The Passive Voice: Ser + Participle

The passive voice with ser is used to talk about an action where the focus is on the object or person that receives the action, rather than the one performing it. It's common in formal writing, news, and literature.

The Main Rule: How to Form It

The structure is straightforward: Subject (Recipient) + ser (conjugated) + Past Participle + por + Agent (Doer)

There are two critical things to remember:

1. Conjugate ser: The verb ser is conjugated to match the tense of the action (present, past, future, etc.).
2. Agree the Participle: The past participle acts like an adjective and must agree in gender and number with the subject (the recipient of the action).

Let's see an example:

• Active Voice: El arquitecto diseñó los edificios. (The architect designed the buildings.)
• Passive Voice: Los edificios **fueron diseñados** por el arquitecto. (The buildings were designed by the architect.)

Notice how fueron is the preterite form of ser for 'they', and diseñados is masculine and plural to match los edificios.

Here are the participle endings:

• Masculine Singular: -o (escrito)
• Feminine Singular: -a (escrita)
• Masculine Plural: -os (escritos)
• Feminine Plural: -as (escritas)

A Quick Note on Other Passive Forms

As you read more, you'll also see the 'passive se' construction, like Se venden coches (Cars are sold). It's another way to express passivity, often when the doer of the action is unknown or unimportant. For this drill, we will focus exclusively on the ser + participle form to build a strong foundation.