Download The Impersonal and Passive se

The Impersonal and Passive se
In English, we say "You shouldn't smoke in a hospital", "They say she is very pretty", or "One never
knows when he will turn up." These are "impersonal expressions". In other words, we don't really have
anyone specific in mind when we say "They say..." or "One" or " You". We mean people in general.
This is what we mean by "impersonal".
We use se in front of verbs to create the Spanish way of making general statements.
Here are some examples:
They say it's going to snow.
You pay the fines on Mondays.
How does one say "icecream" in Italian?
You say "gelato".

Se dice que va a nevar.
Se pagan las multas los lunes.
¿Cómo se dice "helado" en italiano?
Se dice "gelato".
Don't forget that if what you are referring to is plural, you need to use the third person plural form
of the verb (see the second example above)
The "Passive se" is what we call in English "the passive voice". An Active voice is when you have a
subject doing something with an active verb. In English a Passive voice has an object having something
done to it with or without an identified subject.
Let's look at some examples in English:
An Active Voice Construction
Sra. Weltz teaches me Spanish.
I purchased the dress.
I drove my father's new car.
A Passive Voice Construction
Spanish is taught to me (by Sra. Weltz)
The dress was purchased (by me)
My father's new car was driven (by me)
The Passive Voice in English uses a form of "to Be" with a Past Participle.
In Spanish, the Passive Voice is normally formed by using se + the third person singular or plural
conjugation of a verb, just as we did with the Impersonal se. In Spanish there is not a subject - identified
or not!
Let's look at some examples in Spanish and English:
An Active Voice Construction
Los dependientes del almacén hablan ruso.
The department store clerks speak Russian.
David escribe el libro en italiano.
David is writing the book in Italian.
La heladería vende una gran cantidad de helado.
The ice cream store sells a large quantity of ice
cream.
Mis amigos comieron la torta.
My friends ate the cake.
A Passive Voice Construction
Se habla ruso en el mercado.
Russian is spoken in the shopping center.
Se escribe el libro en italiano.
The book is written in Italian.
Se vende una gran cantidad de helado.
A large quantity of ice cream is sold.
Se comió la torta.
The cake was eaten.
The Passive Voice
The active voice is the “normal” or at least the far more frequent way of expressing an action in English
and Spanish:
Ella escribió varios dramas. She wrote several plays.
(doer) (action) (thing done)
(subject) (verb) (direct object)
Nosotros vimos a
Juana.
We saw Juana.
(doer) (action)
(done-to)
(subject) (verb)
(direct object)
In the active voice, the “doer” is the subject of the verb. The “thing done” or the person “done-to” is the
object of the verb. In the passive voice: the “thing done” or the person “done-to” becomes the subject of
the verb and the “doer” —if one is given— becomes the agent (introduced by the word “by” in English or
por in Spanish):
Los dramas fueron escritos por ella. The plays were written by her.
Juana fue vista por varias personas. Juana was seen by several people.
Note that as is demonstrated above regarding the passive voice in Spanish:
1. The passive voice is formed by using the verb ser plus the past participle of a transitive verb (i.e.,
a verb which must be capable of taking a direct object).
2. The past participle must agree in gender and number with the subject of the verb. In essence you
are linking the subject and the past participle —as if it were an adjective— with the verb ser.
3. The passive voice in Spanish is most frequently used in the preterit, although in theory it can
occur in any tense, both in the indicative and in the subjunctive.
There are some English sentences in which the subject is the indirect object; these cannot be translated
into Spanish using the passive voice unless something is changed:
Jaime was given the
award by the
president.
Change to: The president gave Jaime the award. [El presidente le dio el
premio a Jaime.] or The award was given to Jaime by the president. [El premio
fue dado a Jaime por el presidente.]
It is important to remember that the passive voice represents an ACTION as opposed to a state or a
condition. Usually, one of two things is given or at least implied in the sentence to help indicate that an
action is involved: 1) the agent (as stated above, introduced by “by” in English), or 2) the time at which the
action took place. In other words, the sentence uses the passive voice (ser —and not estar— plus the
past participle) if it answers the question ¿Quién lo hizo? / ¿Por quién fue hecho? or ¿Cuándo
ocurrió? / ¿Cuándo fue hecho?.
Los libros fueron publicados por Espasa-Calpe.
The books were published by Espasa-Calpe.
Las colonias fueron establecidas en el Siglo XVI. The colonies were established in the 16th Century.
In contrast, the verb estar is used together with the past participle to indicate a state or condition (not an
action):
Los libros estuvieron escritos en español.
The books were written in Spanish
[Were in a written state.]
Las colonias estuvieron establecidas en la costa oriental.
The colonies were established on the east coast.
Generally we use the passive voice to indicate what happened to the subject of the sentence without
saying who or what carried out the action, meaning that in the passive voice (voz pasiva), the subject
is acted upon by an outside agent. When the agent is specified, the passive voice is expressed by:
subject + ser + past participle + por + agent: for example: La mezquita fue construida por el Sultán
Hassan (The mosque was built by the Sultan Hassan).
From active to passive voice: Mis amigos quieren a mi perro becomes Mi perro es querido por mis
amigos.
Since the past participle acts as an adjective, it agrees in gender and number with the subject. If the
passive subject is a thing and the agent is not mentioned, the passive reflexive (pasiva reflexiva)
construction is used, with the reflexive pronoun se preceding the verb and the passive subject following
it:
Allí se hablan muchos idiomas (many languages are spoken there).
No se permite hacer modificaciones (making modifications is not allowed).
Note that the Spanish past participle has to agree with the subject in gender and number, just the
way it does with adjectives
Impersonal Constructions in Spanish
Se is also used to form impersonal construction, with se used as an indefinite subject pronoun in
Spanish similar to the English "one" or the impersonal "you" and "they", like: Se habla español
(Spanish is spoken / One speaks Spanish). There are two main criteria to be met: the verb must be in
the singular, since se is singular when used as a subject pronoun, and se should be easily translated
as one or you:
Some Impersonal Constructions
¿Cómo se dice “please” en español? (How do you say “please” in Spanish?)
¿Cómo se va a Madrid? (How does one get to the theater?)
]
How to Avoid the Passive Voice
The passive voice is not frequently used in Spanish. Usually several other methods of expressing an idea
are used instead:
1. The regular active voice. If an agent is given, use it as the subject. For example, instead of “Much
fun was had by all”, write “Everyone had a lot of fun.”
2. The indefinite “they” as the subject. Instead of “It is said that...”, use “They say that...” (Dicen
que...).
3. The reflexive. Use Se habla español for “Spanish is spoken” [litterally, “Spanish speaks
itself”].Constructions with the reflexive pronoun se are very common in Spanish. Remember a
few details here:
A. For non-personal subjects, the verb agrees with the subject in number:
Se vende un coche magnífico en la
subasta.
A magnificent car is being sold at the
auction.
Se venden varios coches.
Several cars are being sold.
B. If an animate being is involved, use the personal a for this object and use the verb in the
singular.
Se ve a mi hermana en la clase.
My sister can be seen in the class.
Se ve a mis hermanas en la clase.
My sisters can be seen in the class.
[Without the personal a, the first sentence above would mean “My sister sees herself in
class”, and the second would be grammatically incorrect.]
Note that in some cases verbs which are “passive” in one language are active in another: nacer = to be
born.
Yo nací el primero de junio. I was born on the first of June.