Breakdown of El paciente herido fue estabilizado en la camilla por el enfermero.
ser
to be
en
in / on / at
por
for / by / through / in/during (part of the day)
herido
injured
el paciente
the patient
el enfermero
the nurse
la camilla
the stretcher
estabilizar
to stabilize
Questions & Answers about El paciente herido fue estabilizado en la camilla por el enfermero.
Why is fue estabilizado used here instead of estaba estabilizado?
This is the true passive voice expressing an action, formed with the verb ser (here in the preterite as fue) plus the past participle estabilizado. Using estaba estabilizado (with estar) would instead describe the patient's resulting state or condition (he was in a stabilized state), rather than the specific event of the nurse stabilizing him.
Does the ending of estabilizado need to match the subject?
Yes! When forming the passive voice with ser, the past participle acts like an adjective and must agree in gender and number with the subject receiving the action. Because el paciente is masculine and singular, we use estabilizado. If the subject were feminine plural, it would be fueron estabilizadas.
Why do we use por instead of para before el enfermero?
In passive voice sentences, por is the required preposition to introduce the agent of the action (the person or thing that actually performs it). Since the nurse is the one doing the stabilizing, we use por el enfermero to mean by the nurse.
How would this sentence change if the patient were a woman?
The noun paciente does not change its ending for gender. To indicate a female patient, you simply change the article and the agreeing adjectives and participles to feminine: La paciente herida fue estabilizada...
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