CARACTERISTICAS

1. Se dice que una oracin est en VOZ ACTIVA cuando la significacin del verbo es
producida por la persona gramatical a quien aqul se refiere:
Pedro de Mendoza founded Buenos Aires.
(Pedro de Mendoza fund Buenos Aires).

2. Se dice que una oracin est en VOZ PASIVA cuando la significacin del verbo es
recibida por la persona gramatical a quien aqul se refiere:
Buenos Aires was founded by Pedro de Mendoza.
(Buenos Aires fue fundada por Pedro de Mendoza).

3. Se forma con el auxiliar del verbo to be y el participio pasado del verbo que se
conjuga.

4. El complemento de la oracin activa pasa a sujeto de la pasiva. Como en castellano,

el sujeto de la activa se puede conservar como sujeto agente.

5. Cuando un verbo tiene dos complementos se pueden hacer dos estructuras de

pasiva:
a) A book was sent to Tom by Mr. Smith, Un libro fue enviado a Tom por Mr. Smith.
b) Tom was sent a book by Mr. Smith (pasiva idiomtica). Esta estructura no es
posible en castellano.

MODELO DE VERBO EN VOZ PASIVA

TO BE SEEN = SER VISTO

PRESENTE
I am seen, soy visto
you are seen, eres visto
he is seen, es visto
we are seen, somos vistos
you are seen, sois vistos
they are seen, son vistos
PRETERITO PERFECTO
I have been seen, he sido visto
you have been seen, has sido visto
he has been seen, ha sido visto
we have been seen, hemos sido vistos
you have been seen, habis sido vistos
they have been seen, han sido vistos
PASADO
I was seen, fui visto
you were seen, fuiste visto
he was seen, fue visto
we were seen, fuimos vistos
you were seen, fuisteis vistos
they were seen, fueron vistos
FUTURO
I shall be seen, ser visto
you will be seen, sers visto
he will be seen, ser visto
we shall be seen, seremos vistos
you will be seen, seris vistos
they will be seen, sern vistos

PRETERITO PLUSCUAMPERFECTO: I had been seen, haba sido visto

CONDICIONAL: I should be seen, sera visto
FUTURO PERFECTO: I shall have been seen, habr sido visto
CONDICIONAL PERFECTO: I should have been seen, habra sido visto
VOZ ACTIVA Y PASIVA: REGLAS PRACTICAS EN 4 PASOS.

1. La voz pasiva se forma con el verbo to be conjugado ms el participio del

verbo principal. En ingls es mucho ms frecuente que en espaol y, normalmente,
aparece cuando no es importante quien realiza una accin sino el hecho en s. Por eso,
no siempre que veamos una pasiva, tenemos que traducirlo literalmente, puesto que
en espaol suena ms forzado. Slo es posible el uso de la voz pasiva con verbos
transitivos (verbos que llevan complemento directo).
VOZ ACTIVA VOZ PASIVA
Tom writes a letter A letter is written by Tom
Tom is writing a letter A letter is being written by Tom
Tom was writing a letter A letter was being written by Tom
Tom wrote a letter A letter was written by Tom
Tom has written a letter A letter has been written by Tom
Tom had written a letter A letter had been written by Tom
Tom will write a letter A letter will be written by Tom
Tom is going to write a letter A letter is going to be written by Tom
Tom can write a letter A letter can be written by Tom
Tom could write a letter A letter could be written by Tom
Tom must write a letter A letter must be written by Tom
Tom may write a letter A letter may be written...
Tom might write a letter A letter might be written...

2. El sujeto agente se expresa con by. Sin embargo, en la mayora de las ocasiones
se prescinde del sujeto ya que no nos interesa saber quin exactamente ejecuta la
accin. Si una oracin activa tiene complemento directo e indirecto, cualquiera de
los dos complementos puede ser sujeto paciente de la pasiva:
ACTIVE: Someone gives me a dog
PASSIVE 1: A dog is given to me
PASSIVE 2: I am given a dog (forma pasiva idiomtica)
La forma pasiva de doing, seeing, etc es being done, being seen, etc.
ACTIVE: I don't like people telling me what to do
PASSIVE: I don't like being told what to do
En ocasiones en las que ocurre algo a veces imprevisto, no planeado o fortuito para la
formacin de la voz pasiva se prefiere usar get y no be:
get hurt, get annoyed, get divorced, get married, get invited, get bored, get lost

3. Las construcciones impersonales (se dice, se comenta, etc.) son muy tpicas de la
pasiva y difciles de traducir para los hispanoparlantes. Este tipo de construccin
pasiva -utilizada cada vez con mayor frecuencia en los medios- se forma con la
estructura sujeto + to be + participle: It is reported (Se informa); It is said (Se
 dice); It is known (Se sabe); It is supposed (Se supone); It is considered (Se
considera); It is expected (Se espera). Veamos algunos ejemplos:

ACTIVE: Everybody thinks Cathy works very hard.

PASSIVE 1: Cathy is thought to work very hard. (Se piensa que Cathy...)
PASSIVE 2: It is thought that Cathy works very hard. (Se piensa que Cathy...)
ACTIVE: They believe Tom is wearing a white pullover.
PASSIVE 1: Tom is believed to be wearing a white pullover. (Se cree que...)
PASSIVE 2: It is believed that Tom is wearing a white pullover. (Se cree que...)

4. USOS ADICIONALES DE SUPPOSE

a) Se usa en afirmativo para acciones que estaban planeadas, que se supone que van
a realizar, u obligaciones que uno debera cumplir.
You were supposed to be here at 9:00 am!!
b) Otras veces, el uso de supposed indica que estos planes o obligaciones finalmente
no se cumplieron:
The train was supposed to arrive at 5 o'clock. (but it arrived at 8 o'clock)
You were supposed to go to the supermarket. (but you didn't go)
c) Por el contrario, en negativo, supposed significa la no conveniencia o prohibicin de
hacer algo:
You are not supposed to smoke here. (you are not allowed to smoke here)
You are not supposed to copy our web files. (you must not copy our web files)