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### The Passive Voice with "ser"

When we want to emphasize the person or thing receiving an action rather than the one performing it, we use the **passive voice**. While you already know the "se" passive for general statements, this analytic passive is often used in history and art to state exactly *who* performed the action.

To form this passive voice in the past tense, use the preterite forms of **ser** (usually **fue** or **fueron**) followed by a **past participle**. 

If you want to mention the person who performed the action (the agent), use the preposition **por** (by).

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### Agreement with the Subject

In this structure, the past participle acts like an adjective. It must agree in **gender** and **number** with the *subject* of the sentence (the thing that was created, designed, or restored).

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This rule applies even with irregular past participles, like **hecho** (made/done).

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### Omitting the Agent

Just like in English, you don't always have to include who did the action. If the creator or restorer is unknown or unimportant to the story, you can leave off the **por** phrase entirely.

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The passive voice (fue por)

adjective

adverb

auxiliary verb

conjunction

determiner

expression

interjection

noun

numeral

prep

preposition

pronoun

sentence

verb

Definite articles and 'to be' (el, la, soy)

Masculine and feminine pairs (el hermano, la hermana)

Basic sentences and negation (no)

Indefinite articles (un, una)

Formal and informal you (tú vs. usted)

Plural pronouns and the verb to be (somos, son)

Making nouns plural (-s, -es)

Plural articles (los, las, unos, unas)

Noun gender exceptions

Adjective agreement

Invariable adjectives

State and location (estar)

Ser vs. estar

There is / there are (hay)

Hay vs. estar

To have (tener)

Possession (de)

Possessive adjectives (mi, tu, su)

Regular -ar verbs

Yes/No questions

What and who (qué, quién)

Regular -er verbs

Regular -ir verbs

Asking where (dónde, adónde)

How, when, and why (cómo, cuándo, por qué)

How much and how many (cuánto)

Days of the week

Going to a place (ir a)

Preposition contractions (al, del)

In and by (en)

With me and with you (conmigo, contigo)

Prepositional pronouns (mí, ti)

Conjunctions (y, o, pero)

Giving reasons (porque)

Stem-changing verbs (e to ie)

Stem-changing verbs (o to ue)

Stem-changing verbs (e to i)

Irregular yo forms (hago, salgo)

To know (saber vs. conocer)

Weather expressions (hace, está)

Desires and plans (querer)

Ability and requests (poder)

Obligations (tener que)

Expressing likes (me gusta)

Plural likes (me gustan)

Verbs like gustar (encantar, doler)

Very vs. a lot (muy, mucho)

Numbers 0 to 15 (cero, uno, dos…)

Numbers 16 to 31 (dieciséis, veinte…)

Numbers 30 to 1000 (treinta, cien, mil)

Months of the year (enero, febrero, marzo)

Seasons and dates (el dos de mayo)

Telling time (es la..., son las...)

Ordinal numbers 1st to 10th (primero, segundo, tercero)

Reflexive pronouns and verbs (me, te, se, nos)

Direct object pronouns (lo, la, los, las)

The near future (ir a)

The present continuous (estar + -ando, -iendo)

Near demonstrative adjectives (este, esta, estos, estas)

Medium demonstrative adjectives (ese, esa, esos, esas)

Comparatives of inequality (más / menos ... que)

Comparatives of equality (tan ... como)

Indefinite and negative pronouns (algo, nada, alguien, nadie)

Affirmative commands

Far demonstratives (aquel, aquella)

Possessive pronouns (el mío, el tuyo)

Shortened indefinite adjectives (algún, ningún)

Adverbs of quantity (demasiado, bastante)

Adverbs of frequency (a menudo, a veces)

Adverb formation (-mente)

Exclamations (¡Qué...!)

Irregular comparatives (mejor, peor, mayor, menor)

Relative superlatives (el más... de)

Adjective intensification (-ísimo)

Indirect object pronouns

Pronoun placement with infinitives

Double object pronouns (me lo, te la)

The 'se lo' rule (se lo, se la)

Impersonal statements (se)

Impersonal obligation (hay que)

Personal obligation (deber)

Starting actions (empezar a)

Finishing and quitting actions (terminar de, dejar de)

Repeating actions (volver a)

Continuing actions (seguir + gerundio)

Question	Answer
the tower	la torre
to design	diseñar
the architect	el arquitecto
The tower was designed by a famous architect.	La torre fue diseñada por un arquitecto famoso.
the portrait	el retrato
That portrait was painted by the king.	Ese retrato fue pintado por el rey.
to restore	restaurar
The palace was restored last year.	El palacio fue restaurado el año pasado.
the facade	la fachada
to inaugurate	inaugurar
The facade was not inaugurated by the president.	La fachada no fue inaugurada por el presidente.
the era	la época
The architect made the design in that era.	El arquitecto hizo el diseño en esa época.
That sculpture was made in that era.	Esa escultura fue hecha en esa época.
The pyramid was not restored because the project was canceled.	La pirámide no fue restaurada porque el proyecto fue cancelado.
The temple was designed by him.	El templo fue diseñado por él.
the painter	el pintor
The painter was near the work.	El pintor estuvo cerca de la obra.
The castle's tower was inaugurated last night.	La torre del castillo fue inaugurada anoche.
The portrait of the king was sold by the painter.	El retrato del rey fue vendido por el pintor.
The exhibition was inaugurated at noon.	La exposición fue inaugurada al mediodía.
The old wall was restored by the government.	El muro viejo fue restaurado por el gobierno.
The architect had a lot of success in his era.	El arquitecto tuvo mucho éxito en su época.
the cathedral	la catedral
The facade of the cathedral was designed by the architect.	La fachada de la catedral fue diseñada por el arquitecto.
The cathedral was restored by the government.	La catedral fue restaurada por el gobierno.
to kill	matar
Many men were killed in the war.	Muchos hombres fueron matados en la guerra.
I don't want to kill even an animal.	No quiero matar ni un animal.
the soldier	el soldado
The soldier was seen by the police.	El soldado fue visto por la policía.
The soldiers are tired.	Los soldados están cansados.
the army	el ejército
The city was taken by the army.	La ciudad fue tomada por el ejército.
My grandfather was in the army.	Mi abuelo estuvo en el ejército.
the front (war, weather)	el frente
The soldiers are at the front.	Los soldados están en el frente.
The war front was far away.	El frente de la guerra estaba lejos.