Past participles are also used with the verb ser (to be) to denote the passive voice. To understand the passive voice, first you need to understand the active voice. In a sentence in the active voice, the subject and the agent are the same, as in the sentence “The boy closed the door.” In this case, “the boy” is both the subject of the sentence and the agent, in other words, the entity that completes the verbal action. On the other hand, the passive voice sentence would express the same idea, but said in a different way: “The door was closed by the boy.” In this sentence, “the door” is the subject of the sentence, not “the boy.” In fact, in this sentence, the subject is the “recipient” of the verbal action. To summarize, an active sentence is one in which the subject is also the agent of the action, while a passive sentence is one in which the subject is the recipient of the verbal action. Speakers use the passive voice in order to focus attention away from the agent of the action. You might not want to call attention to the fact that “the boy” was the agent of the action, but you want to emphasize the fact that the action actually occurred. Using the passive voice allows you to shift focus away from the agent, which can be mentioned or not (i.e., you can simply day “the door was closed” and not mention “by the boy”).

Here are some passive voice sentences in Portuguese:

Passive Voice Examples

Most, but not all, passive voice sentences are written in the past tense. There can be passive sentences written in the present or future. For example: Como pessoa famosa, ele é reconhecido todos os dias (As a celebrity, he is recognized every day). Or even: O aniversário dele vai ser comemorado no restaurante (His birthday will be celebrated in the restaurant).

Exercise: Passive Voice

Translate the following sentences. Check your answers in Appendix C.

• The two men were seen near here.

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• The money was spent very fast.

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• What was said yesterday?

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• The food was consumed by the birds.

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