expulsó or expulsado?

Question

i'm trying to say 'he was expelled' and i'm not sure whether to write 'él fue expulsado' or 'él fue expulsó'??

Hola, Bienvenido al foro! - rac1, May 30, 2012

Answer 1

You'd have to say "él fue expulsado" because it's a passive action. In other words, the expelling was something that was done to him. If you said "expulsó" it wold mean that he actively expelled something or someone else.

Answer 2

It is easy for English speakers to get confused between the past participle and the past tense. In English, "The student was expelled" uses the same word as "The principal expelled the student". In Spanish, these are different, "El estudiante fue expulsado" and "El director expulsó el estudiante". When I think in English and then try to relate the thought in Spanish, this tends to happen to me a lot. I don't have nearly as many problems when I first form a thought in Spanish.

Answer 3

Thank you!