Let's play with active and passive voice (simple past tense)
14
votes
Grammar game: Active and Passive Voice - Simple Past Tense
To make a past passive form we use was/were + past participle of the verb.
These are the rules:
Write a sentence using first active and then passive voice
Write both in Spanish and English
Note: Use any verb and pronoun, but just in past tense
Example:
| Voice | English | Spanish |
| Active | I played tennis last sunday | Jugué tenis el domingo pasado |
| Passive | Tennis was played by me last sunday | El tenis fue jugado por mí el domingo pasado |
This is the table template if you want to use it (just copy and paste the blue code):
<table border=3 bgcolor=#DD7500;> <tr><td><i>Voice</i></td> <td><i>English</i></td><td> <i>Spanish</i></td> <tr><td><b>Active</b></td> <td>English active sentence</td> <td>Spanish active sentence</td> <tr><td><b>Passive</b></td> <td>English passive sentence</td> <td>Spanish passive sentence</td> </table>
19005 views
updated ABR 21, 2010
edited by Carlos-F
posted by Carlos-F
dear Carlos, you don't need 'the' before last Sunday. Gracias por este hilo. :) - galsally, ABR 20, 2010
Carlos, in your title it should be "active *and* passive"....you just forgot the "d" ;) - hlsbookworm, ABR 20, 2010
Thanks for doing this Carlos...these excercises are really great! - --Mariana--, ABR 20, 2010
Thank you very much for your corrections... - Carlos-F, ABR 20, 2010
Such pretty colors!! Scrolling down fast makes it look like a rainbow!!! Hahahaha!! :-) - kanani142, ABR 20, 2010
23 Answers
3
votes
| Voice | English | Spanish |
| Active | A huge cloud of volcanic ash caused the greatest crisis in civil aviation. | Una enorme nube de ceniza volcánica causó la mayor crisis de aviación civil. |
| Passive | The greatest crisis in civil aviation was caused by a huge cloud of volcanic ash. | La mayor crisis de aviación civil fue causada por una enorme nube de ceniza volcánica. |
updated ABR 21, 2010
edited by Issabela
posted by Issabela
Corregid mi español, por favor :)) - Issabela, ABR 20, 2010
That's just what I was reading about! :)) - swing, ABR 20, 2010
Well, it's hard not to read, isn't it :) And it seems that the volcano hasn't said its last word yet - Issabela, ABR 20, 2010
Yes... That's why I'm going to Poland by bus :) - swing, ABR 20, 2010
And where exactly are you going to? :) - Issabela, ABR 20, 2010
To Warsaw and Lodz. And where do you live? :) - swing, ABR 20, 2010
Bielsko-Biala, in the south of Poland. - Issabela, ABR 20, 2010
I believe it should be singular (one big cloud)or...A huge cloud of volcanic ash... - MattM, ABR 20, 2010
gracias :) - Issabela, ABR 20, 2010
Excelente... - Carlos-F, ABR 20, 2010
2
votes
| Voice | English | Spanish |
| Active | The man walked on the moon | El hombre caminó en la luna |
| Passive | La luna fue |
updated ABR 21, 2010
edited by Carlos-F
posted by voeglerd
Be careful. Your passive sentence can't work like that. Read this response I typed to someone else about making a passive sentence: http://www.spanishdict.com/answers/128568/active-voice-to-passive-voice - Luciente, ABR 20, 2010
Ok hopefully that is better - voeglerd, ABR 20, 2010
Question: Does caminada mean walked, or walked on? - Maria-Russell, ABR 20, 2010
Good catch Maria, I think "caminada" is just "walked"... - Carlos-F, ABR 20, 2010
thanks for fixing my sentence, i am a beginner at spanish - voeglerd, ABR 20, 2010
Does that mean he did the moonwalk? - fatchocobo, ABR 21, 2010
2
votes
| Voice | English | Spanish |
| Active | They translated the exercise correctly. | (Ellos) Tradujeron el ejercicio correctamente. |
| Passive | The exercise was translated correctly by them | El ejercicio fue traducido correctamente (por ellos) |
updated ABR 21, 2010
posted by Carlos-F
2
votes
English Active: I read the newspaper last night. English Passive: The newspaper was read by me last night.
Spanish Active: Leí el periódico anoche.
Spanish Passive: El periódico fue leído por mí anoche.
updated ABR 21, 2010
edited by DR1960
posted by DR1960
Excelente... - Carlos-F, ABR 20, 2010
2
votes
| Voice | English | Spanish |
| Active | She cut the grass on Monday. | Ella cortó el césped el lunes. |
| Passive | The grass was cut by her on Monday. | El césped fue cortado por ella el lunes. |
I needed to use the personal pronoun here, de verdad? So we know the person is female? (It's always me who cuts the grass around here - until the guinea pigs arrive!!!)
updated ABR 21, 2010
posted by galsally
Very good... - Carlos-F, ABR 20, 2010
If we don't have more context (in this example) probably it would be better to specify the pronoun... - Carlos-F, ABR 20, 2010
Are they (guinea pigs) good gardeners? - Carlos-F, ABR 20, 2010
They love eating grass! ;) - galsally, ABR 21, 2010
1
vote
| Voice | English | Spanish |
| Active | I held a meeting today. | Conduje una reunión hoy. |
| Passive | A meeting was held by me today. | Una reunión fue |
My comments (Carlos F.)
hold a meeting celebrar una reunión | reunirse | convocar una reunión
hold a meeting (idiom) organize and conduct a meeting
updated ABR 21, 2010
edited by Carlos-F
posted by 008f2974
I wasn´t sure about the best Spanish verb to use for¨holding a meeting. - 008f2974, ABR 21, 2010
Very good... - Carlos-F, ABR 21, 2010
gracias - 008f2974, ABR 21, 2010
1
vote
| Voice | English | Spanish |
| Active | I copied this table yesterday for the first time. | Copié esta tabla ayer por primera vez. |
| Passive | The table was copied by me for the first time yesterday. | La tabla fue copiada por mí por primera vez ayer. |
updated ABR 21, 2010
edited by Carlos-F
posted by sanlee
Very good... - Carlos-F, ABR 21, 2010
1
vote
| Voice | English | Spanish |
| Active | Yesterday I mailed fifty invitations to the graduates. | Ayer envié por correo cincuenta invitaciones a los graduados. |
| Passive | Yesterday, fifty invitations to the graduates were sent by me. | Ayer, cincuenta invitaciones fueron enviadas por correo a los graduados por mi. |
updated ABR 21, 2010
edited by Maria-Russell
posted by Lucrecia
Don't forget to make the adjective "enviado" match in number and gender with "invitaciones". - Luciente, ABR 20, 2010
Luciente, gracias. Lucrecia - Lucrecia, ABR 20, 2010
I fixed your table. - Maria-Russell, ABR 21, 2010
1
vote
Example:
| Voice | English | Spanish |
| Active | You interfered with my plans. | Usted |
| Passive | My plans were interfered with by you. | Mis planes fueron |
corrections: as follows:
| Voice | English | Spanish |
| Active | You interferred with my plans. | Usted interfirió con mis planes. |
| Passive | My plans were interferred with by you. | Mis planes fueron interferidos por usted. |
updated ABR 21, 2010
edited by Maria-Russell
posted by Maria-Russell
"Usted interferiste" .... "Usted" doesn't match with "interferiste". // for "fueron interferó", you need the past participle (-ado-/ido) for the verb "interferir". Then change it in number to match "planes." - Luciente, ABR 20, 2010
I think you have already made the corrections, but does interferidos = interferred with? Thank you ahead of time. - Maria-Russell, ABR 21, 2010
1
vote
comer = to eat
| Voice | English | Spanish |
| Active | The Knave of Hearts ate the tarts. | La Sota de los Corazones comió las tartas. |
| Passive | The tarts were eaten by the Knave of Hearts. | Las tartas fueron |
updated ABR 21, 2010
edited by Carlos-F
posted by CrazyDiamond
Don't forget to make the adjective "comido" match "las tartas" in number and gender. - Luciente, ABR 20, 2010
I was wondering about that...thanks. - CrazyDiamond, ABR 21, 2010
1
vote
| Voice | English | Spanish |
| Active | Her boss warned her: "Never be late again!". | Su jefe le advirtió: "¡Nunca llegue tarde otra vez!". |
| Passive | She was warned by her boss not to be late again | Fue advertida por su jefe que no llegue tarde otra vez. |
updated ABR 21, 2010
edited by Krama
posted by Krama
Excelente... - Carlos-F, ABR 20, 2010
Don't forget the "u" after the g in the active/Spanish word llegue - christie2, ABR 21, 2010
Thanks - Krama, ABR 21, 2010
1
vote
| Voice | English | Spanish |
| Active | I attended my cousin's wedding last weekend. | Atendí a la boda de mi primo el fin de semana pasado. |
| Passive | My cousin's wedding was attended by me last weekend. | La boda de mi primo fue atendida por mí el fin de semana pasado. |
updated ABR 21, 2010
edited by luz_72
posted by luz_72
Don't forget to make the adjective "atendido" match "la boda" in number and gender. - Luciente, ABR 20, 2010
I believe the verb you want here is Asistir. (to be present) whereas, if I'm not mistaken atender means more along the lines of "assisted by, tended to" - christie2, ABR 21, 2010
...thank you both:) - luz_72, ABR 21, 2010
1
vote
| Voice | English | Spanish |
| Active | This week we refunded lots of our clients because of the volcano. | Esta semana reembolsamos |
| Passive | This week lots of our clients were refunded because of the volcano. | Esta semana |
updated ABR 21, 2010
edited by Carlos-F
posted by Richard-Thomas
¡Corregid mi español, por favor! - Richard-Thomas, ABR 20, 2010
Edited because I didn't spot the fact we were supposed to be using the past tense! ;-) - Richard-Thomas, ABR 20, 2010
Don't forget to make the adjective "reembolsado" match "clientes" in number and gender. - Luciente, ABR 20, 2010
You refunded money, not clients. - Maria-Russell, ABR 20, 2010
Luciente y Carlos - gracias por la corrección. Maria - Thanks, do those corrections cover the point you are making or do I need to change something else? - Richard-Thomas, ABR 21, 2010
1
vote
| Voice | English | Dpanish. |
| Active | I cleaned the ditch today. | Limpié la acequia hoy. |
| Passive | The ditch was cleaned today by me. | La acequia fue |
updated ABR 21, 2010
edited by Carlos-F
posted by nizhoni1
Very good... - Carlos-F, ABR 21, 2010
thanks - nizhoni1, ABR 21, 2010
1
vote
| Voice | English | Spanish |
| Active | Many doctors and nurses ran the clinic. | Muchos doctores y enfermeros dirigieron la clínica. |
| Passive | The clinic was run by many doctors and nurses. | La clínica fue |
updated ABR 20, 2010
edited by Carlos-F
posted by eighdrien
Very good... - Carlos-F, ABR 20, 2010
