Passive Voice Question?
I was reading a little grammar box in my textbook about the passive voice and I was totally understanding it until I came across this section of the passage:
"Sometimes the passive voice can be expressed simply by using the third person plural of the verb:
Picarán el ajo más tarde- The garlic will be chopped later"
I feel like this isn't the passive voice because I think the subject is "they or you guys", so in my opinion the sentence translates better to "They will chop the garlic later". Is this sentence in the passive voice or not? Also, If it that sentence is not in the passive, would the correct way to put it in the passive be: "Se picará el ajo más tarde"/ "El ajo será picado más tarde"? Thanks!
2 Answers
Picarán el ajo más tarde- The garlic will be chopped later"
I feel like this isn't the passive voice because I think the subject is "they or you guys", so in my opinion the sentence translates better to "They will chop the garlic later".
I see your point, but your textbook is partially right. This omitted "they" means you don't know who "they" are; for all you know, it could be just one person; you just don't know. Furthermore, in these kind of "impersonal" (or call it passive if you wish) sentences, you can't even say "ellos/ellas", like you could in a normal sentence where you know who "they" really are. If you say
Llaman a la puerta
it simply means that someone is knocking at the door, but you don't know whether it is one person, two, or a hundred. If you said "Ellos llaman a la puerta", any native would ask with a very confused face: "¿Ellos? ¿Quiénes son ellos?", because they will take for granted that no only you know exactly who "ellos" means, but also that they should know that too, and since they don't know, you'll confuse them big time.
Is this sentence in the passive voice or not?
No. While some grammarians still differ in whether it is syntactically impersonal or not (and I believe it is), this sentence is semantically impersonal in any case.
Also, If it that sentence is not in the passive, would the correct way to put it in the passive be: "Se picará el ajo más tarde"/ "El ajo será picado más tarde"? Thanks!
Both are correct passives, but most people would rather use the former one in this case. The rules to choose one over the other are not simply to explain in just a few words, but the latter option sounds too cold, almost like a newspaper or a formal speech. "Picarán el ajo más tarde" will probably be used as frequently as "Se picará...", with exactly the same meaning.
Now this is an exampe of a thread that should be closed: there is nothing more to add. 
