B1Spanish · Grammar

Passive with ser

A lesson from the B1 course: the rule, examples and a 20-sentence test.

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Lesson

The Passive Voice: Ser + Past Participle

Hello! Today we're diving into the passive voice in Spanish. It's super useful when you want to focus on the action itself or the object that receives the action, rather than who performed it. Think of it like saying "The house was built" instead of "The workers built the house."

Subject + SER (conjugated) + PAST PARTICIPLE (agreed in gender and number)

The key to forming the passive voice is the verb ser, which needs to be conjugated in the correct tense and mood, and the past participle of the main verb. Remember, the past participle always agrees in gender and number with the subject!

TenseSer (Examples)
Presentes / son
Preteritefue / fueron
Simple Futureserá / serán

How do we form the past participle? It's quite straightforward! For verbs ending in -ar, we add -ado. For verbs ending in -er or -ir, we add -ido. Don't forget to make it agree with the subject!

InfinitiveParticipleAgreement Forms
hablarhabladohablada, hablados, habladas
comercomidocomida, comidos, comidas
vivirvividovivida, vividos, vividas

La carta fue escrita por mi amigo.

The letter was written by my friend.

Remember: SER + Past Participle = "it was done" (an action, a process). Think of SER as the verb that describes an action!
Watch out! Don't confuse the passive voice with constructions using estar + participio. The passive voice with ser describes an ACTION that was performed on the subject. Estar + participio describes a STATE which is the RESULT of an action. For example: La puerta fue abierta (The door was opened – an action) vs. La puerta está abierta (The door is open – a state).
  • We often use the passive voice when we don't know who performed the action, or when the doer is obvious and unimportant.
  • The agent (the person or thing performing the action) is introduced using the preposition por, e.g., por el arquitecto (by the architect).
  • The passive voice is frequently found in news reports, formal texts, and historical descriptions.

Los libros son leídos por muchos estudiantes.

The books are read by many students.

El libro fue escrito.
El libro está escrito.

The first sentence (fue escrito) is the passive voice, describing an action (someone wrote the book). The second (está escrito) describes a state (the book is written, meaning it has content).

Practise regularly, and the passive voice will become second nature to you! Best of luck!

Test yourself

20 questions. Answer them all, then check — you'll see what you got right and what to fix.

  1. 1

    Complete the sentence

    Las ventanas por los vándalos.

    The windows were broken by vandals.

  2. 2

    Complete the sentence

    La ciudad por millones de turistas.

    The city is visited by millions of tourists.

  3. 3

    Complete the sentence

    La película por mucha gente.

    The film was watched by many people.

  4. 4

    Complete the sentence

    Los cuadros por el artista.

    The paintings will be painted by the artist.

  5. 5

    Complete the sentence

    La carta por mi abuelo.

    The letter was written by my grandfather.

  6. 6

    Complete the sentence

    Los libros en la estantería por la bibliotecaria.

    The books were put on the shelf by the librarian.

  7. 7

    Complete the sentence

    La casa en 1920.

    The house was built in 1920.

  8. 8

    Complete the sentence

    Las reglas por los jugadores.

    The rules were broken by the players.

  9. 9

    Type the missing word

    El coche ayer mismo.

    The car was sold yesterday.

  10. 10

    Type the missing word

    La patata en aceite de oliva.

    The potato was fried in olive oil.

  11. 11

    Type the missing word

    La ciudad por millones de turistas.

    The city is visited by millions of tourists.

  12. 12

    Type the missing word

    La ventana por el viento.

    The window was broken by the wind.

  13. 13

    Type the missing word

    Las llaves al dueño.

    The keys were returned to the owner.

  14. 14

    Type the missing word

    La pared de azul.

    The wall was painted blue.

  15. 15

    Put the sentence together — some words are extra

    The ruins are visited every year.

  16. 16

    Put the sentence together — some words are extra

    The furniture was covered with sheets.

  17. 17

    Put the sentence together — some words are extra

    The treasures were discovered by archaeologists.

  18. 18

    Put the sentence together — some words are extra

    The documents were found in the office.

  19. 19

    Build the missing word from the letters

    Los periódicos por la mañana.

    Newspapers are read in the morning.

  20. 20

    Match each word to its meaning

Printable test

The full test as a PDF with an answer key — print it for yourself or for a class.

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