The ser + past participle construction is Portuguese's most direct passive. It matches the English "be + past participle" almost move-for-move: the subject of the Portuguese sentence is the logical patient, the verb ser carries the tense information, and the past participle describes what was done. If you want to name the doer, you introduce them with por ("by"), which contracts with definite articles to give pelo, pela, pelos, pelas. This page covers everything you need to build ser passives in every tense, handle participle agreement, and know when to reach for this construction versus the alternatives.
The core pattern
| Slot | Fills | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Subject (= logical patient) | Whatever received the action | O livro |
| Ser | Any tense / mood | foi |
| Past participle | Agrees with subject in gender and number | escrito |
| Por + agent (optional) | por / pelo / pela / pelos / pelas + doer | por ela |
Everything else flows from this template. The two details that most often trip up learners are the tense flexibility of ser and the agreement of the participle, so we'll walk through both in detail.
Ser works in every tense and mood
The passive is as flexible as ser itself. Any form ser can take, the passive can take. Here is the same core sentence — "the letter is/was/will be/would be written by her" — across the principal tenses.
| Tense / mood | Example | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| Present | A carta é escrita por ela. | The letter is written by her. |
| Preterite | A carta foi escrita por ela. | The letter was written by her. |
| Imperfect | A carta era escrita semanalmente. | The letter was written weekly (habitual past). |
| Simple future | A carta será escrita amanhã. | The letter will be written tomorrow. |
| Conditional | A carta seria escrita pelo chefe. | The letter would be written by the boss. |
| Present perfect compound | A carta tem sido escrita com cuidado. | The letter has been being written carefully. |
| Pluperfect compound | A carta tinha sido escrita antes. | The letter had been written before. |
| Future perfect | A carta terá sido escrita até sexta. | The letter will have been written by Friday. |
| Conditional perfect | A carta teria sido escrita a tempo. | The letter would have been written on time. |
| Present subjunctive | É possível que seja escrita em breve. | It's possible it will be written soon. |
| Imperfect subjunctive | Se fosse escrita, ajudaria muito. | If it were written, it would help a lot. |
| Future subjunctive | Quando for escrita, avisa-me. | When it's written, let me know. |
| Infinitive | É preciso ser escrita com cuidado. | It needs to be written carefully. |
In the compound-of-ser tenses (tem sido, tinha sido, terá sido, teria sido), note that sido — the participle of ser — is invariant because it follows ter, while the main participle (escrita here) still agrees with the subject. This stacking is a classic Portuguese pattern. For the full agreement logic see past participle agreement.
As propostas tinham sido aprovadas pelo conselho.
The proposals had been approved by the council. (pluperfect passive — aprovadas agrees with propostas, sido invariant)
Os documentos terão sido enviados até à próxima semana.
The documents will have been sent by next week. (future perfect passive)
The participle agrees with the subject
This is the single most important rule of the ser passive. The past participle inflects for gender and number to match the grammatical subject.
| Subject | Participle (escrever → escrito) | Example |
|---|---|---|
| masc. sg. | escrito | O livro foi escrito. |
| fem. sg. | escrita | A carta foi escrita. |
| masc. pl. | escritos | Os livros foram escritos. |
| fem. pl. | escritas | As cartas foram escritas. |
A carta foi escrita em francês.
The letter was written in French. (fem. sg.)
As cartas foram escritas em francês.
The letters were written in French. (fem. pl.)
O livro foi escrito em francês.
The book was written in French. (masc. sg.)
Os livros foram escritos em francês.
The books were written in French. (masc. pl.)
This mirrors the behavior of any predicative adjective — agreement is the default, and a learner who thinks of the participle as "an adjective that happens to come from a verb" will get this right by instinct.
Mixed-gender subjects default to masculine plural
When the subject combines masculine and feminine elements, the participle goes into the masculine plural.
O livro e a revista foram publicados no mesmo ano.
The book and the magazine were published in the same year.
A Ana e o João foram convidados para a reunião.
Ana and João were invited to the meeting.
Irregular and double participles still agree
Irregular participles (escrito, feito, visto, dito, aberto, posto) agree exactly like regular ones. Double-participle verbs use the short form with ser, which also agrees.
A porta foi aberta às nove.
The door was opened at nine. (aberto → aberta)
As contas foram pagas na sexta-feira.
The bills were paid on Friday. (pagar → pago → pagas)
Os prémios foram entregues no fim da cerimónia.
The prizes were handed out at the end of the ceremony. (entregar → entregue → entregues)
Os ladrões foram presos pela polícia.
The thieves were arrested by the police. (prender → preso → presos)
See double participles for the full list — the key point is that ser always takes the short form (pago, ganho, entregue, preso) and the short form agrees.
The agent with por — and its contractions
If you want to name the doer, you introduce them with por. When por is followed by a definite article, the two contract obligatorily:
| por + article | Contracted form |
|---|---|
| por + o | pelo |
| por + a | pela |
| por + os | pelos |
| por + as | pelas |
The contraction is not optional. Writing por o diretor instead of pelo diretor is a spelling error, not a stylistic variant.
A casa foi construída pelos melhores arquitetos.
The house was built by the best architects.
O discurso foi escrito pela ministra.
The speech was written by the minister. (feminine)
As decisões foram tomadas pelo conselho diretivo.
The decisions were taken by the board of directors.
As obras foram feitas pelas equipas da câmara.
The works were done by the municipal teams.
With proper names or bare nouns (no article), use plain por:
O livro foi escrito por Saramago.
The book was written by Saramago.
A proposta foi rejeitada por vários deputados.
The proposal was rejected by several MPs.
A encomenda foi entregue por um estafeta.
The package was delivered by a courier.
Por with indefinite articles
Por does not contract with indefinite articles (um, uma, uns, umas).
A casa foi construída por um arquiteto famoso.
The house was built by a famous architect.
As propostas foram apresentadas por uma comissão especial.
The proposals were presented by a special commission.
Por with pronouns
Por also does not contract with demonstratives or pronouns — but some pronoun forms require the tonic forms (mim, ti, ele, ela, nós, vocês, eles, elas), not the subject forms.
O bolo foi feito por mim.
The cake was made by me. (tonic form 'mim', not 'eu')
Esta canção foi escrita por ti.
This song was written by you. (tonic form 'ti', not 'tu')
A carta foi lida por todos.
The letter was read by everyone.
O quadro foi pintado por ele.
The painting was painted by him.
Occasionally de replaces por
With verbs of emotion, some speakers and writers use de instead of por to introduce the experiencer: ser amado de todos, ser respeitado de todos. This is literary and traditional rather than everyday. In modern usage, por is the default: ser amado por todos.
Ela é amada por todos os que a conhecem.
She is loved by everyone who knows her. (modern, neutral)
Um escritor amado de todos os portugueses.
A writer loved by all the Portuguese. (literary register)
The omitted agent
The agent is optional. In both Portuguese and English, you often drop the por-phrase when the doer is unknown, irrelevant, or contextually obvious.
O livro foi publicado em 1890.
The book was published in 1890. (agent unimportant)
A janela foi partida durante a noite.
The window was broken during the night. (agent unknown)
Os impostos foram aumentados pelo Governo.
Taxes were raised by the government. (agent named)
Os impostos foram aumentados.
Taxes were raised. (agent omitted — same meaning when context supplies it)
In EP conversation, the ser passive with an omitted agent is often replaced by an active with an indefinite subject (aumentaram os impostos — "they raised taxes"), which sounds less stiff.
Active ↔ passive pairs
Every ser passive has an active counterpart. The transformation between them is mechanical:
| Active | Passive |
|---|---|
| O João escreveu a carta. | A carta foi escrita pelo João. |
| A Ana leu o livro. | O livro foi lido pela Ana. |
| Os arquitetos construíram a casa. | A casa foi construída pelos arquitetos. |
| O governo aprovou as reformas. | As reformas foram aprovadas pelo governo. |
The active's direct object becomes the passive's subject; the active's subject becomes the por-phrase; the verb shifts from an active form to the matching tense of ser + past participle; and the participle acquires agreement with the new subject.
A equipa venceu o campeonato. → O campeonato foi vencido pela equipa.
The team won the championship. → The championship was won by the team.
Os alunos entregaram os trabalhos. → Os trabalhos foram entregues pelos alunos.
The students handed in the assignments. → The assignments were handed in by the students.
When to prefer the ser passive
The ser passive is the right choice in several specific situations:
1. When the agent matters. The ser passive is the only construction that can name the agent with por. Passiva pronominal and impersonal se can't.
O quadro foi pintado por Paula Rego.
The painting was painted by Paula Rego. (the agent is the whole point of the sentence)
2. Formal writing and journalism. The ser passive is the default neutral passive in Portuguese newspapers, legal documents, academic prose, and administrative writing.
A sentença foi proferida pelo tribunal após seis horas de deliberação.
The sentence was handed down by the court after six hours of deliberation.
O ministro foi questionado sobre a reforma fiscal.
The minister was questioned about the fiscal reform.
3. When you want maximum clarity about who did what to whom. Compared to the passiva pronominal, the ser passive makes the agent-patient relationship explicit.
4. When the patient is human. Passiva pronominal with a human patient can sound odd or be misread as genuinely reflexive; ser passive is safer.
O suspeito foi detido pela PSP.
The suspect was arrested by the police. (ser passive — unambiguous)
When to avoid the ser passive
1. Everyday conversation. In casual speech, EP speakers often prefer an active with an indefinite subject — detiveram o suspeito ("they arrested the suspect") — over o suspeito foi detido ("the suspect was arrested"), unless the agent matters.
2. Indefinite or unknown agents in neutral register. If you don't know or care who did it, the passiva pronominal (vendem-se livros) or an indefinite active (vendem livros) often sounds more natural.
3. Advertising, classifieds, cookery. These registers have essentially adopted the passiva pronominal as their standard form: alugam-se quartos, vendem-se terrenos, mistura-se o ovo com a farinha. Using ser passive here would sound verbose.
Comparison with English
The ser passive maps almost 1:1 onto the English passive. The translation "X was done by Y" → X foi feito por Y is reliable across tenses.
| English | Portuguese |
|---|---|
| The book was written by her. | O livro foi escrito por ela. |
| The house is being built. | A casa está a ser construída. / A casa está sendo construída. |
| The reforms will be approved next year. | As reformas serão aprovadas no próximo ano. |
| The documents have been signed. | Os documentos foram assinados. / Os documentos têm sido assinados. |
The one thing English speakers often forget is participle agreement. English "written" is invariant; Portuguese escrito changes to escrita, escritos, escritas depending on the subject. Drilling the four-shape table (-o, -a, -os, -as) until it becomes reflexive is the single biggest improvement most English speakers can make on their Portuguese passive.
Comparison with Spanish
The Portuguese ser passive is structurally identical to the Spanish ser passive (fue escrito por ella). The only differences are:
- Auxiliary in compound tenses: Portuguese uses ter (tinha sido escrito), Spanish uses haber (había sido escrito).
- Contractions: Portuguese por contracts with definite articles (pelo, pela, pelos, pelas); Spanish por does not contract with articles in the same way.
- Double participles: both languages have them; the short form is used with ser/ser in both.
Common Mistakes
❌ A carta foi escrito pela Maria.
Agreement error — escrito must agree with the feminine singular subject A carta, so escrita.
✅ A carta foi escrita pela Maria.
The letter was written by Maria.
❌ Os livros foram escrito pelo autor.
Agreement error — escrito must agree with the masculine plural subject Os livros, so escritos.
✅ Os livros foram escritos pelo autor.
The books were written by the author.
❌ A casa foi construída por o arquiteto.
Missing contraction — por + o must become pelo.
✅ A casa foi construída pelo arquiteto.
The house was built by the architect.
❌ O bolo foi feito por eu.
Wrong pronoun form — after a preposition, use the tonic form mim, not the subject pronoun eu.
✅ O bolo foi feito por mim.
The cake was made by me.
❌ As contas foram pagadas pela Ana.
Wrong participle form — with ser, use the short form pago/pagas. Pagadas is used only with ter (invariant pagado).
✅ As contas foram pagas pela Ana.
The bills were paid by Ana.
❌ O livro foi escrito por a autora.
Missing contraction — por + a must become pela.
✅ O livro foi escrito pela autora.
The book was written by the author. (feminine)
❌ O livro tem sido escrito.
Strained — the compound passive present perfect is rare and usually misleading. If you just mean 'the book was written', use the simple preterite: o livro foi escrito.
✅ O livro foi escrito em 1890. / O livro tem sido reescrito várias vezes.
The book was written in 1890. / The book has been rewritten several times (repeated action).
Key Takeaways
- Structure: subject + ser
- past participle + (por
- agent). The subject is the logical patient.
- past participle + (por
- Ser conjugates in every tense and mood, giving you a full passive paradigm. É, foi, era, será, seja, fosse, for, tem sido, tinha sido, terá sido, teria sido…
- Participle agrees with the subject in gender and number. Escrito, escrita, escritos, escritas.
- Compound of ser passives (tem sido escrita): sido stays invariant (after ter), main participle agrees.
- Por contracts with definite articles: pelo, pela, pelos, pelas. Not optional.
- Tonic pronoun forms after por: por mim, por ti, por ele, not por eu, por tu.
- Double-participle verbs use the short form with ser: pago, ganho, entregue, preso, all agreeing.
- Prefer the ser passive when the agent matters, in formal writing, and in journalism. Prefer alternatives (passiva pronominal, indefinite active, impersonal se) in casual speech, ads, and cookery.
For the other passive/impersonal constructions, see the overview and the passiva pronominal page. For the underlying agreement rules, see past participle agreement.
Related Topics
- Passive Voice and Impersonal Constructions (Overview)B1 — Portuguese expresses passive and agentless meaning through four related constructions — ser + past participle, se + verb (passive), impersonal se, and ficar + participle. This page maps out when to use each.
- Se-Passive (Passiva Pronominal)B1 — Vendem-se livros — the passive with clitic se, where the verb agrees with the logical patient. Covers the classic prescriptive rule, the colloquial tension (vende-se casas vs vendem-se casas), and why the agent cannot be expressed.
- Past Participle AgreementB1 — When past participles agree in gender and number, and when they don't — the sharp split between ter (invariant) and ser / estar / ficar / adjectival use (full agreement).
- Past Participle: Regular FormsA2 — How to build regular past participles in European Portuguese — -ar → -ado, -er → -ido, -ir → -ido, with full paradigms and natural examples.
- Past Participle: Irregular FormsA2 — The comprehensive list of Portuguese verbs with irregular past participles — feito, dito, visto, escrito, aberto, posto, vindo, and the whole family of -pôr and -cobrir derivatives.
- Compound Tenses OverviewA2 — The complete inventory of European Portuguese compound tenses built with ter + past participle, across indicative, subjunctive, infinitive, and gerund.