Passive voice using "se", Transform the sentences and translate, English and Spanish students
This exercise is aimed at Students of both English and Spanish.
For Students of English: Transform and translate the sentences using the passive voice, do not use the agent, that is "somebody, they etc"
Intermediate and Advanced students of Spanish: Translate the Sentences using the "se passive" in Spanish.
Check this flashcard set on passive voice, especially created on this topic.
Aslo check this set on Passive voice, sentences
Native English speakers do not transform the sentences to passive in English
I will post two sets of sentences:
PUT THE FOLLOWING SENTENCES INTO THE PASSIVE VOICE
1) Somebody had slashed the picture with a knife.
2) Can they be pulling down the old theatre?
3) Someone switched on a light.
4) Did they open the door?
5) They use pigs to find truffles.
6) Had somebody cleaned my shoes?
7) Will nobody brush my jacket?
8) They are doing a lot of work.
9) Somebody feeds the tigers at the zoo.
10) Don’t they build these houses?
Click on "watch this thread" to check your corrections!
27 Answers
1) The picture had been slashed with a knife. 
2) Can the old theatre be being pulled down?
3) A light was switched on.
4) Was the door opened?
5) Pigs are used to find truffles.
6) Had my shoes been cleaned?
7) Won't my jacket be brushed? (better: Will my jacket...)
8) A lot of work is being done.
9) The tigers are fed at the zoo.
10) Aren't these houses built?
1) Se había acuchillado el cuadro.
2) ¿Se puede estar derribando el teatro viejo?
3) Se encendió una luz.
4) ¿Se abrió la puerta?
5) Se usan los cerdos para encontrar trufas.
6) ¿Se habían limpiado mis zapatos?
7) ¿No se cepillará mi chaqueta?
8) Se están hecho muchos trabajos.
9) Se alimentan los tigres en el zoológico.
10) ¿No se contruyen estas casas?
This may help clarify what is being done in English.
How to change an active sentence into a passive
The cat (subject) chased the mouse (object) ACTIVE
The mouse was chased ( by the cat ) PASSIVE
The object of the active sentence is placed at the beginning of the passive sentence.
The passive sentence always contains a To Be verb + the past participle of the verb in the active sentence.
The original subject in the active sentence is not needed but can be included.
Present simple
Active My wife kisses me
Passive I am kissed by my wife
Past simple Active My wife kissed me
Passive I was kissed by my wife
Modal Active Everyone can enjoy this music
Passive This music can be enjoyed by everyone
Present Progressive Active The man is building a house
Passive A house is being built by the man
Past Progressive Active The King was building a castle
Passive A castle was being built by the King
Present perfect Active The woman has made a dress
Passive A dress has been made by the woman
Past perfect Active He had made a mistake
Passive A mistake had been made by him
Modal Perfect Active A bomb might have killed them
Passive They might have been killed by a bomb
Future Simple Active I will pass the exam
Passive The exam will be passed by me
Note: The passive for the Future Progressive and the Perfect Progressive forms are not used much.
The passive allows the writer or speaker to omit the active subject.
This is useful if we do not know who or what did something or we don't want to say who or what did something.
Passive sentences are often used in scientific and academic books
. VERB FORM ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE
Present Continuous is keeping is being kept
• The road is being kept in good repair.
Present Simple keep is kept • The butter is kept in the fridge.
Present Progressive driving is being driven
• The car is being driven by Marco.
Present Perfect have read has been read
• The bible has been read.
Past Simple stole was stolen • The painting was stolen.
Past Perfect had destroyed had been destroyed • The castle had been destroyed.
Past Progressive was driving was being driven • The car was being driven by Marco.
Future Simple will keep will be kept • The money will be kept by the bank.
Present Conditional would keep would be kept • The money would be kept by the bank.
Past Conditional would have kept would have been kept • The money would have been kept by the bank.
Present Infinitive to keep to be kept • The money is to be kept by the bank.
Short update:
Notice how lawyers - politictons and other obfuscators use this form.
A comment re. 10) Don’t they build these houses?
This sentence is misleading and has certainly mislead Laura who interpreted it to mean 'Are they not in the process of building these houses?'. However we don't use the present indicative for this type of construction in English, rather the present continuous.
The sentence can mean one of two things:
1/ Don't they build these houses?
Here you are questioning who it is that builds the houses. This however cannot be the meaning in this exercise as we need to remove the they from the sentence. Realistically this is though the only way in which this sentence would be used.
2/ Don't they build these houses.
Here are you questioning the method via which these houses come into existence. Now, to my knowledge, aside from magic, building is the only way of bringing a house into existence and so you might be confused with the logic of this sentence when trying to transform it removing the 'they'.
So, Laura's answer - 'Aren't these houses being built' is actually incorrect. And, whilst Fidalgo's answer - 'Aren't these houses built?' is correct according to the exercise, it would be misinterpreted to mean 'Are these houses not yet finished' as you'd not really question as to whether they were built as opposed to magicked into existence
To remove this oddity, you could add to the sentence. For example:
Don't they build these houses out of brick? Don't they build these houses quickly?
Here there are alternatives to brick and quickly.
1) Somebody had slashed the picture with a knife.
Se había rajado/ se rajó el cuadro con un cuchillo.
You cannot use acuchillar, that would mean you murdered the picturePhoto is acceptable.
2) Can they be pulling down the old theatre?
¿Puede que estén tirando/derribando/se esté derribando el viejo teatro?
¿Estarán tirando el viejo teatro/se estará derribando el viejo teatro? You need to use subjunctive here, I also included the "normal passive", which in this case would sound perfectly natural. Have you seen the future used this way? That form would probably the most natural way of translating the sentence.
3) Someone switched on a light.
Se encendió una luz./ una luz fue encendida
4) Did they open the door?
Se abrió la puerta/la puerta fue abierta/abrieron la puerta.
5) They use pigs to find truffles.
Se usan cerdos para encontrar trufas.
Se usa is acceptable here, even though the tendency is to use plural "se usan".
It would sound odd to use "cerdos son usados...".
6) Had somebody cleaned my shoes?
¿Se habían limpiado/se limpiaron los zapatos?
7) Will nobody brush my jacket?
¿Nadie limpiará mi chaqueta?
8) They are doing a lot of work.
Se está haciendo/realizando un montón de trabajo.
9) Somebody feeds the tigers at the zoo.
Se alimenta a los tigres en el zoo. /los tigres son alimentados en el zoo.
Mejor: Se les da de comer a los tigres ....
10) Don’t they build these houses?
¿No se construyen estas casas?
Excelente trabajo todo el mundo, estoy impresionada.
Very nice job done by the English students who have also had a go at the transalations, truly amazing.
Very difficult ...good job
I am not a person to pat anybody on the shoulder who I think could have done better. I personally think that is not the way to go. I am a very strict teacher, especially with those I know can do well Some people can't deal with that.
So for those who tried, great job
1- Se había acuchillado el cuadro con un cuchillo
2- ¿Se está demoliendo el teatro viejo?
3- Se encendió la luz.
4- ¿Se abrió la puerta?
5- Se usan los cerdos para encontrar trufas.
6- ¿Se habían limpiado mis zapatos?
7- ¿No se cepillará mi chaqueta?
8- Se está haciendo mucho trabajo.
9- Se alimentan los tigres en el zoológico.
10- ¿No se contruyen estas casas?
1) Somebody had slashed the picture with a knife.
The picture had been slashed with a knife.
2) Can they be pulling down the old theatre? Can the old theatre be being pulled down?
3) Someone switched on a light. A light was switched on.
4) Did they open the door?
Was the door opened?
5) They use pigs to find truffles. Pigs are used to find truffles
6) Had somebody cleaned my shoes?
Had My shoes been cleaned?
7) Will nobody brush my jacket?
Will my Jacket be brushed?
8) They are doing a lot of work. A lot of work is being done.
9) Somebody feeds the tigers at the zoo.
The tigers are fed at the zoo. (The tigers...)
10) Don’t they build these houses? Aren't these houses built
this is my 2nd attempt after doing the flashcards suggested. Really helped. I felt kind of bad being rejected like "only intermediate and advanced" so I hope these are good. Just to prove to myself that I'm a bit more than a beginner.
1) Somebody had slashed the picture with a knife. Se había acuchillado el cuadro
2) Can they be pulling down the old theatre? ¿se puede estar derribando el teatro viejo?
3) Someone switched on a light. Se ha encendido una luz
4) Did they open the door? ¿Se abrió la puerta?
5) They use pigs to find truffles. se usan los cerdos para encontrar las trufas
6) Had somebody cleaned my shoes? ¿se limpiaron mis zapatos?
7) Will nobody brush my jacket? ¿Se cepillará mi chaqueta?
8) They are doing a lot of work. se esta haciendo mucho trabajo
9) Somebody feeds the tigers at the zoo. se alimentan los tigres en el zoológico
10) Don’t they build these houses? ¿no se construyen estas casas?
The picture has been cut with a knife. - Se había acuchillado el cuadro
**why do you use "se había" when it is "has been"? Why not había sido? I'm confused with this one.
Había sido acuchillado el cuadro - The picture has been slashed (corrrect)
So is the reasoning that when you put the SE you remove the SIDO.
1) Se había hecho un tajo en el cuadro con un cuchillo.
2) ¿Se está demoliendo el teatro antiguo?
3) Se incendió una luz.
4) ¿Se abrió la puerta?
5) Se usan cerdos para buscar turfas.
6) ¿Se me habían limpiado los zapatos?
7) ¿No se me cepillará la chequeta?
8) Se hace mucho trabajo.
9) Se les da de comer a los tigres en el zoo.
10) ¿No se construyen estas casas?
1) The picture had been slashed with a knife. A.) La foto se había acuchillado con cuchillo.
2) Can the old theatre be getting pulled down? A.) ¿Se puede demoler el teatro antiguo?
3) The light was switched on. A.) Se incendió la luz.
4) Was the door opened? A.) ¿Se abrió la puerta?
5) Pigs are used to find truffles. A.) Se usan los cerdos para hallar trufas.
6) Had my shoes been cleaned? A.) ¿Se habían limpiado los zapatos?
7) Won't my jacket be brushed? A.) ¿Ne se cepillará el saco?
8) A lot of work is being done. A.) Se está hecho mucho trabajo.
9) The tigers are fed at the zoo. A.) Se alimentan los tigres en el zoológico.
10) Aren't these houses built? A.) ¿No se construyen estas casas?
PS: those flashcards on the passive voice.. terrific.
My attempts:-
Spanish:-
1- El cuadro se había cortado con un cuchillo.
2- ¿Se puede estar demolido el teatro viejo?
3- La luz se encendió.
4- ¿Se abrió la puerta?
5- Se usan los cerdos para encontrar trufas.
6- ¿Se habían limpiado mis zapatos?
7- ¿No se cepillará mi chaqueta?
8- Se están hecho muchos trabajos.
9- Los tigres se alimentan en el zoológico.
10- ¿No se construyen estas casas?
English:-
1- The picture had been slashed with a knife.
2- Can the old theatre be being pulled down?
3- A light was switched on.
4- Was the door opened?
5- Pigs are used to find truffles.
6- Had my shoes been cleaned?
7- Won't my jacket be brushed? (better: Will my jacket...)
8- A lot of work is being done.
9- The tigers are fed at the zoo.
10- Aren't these houses built?
Thanks a lot for the exercise, Heidi
1) Somebody had slashed the picture with a knife. El cuadro había sido acuchillado con un cuhcillo.
2) Can they be pulling down the old theatre? ¿Puede el teatro estar sido derriban (no se)
3) Someone switched on a light. Una luz fue encendida
4) Did they open the door? ¿La puerta fue abierta?
5) They use pigs to find truffles. Los cerdos son usados para encontrar las trufas
can I say Los cerdos se usan para.... ?
6) Had somebody cleaned my shoes? ¿Fueron mis zapatos limpiados?
7) Will nobody brush my jacket? Mi chaqueta no va a ser ceppilada?
8) They are doing a lot of work. Mucho trabajo es hecho
9) Somebody feeds the tigers at the zoo. Los tigres en el zoo son dados de comer
10) Don’t they build these houses? Estas casas no son construidas?
1) Somebody had slashed the picture with a knife.
Se había rajado el cuadro con un cuchillo.
2) Can they be pulling down the old theatre?
¿Puede ser qué se están derribando el teatro antiguo?
3) Someone switched on a light.
Se encendió una luz.
4) Did they open the door?
¿Se abrió la puerta?
5) They use pigs to find truffles.
Se usan los cerdos para encontrar las trufas.
6) Had somebody cleaned my shoes?
¿Se habían limpiado mis zapatos?
7) Will nobody brush my jacket?
¿No se cepillará mi chaqueta? I don't like this one - because it sáys 'nobody' in the English I so much want to write 'nadie 'here!)
8) They are doing a lot of work.
Se están haciendo mucho trabajo.
9) Somebody feeds the tigers at the zoo.
Se alimentan los tigres en el zoo.
10) Don’t they build these houses?
¿No se construyen estas casa?
1) Se había cortado el cuadro con navaja.
2) ¿Se puede estar derrumbando el viejo teatro?
3) Se prendió la luz.
4) ¿Se abrió la puerta?
5) Se utiliza los cerdos para encontrar las trufas.
6) ¿Se había limpiado mis zapatos?
7) ¿No se sacudirá mi chaqueta? (¿¿o cepillará??)
8) Se está hacienda mucho trabajo.
9) Se da comida a los tigres en el zoológico
10) ¿No se construye estas casas?
