Spanish Language Exercises


Passive
Passive III
 

 

Passive with "Se" (Pasiva refleja)

The name "Pasiva refleja" comes from the presence of the reflexive pronoun "se" in the construction of the sentence. The verb of these sentences is active.

This common type of passive construction is used very often to emphasize the recipient of the action rather that the doer:

Las leyes se aprobaron ayer
La ley se aprobó ayer

(Some bills were passed yesterday
The bill was passed yesterday)

The example stresses the importance of the recipient of the action or grammatical subject (leyes) rather than that of the doer of the action or agent (in this case, the subject is implicit or understood: los diputados, los partidos, el Parlamento, etc.). Thus, the fact that the laws were passed is more important for the message than the individual who did it.

Note: the active verb agrees with the grammatical subject (aprobaron-leyes / aprobó-ley).

 

Practice

Based on the above-mentioned explanations, select the option to indicate the focus of each sentence:

1. Se analizaron los programas de los partidos en televisión.

The programs of the political parties.
The TV commentators.

2. Las elecciones se organizaron sin problemas.

The elections.
People voting.

3. Después de las elecciones se formó un nuevo Gobierno.

The new government.
The end of the elections.
 

Some Links about Spanish Politics

 
Introduction | Passive I | Passive II | Passive III | Passive IV
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