6)Los billetes se pagaron.
7)Las facturas se enviaron a tiempo.
9)El aumento se le dio al empleado.
11)Se traga con la garganta.
15)Se estornuda con la nariz.

I guessed on #11 and I don't know what you're trying to say about the stomach (#13).

LadyDi said:

6)Los billetes se pagaron.7)Las facturas se enviaron a tiempo.9)El aumento se le dio al empleado.11)Se traga con la garganta.15)Se estornuda con la nariz.I guessed on #11 and I don't know what you're trying to say about the stomach (#13).

oh okay
would it make sense if I changed it to:
11. se da una infeccion en la garganta
13. se da una fiebra en la cabeza

Oh, ok. Those look better. By the way, it's fiebre.

Why does it bother me that this use of "se" is called the passive voice?
I think because I have come to the very last lesson in my beginner's text, "Lección 30" and hope to graduate to be "Intermediate" soon. And this lesson deals with 1) the passive and 2) reworking the passive.

My book states very simply that the passive is formed using "ser" plus the participle. ¨
"Los textos son traducidos."
"La poesia ha sido traducida por un poeta español."
"El texto va a ser traducido."
"El texto ha sido traducido."
"Las casas han sido vendidas."

Not that the text overlooks the fact that one can build a passive thought in another way. In fact, it makes the point that the passive is very little used in spoken Spanish. That Spanish-speakers more usually employ "se" or what the book refers to as the anonymous "you" or "one" in the third person plural.

"Las casas se han vendido."
"Han vendido las casas."

http://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/verbs/passivevoice-u.html

The author of the linked article agrees with you.

Janice said:

Why does it bother me that this use of "se" is called the passive voice'"

>

I actually meant my query to be an honest question, intending no irony or sarcasm. The question comes because I am learning grammar as I learn Spanish and I think that there must be some better way to express what this "passive that is not passive voice" is called. When I am an "intermediate" I am going to get myself a good Spanish grammar - in Spanish! and find out.

Quentin said:

http://www.elearnspanishlanguage.com/grammar/verbs/passivevoice-u.htmlThe author of the linked article agrees with you.

Janice said:

Why does it bother me that this use of "se" is called the passive voice'"

>

Janice, the passive voice can be expressed in two different ways in Spanish, but since English has only one, everyone assumes that passive means "English-like passive" (Latin had endings to express passive instead of using an auxiliary verb, like in English). Our grammars call this se "pasivo reflejo" (because it provides a construction equivalent to the passive one, but using a reflexive pronoun). The construction is called "construcción pasiva refleja".

By the way, sentences like:

11) Se traga con la garganta.
15) Se estornuda con la nariz.

are NOT passive reflexive, but impersonal.