The formal passive voice
In Spanish, the analytical passive voice is used to emphasize an action and its receiver, rather than the person performing it. You will often hear it in formal contexts, like news reports or prestigious award ceremonies.
To form it, use the verb ser (to be) followed by a past participle. If you want to mention who performed the action (the agent), use the preposition por (by).
| The ceremony is organized by the academy. | La ceremonia es organizada por la academia. |
Gender and number agreement
In the analytical passive voice, the past participle acts like an adjective. This means its ending must agree in gender (masculine or feminine) and number (singular or plural) with the subject receiving the action.
| The filmmaker is awarded by the academy. | La cineasta es premiada por la academia. |
| Are the ceremonies broadcast by this channel? | ¿Son emitidas las ceremonias por este canal? |
Changing the tense
To change when the action takes place, simply conjugate the verb ser into the desired tense, such as the present perfect (ha sido or han sido). The past participle will continue to match the subject in gender and number.
| The filmmaker has been nominated by the committee. | El cineasta ha sido nominado por el comité. |
| The trophy has already been delivered by the committee. | El trofeo ya ha sido entregado por el comité. |