Passive Voice with ser

Kurz erklärt

The passive voice with ser presents an action from the perspective of the person or thing affected by it. The receiver of the action becomes the subject, while the person who performs it can be introduced with por. This construction is especially useful when the result or affected person is more important than the performer.

Bildung

subject + conjugated ser + past participle (+ por + performer). Ser carries the tense, and the participle agrees with the subject in gender and number: fue enviado, fueron enviadas.

Verwendung

• Use it to emphasize the receiver of an action rather than the performer.
• Use por when the performer is relevant; omit it when the performer is unknown or unimportant.
• Choose the tense of ser to show when the action happens: es publicado, fue publicado, será publicado.

Beispiele

• La reunión fue cancelada por la directora. — The meeting was canceled by the director.
• Los resultados serán publicados mañana. — The results will be published tomorrow.
• Estas casas fueron construidas hace cien años. — These houses were built a hundred years ago.

Typischer Fehler

❌ Las entradas fueron vendido en una hora.

✅ Las entradas fueron vendidas en una hora.

Unlike the English participle, the Spanish participle in this construction must agree with the subject. Because entradas is feminine plural, vendido becomes vendidas.

Merke

Ser shows the tense; the participle agrees with the subject. Add por only when naming the performer matters.