Avoiding the Passive Voice
Wednesday September 16, 2009
In English the passive voice is used constantly — in fact, the opening part of this sentence used it. But in Spanish the passive voice is a relative rarity, especially in everyday speech. One of the most common mistakes made by beginning Spanish speakers is to use the passive voice excessively.
You can tell you're using the passive voice when the subject of the sentence is acted on by the verb, as in the sentence "The car was sold." In Spanish, you could use the passive — "el coche fue vendido" and you'd be understood — but as this lesson on the active voice advises, you'd be more likely to express that thought in other ways such as "vendieron el coche."
Comments
I find this very true. I have spoken Spanish for over 20 years, and only now am I realizing this. I have a Cuban friend, and she has straighted me out on this.
Excellent article, it’s so easy to fall into English sentence construction when using Spanish…
I thought “Él se mató” meant “He was killed,” but my Puerto Rican friends say that means “He killed himself,” and the former is best expressed “Lo mataron,” like some the examples in the lesson. Vaya figurar…