasiva se usa con mucha ms frecuencia en ingls que en espaol.

No todos los verbos se pueden utilizar en voz pasiva. sta es slo posible con los verbos
transitivos, es decir, con aquellos que necesitan ir acompaados de un complemento directo.
Ejemplos de oraciones que slo son posibles en voz activa:
-

I went to the cinema.

Shell become a doctor when she grows up.
We arent happy in this company.

Los m ej ores recursos grat uit os para aprender y ensear ingls

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT / IES FRANCISCO DE QUEVEDO

THE PASSIVE VOICE

La Voz Pasiva
THE PASSIVE
TENSE

ACTIVE

PASSIVE

PRESENT SIMPLE

Tourists visit the castle

The castle is visited by the tourists

PAST SIMPLE

Tourists visited the castle

The castle was visited by the tourists

FUTURE SIMPLE

Tourists will visit the castle

the castle will be visited by the tourists

PRESENT CONTINUOUS

Tourists are visiting the castle

The castle is being visited by the tourists

PAST CONTINUOUS

Tourists were visiting the castle

The castle was being visited by the tourists

PRESENT PERFECT SIMPLE

Tourists have visited the castle

The castle has been visited by the tourists

PAST PERFECT SIMPLE

Tourists had visited the castle

The castle had been visited by the tourists

MODALS

Tourists should visit the castle

The castle should be visited by the tourists

MODAL PERFECT

Tourists should have visited the castle

The castle should have been visited by the

tourists

FORMA:
Se forma con el verbo to be + el participio del verbo principal.
ACTIVE: They make these cars in Japan.
PASIVE: These cars are made in Japan.
Al transformar una oracin activa en pasiva, se producen una serie de cambios. El Objeto de la
oracin activa se convierte en el sujeto de la oracin pasiva. El verbo en la oracin pasiva se pone
en el mismo tiempo que el de la voz activa y nalmente, el que era sujeto de la voz activa se
convierte en complemento agente (precedido por by) en la oracin pasiva.
Sujeto

Verbo

Objeto

Activa:

Cervantes

wrote

Don Quixote

Pasiva:

Don Quixote

was written

by Cervantes

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT / IES FRANCISCO DE QUEVEDO

Los verbos modales (can, must, have to, should, etc) y la forma going to no pueden ponerse
en pasiva ya que no tienen participio.En estos casos, es el innitivo que va detrs el que se pone
en pasiva:
He had to abandon the house > The house had to be abandoned.
The family is going to sell their house > Their house is going to be sold.
You can do it easily > It can be done easily.

El uso de la voz pasiva es muy frecuente e ingls. Se utiliza sobre todo cuando nos interesa
ms la accin realizada que el sujeto que la realiza, bien porque ste es desconocido, es poco
importante o no se quiere nombrar.
Tambin se suele usar la pasiva cuando el sujeto de la oracin activa es un pronombre persona
(we, they, etc), nobody, somebody, etc.
They discovered the truth > The truth was discovered. (Lo importante es la accin, no quin la hizo)
Someone broke the glass > The glass was broken. (No se sabe quin lo ha roto)
Cuando se quiere nombrar al sujeto de la oracin activa, este se utiliza como complemento
agente en la oracin pasiva precedido de la preposicin by.
Shakespeare wrote hamlet > Hamlet was written by Shakespeare.
Picasso painted that picture > That picture was painted by Picasso.

Si el sujeto de la oracin activa es un pronombre personal (I, you, he, she, it, we, you, they), al
pasarla a pasiva debes cambiarlo por su correspondiente pronombre objeto (me, you, him, her, it,
us, you, them) ya que va detrs de la preposicin by. No obstante, cuando el sujeto de la activa es
un pronombre personal no se suele poner como complemento agente en la pasiva.
He will inform everybody > Everybody will be informed (by him)

ACTIVA CON 2 OBJETOS.

Si la oracin activa tiene dos objetos (objeto directo y objeto indirecto) pueden hacerse dos
pasivas; una con el objeto directo como sujeto de la oracin pasiva y otra con el objeto indirecto
como sujeto de la oracin pasiva. La ms comn de las dos es que que toma como sujeto pasivo el
objeto indirecto de la oracin activa.
ACTIVA: They offered Harry a good job
PASIVA 1: Harry was offered a good job.
PASIVA 2: A good job was offered to Harry.

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT / IES FRANCISCO DE QUEVEDO

Como hemos mencionado anteriormente, la primera es la ms comn.

Fijat, adems, como cuando se utiliza como sujeto de la pasiva el objeto directo, al poner el
objeto indirecto, ste ir precedido de to.
Entre los verbos que admiten esta estructura cabe destacar: give, send, show, lend, ask, tell,
order y pay.
They didnt lend us any money > We werent lent any money.
No nos prestaron dinero

They have paid me a lot of money this time > I have been paid a lot of money this time.
Me han pagado mucho dinero esta vez

OTROS USOS DE LA PASIVA.

La pasiva puede emplearse tambin, con verbos como say, think, report, know, believe, etc. En
estos casos, y en estructuras como las que veremos a continuacin, podemos formar dos tipos
diferentes de pasiva.
ACTIVA:

Experts say that this house dates back to the 12th century.

PASIVA 1: It is said that this house dates back to the 12th century.
PASIVA 2: This house is said to date back to the 12th century.

ACTIVA:

They believe (that) this sword belonged to King Arthur.

PASIVA 1: It is believed that this sword belonged to King Arthur.

PASIVA 2: This sword is believed to have belonged to King Arthur.

ACTIVA:

They thought (that) the flowers had arrived from Holland.

PASIVA 1: It was thought that the flowers had arrived from Holland.
PASIVA 2: The flowers were thought to have arrived from Holland.

EXERCISES
1. Complete the sentences with the correct passive form of the verbs in brackets. Use the Present
Simple.
a. English ____________________ (speak) in many countries.
b. The post ______________________ deli e at a out 7 o lo k e e
o i g.
c. ______________________________ (the building/use) any more?
d. How often ______________________________ (the Olympic Games(hold)?
e. How _______________________ (your name/spell)?
f. My salary _____________________ (pay) every month.
g. These cars _________________________ (not make) in Japan.
h. The name of the people who committed the crime _____________________ (not know).
i. His travel expenses ________________________ (not pay) by his company.

2. Complete the sentences with the correct passive form of the verbs in brackets. Use the Past Simple.
a. My car ______________________ (repair) last week.
b. This song ________________________ (not write) by John Lennon.
c. ________________________________ (the phone/answer) by a young girl?
d. The film ________________________ (make) ten years ago.
e. When ______________________________ (tennis/invent)?
f. The car ________________________ (not damaged) in the accident.
g. The original building _________________________ (pull) down in 1965.
h. Where ______________________________ (this pot/make)?
i. When _______________________________ (this bridge/build)?
3. Choose the correct form of the verbs in brackets.
FIAT
Fiat 0 was started
(started/was started) by a group of Italian businessmen in 1899. In 1903, Fiat,
1
_________________
(produced/was
produced)
132
cars.
Some
of
these
cars
2
_____________________ (exported/were exported) by the company to the United States and Britain.
In 1920, Fiat 3_________________ (started/was started) making cars at a new factory at Lingotto, near
Turin. There was a track on the roof where the cars 4____________________ (tested/were tested) by
technicians. In 1936, Fiat launched the Fiat 500. This car 5____________________ (called/was called)
the Topolino the Italian name for Mickey Mouse. The company grew, and in 1963 Fiat
6
_____________________ (exported/was exported) more than 300,000 vehicles. Today, Fiat is based in
Turin, and its cars 7_________________ (sold/are sold) all over the world.
4. Change the following sentences into passive sentences using the words in brackets.
a. We sell tickets for all shows at the Box Office. (Tickets for all shows/sell/at the Box Office)
_________________________________________________________________________________
b. Thomas Edison invented the electric light bulb. (The electric light bulb/invent/by Thomas Edison)
_________________________________________________________________________________
c. Someone painted the office last week. (The office/paint/last week)
_________________________________________________________________________________
d. Several people saw the accident. (The accident/see/by several people)
_________________________________________________________________________________
e. Where do they make these video recorders? (Where/these video recorders/make)
_________________________________________________________________________________

ENGLISH GRAMMAR The Passive Voice

5. Rewrite these sentences in the passive voice.
a. Someone built this house 200 years ago.
_________________________________________________________________________________
b. A thief stole my purse.
_________________________________________________________________________________
c. The police will arrest the robbers.
_________________________________________________________________________________
d. They produce cars in this factory.
_________________________________________________________________________________
e. They se e eakfast at eight o clock every day.
_________________________________________________________________________________
f. People throw away tones of rubbish every day.
_________________________________________________________________________________
g. They make coffee in Brazil.
_________________________________________________________________________________
h. Someone stole Ji s ike lat ight.
_________________________________________________________________________________

6. Rewrite these sentences in the passive voice.

a. They will build a new bridge next year.
_________________________________________________________________________________
b. Brian Brody directed The Ultimate Space Adventure.
_________________________________________________________________________________
c. Pierre Matie will design her costume.
_________________________________________________________________________________
d. Someone found my wallet.
5
_________________________________________________________________________________
e. One of the students broke the window.
_________________________________________________________________________________
f. They will deliver my computer on Monday.
_________________________________________________________________________________
g. Mary invited Paul to her birthday party.
_________________________________________________________________________________
h. British astronomers discovered a new planet.
_________________________________________________________________________________
7. Form the question.
a. Paper is made from wood.
b. The telephone was invented by Mr Bell.
c. This picture was painted by Peter.
d. The thieves will be arrested by the police.
e. Champagne is made in France.
f. The letters will be sent next week.
g. The animals are fed three times a day.
h. This article was written by Stanley.

Is paper made from wood

?
___________________________________________?
___________________________________________?
___________________________________________?
___________________________________________?
___________________________________________?
___________________________________________?
___________________________________________?

i.
j.

CDs are made of plastic.

The party was organised by Paul.

___________________________________________?
___________________________________________?

8. Read and complete. Use Past Simple.

a. The toothbrush / invent / in the 15 th century.
_________________________________________________________________________________
b. The first public basketball game / play / in 1892.
_________________________________________________________________________________
c. The first eyeglasses / wear / in the 1200s.
_________________________________________________________________________________
d. The first bicycle / ride in 1791.
_________________________________________________________________________________
e. The first hot dog / eat / in the 1860s.
_________________________________________________________________________________
f. The first CDs / sell / in the 1980s.
_________________________________________________________________________________
g. The first electric guitar / play / in 1923.
_________________________________________________________________________________
h. The first computer mouse / use / 1964.
_________________________________________________________________________________
6

9. Complete with the passive. Use Present Simple.

a. This programme _______________________ (watch) by millions of people.
b. Paper __________________________ (make) from wood.
c. Hundreds of people _______________________ (kill) in accidents every year.
d. London __________________________ (visit) by thousands of tourists every year.
e. The biology class _________________________ (teach) by Mr Green.
f. English _____________________ (speak) all over the world.
g. Lu h _____________________ se e at t el e o lo k.
h. Books _____________________ (write) by authors.
10. Put the verbs in brackets into Past Simple Passive.
Two men _________________________ (see) breaking into a house in my street last night. The police
_____________________ (call) and they arrived very quickly. One man _____________________
(catch) immediately. The other escaped, but he ______________________ (find) very soon. Both men
_____________________ (take) to the police station where they _________________________
(question) separately by a police officer. The two men ________________________ (charge) with
burglary.
11. Rewrite the following passage in the Passive.
Somebody has stolen a bus from outside the school. Some children saw the thief. The police are
searching for the bus now. They will use the children s descriptions to catch the thief.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________

ENGLISH GRAMMAR The Passive Voice

12. Rewrite the following passage in the Passive.
Some people saw a UFO in the sky above London last night. They reported it to the police. The army
sent a helicopter to look at it more closer. The UFO shot the helicopter down and killed both men in it.
People have given photographs of the UFO to the police. Experts are looking at them now.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
13. Rewrite the following passage in the Passive.
Someone broke into a local jewellery shop yesterday. The owner had just locked up the shop when a
robber with a gun threatened him. The robber told him to unlock the shop and give him all the
diamonds in the safe. Then the robber tied him up. The police have organized a search for the robber.
They hope they will find him in a few days. Doctors are treating the owner of the shop for shock.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
14. Rewrite the following passage in the Passive.
My uncle painted this picture. Someone has offered him a lot of money for it. He will deliver the
painting tomorrow. When they give him the money, he will tell them the truth. He painted it one night
while he was sleepwalking!
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
7
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
15. Rewrite the following passage in the Passive.
Our school is organizing a contest. The teachers will choose the best project about the environment.
The students must include pictures and drawings in their projects. The students will also have to do all
the writing themselves. The school will give the winner a set of encyclopaedias.
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
16. Turn from Active to Passive in two ways.
a. He gave me a present. ______________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
b. The waiter will bring us the bill. _______________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
c. Her mother bought Mary some sweets. _________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________
d. Bob has sold Ted a second-hand car. ___________________________________________________

_________________________________________________________________________________
e. Larry is going to send a letter to Tom. __________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________

17. Turn from Active to Passive.

a. Someone is helping her with the housework.
_________________________________________________________________________________
b. The mail-order company sent Mrs Green a parcel.
_________________________________________________________________________________
c. My friend sent me an invitation.
_________________________________________________________________________________
d. The secretary has given Mrs Jones some letters.
_________________________________________________________________________________
e. The traffic warden had already given him a ticket for illegal parking.
_________________________________________________________________________________
f. John gave Elizabeth that beautiful ring.
_________________________________________________________________________________
g. Her students have sent her flowers.
_________________________________________________________________________________
h. He must give the message to the right person.
_________________________________________________________________________________
i. We teach our students English and French.
_________________________________________________________________________________
j. Someone bought flowers for the bride.
_________________________________________________________________________________
k. They showed the tourists the sights of Athens.
_________________________________________________________________________________
l. They pay her an excellent salary.
_________________________________________________________________________________
m. They paid the artist 1,000 for his painting.
_________________________________________________________________________________
18. Rewrite these sentences in the passive voice.
1. They sell oysters in the shop next door.
_________________________________________________________________________________
2. The ha e t deli e ed the food et.
_________________________________________________________________________________
3. Shakespeare wrote King Lear.
_________________________________________________________________________________
4. They have to answer the questions on this sheet.
_________________________________________________________________________________
5. Has anybody put the cases upstairs?
_________________________________________________________________________________
6. Someone should take this rubbish away.
_________________________________________________________________________________
7. The ll ask ou a lot of uestio s.
_________________________________________________________________________________
8. So eo e s goi g to se d he so e flo e s.
_________________________________________________________________________________

ENGLISH GRAMMAR The Passive Voice

9. The did t pa e u h fo that jo .

_________________________________________________________________________________
10. Have they offered him a better job?
_________________________________________________________________________________
11. They told us a secret.
_________________________________________________________________________________
12. Would they lend me their car?
_________________________________________________________________________________
13. People should send their complaints to the head office.
_________________________________________________________________________________
14. They had to postpone the meeting because of illness.
_________________________________________________________________________________
15. The a e goi g to hold e t ea s o g ess i Sa F a is o.
_________________________________________________________________________________
16. The bill includes service.
_________________________________________________________________________________
17. People do t use this oad e ofte .
_________________________________________________________________________________
18. They cancelled all the flights because of fog.
_________________________________________________________________________________
19. Somebody accused me of stealing the money.
_________________________________________________________________________________
20. They are building a new ring-road round the city.
_________________________________________________________________________________
21. I did t ealize that so eo e as e o di g ou o e satio .
_________________________________________________________________________________
22. They have changed the date of the meeting.
_________________________________________________________________________________
23. Brian told me that somebody had attacked and robbed him in the street.
_________________________________________________________________________________
24. You should open the wine about three hours before you use it.
_________________________________________________________________________________
25. Somebody had cleaned my shoes and brushed my suit.
_________________________________________________________________________________
26. We use this room only on special occasions.
_________________________________________________________________________________
27. In some districts farmers use pigs to find truffles.
_________________________________________________________________________________
28. John gave Elizabeth that beautiful ring.
_________________________________________________________________________________
29. They have offered Sarah a very good job.
_________________________________________________________________________________
30. The estate agent showed the house to the young people.
_________________________________________________________________________________
31. We will pay the gardener a lot of money.
_________________________________________________________________________________
32. Someone is going to repair the roof next week.
_________________________________________________________________________________

10

33. The a t fi d Joa a.

_________________________________________________________________________________
34. They should decorate the room with flowers.
_________________________________________________________________________________
35. Archaeologists have discovered an ancient temple.
_________________________________________________________________________________
36. We will put all these things into boxes.
_________________________________________________________________________________
37. The firefighters rescued the teenagers from the burning building.
_________________________________________________________________________________
38. The youngest student in the class has written the best composition.
_________________________________________________________________________________
39. The children send me messages every day.
_________________________________________________________________________________
40. The villagers gave the travellers food and water.
_________________________________________________________________________________
41. A very talented young girl wrote the story.
_________________________________________________________________________________
42. They are going to finish the new road in a few days.
_________________________________________________________________________________
43. They cancelled the match because of the rain.
_________________________________________________________________________________
44. You must not cross this line.
_________________________________________________________________________________
45. They had picked the oranges before the storm.
_________________________________________________________________________________
46. Professor Smith should write the book.
_________________________________________________________________________________
47. Mr Elliot will pay the workers.
_________________________________________________________________________________
48. Two men were following Tom.
_________________________________________________________________________________
49. Millions of people use the Internet every day.
_________________________________________________________________________________
50. They gave Bob a CD player for his birthday.
_________________________________________________________________________________
51. The prime minister will give a medal to the winners.
_________________________________________________________________________________
52. She is telling the children a story.
_________________________________________________________________________________
53. The e offe ed Sall a jo .
_________________________________________________________________________________
54. Poisonous chemicals have polluted the river.
_________________________________________________________________________________
55. Doctor Simms is examining her.
_________________________________________________________________________________
56. You must stop him now.
_________________________________________________________________________________
57. Someone gave them free tickets for the concert.
_________________________________________________________________________________