The True Passive Voice, Estar & Reflectives Quiz
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This quiz will test your knowledge of the true passive voice in Spanish, a similar construction using ‘estar’ and the use of the reflexive as a substitute for the passive voice.
Enjoy! ¡Diviértanse!
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Well done for completing the quiz, this is a rather advanced aspect of Spanish grammar so you did well to tackle it.
We hope that you scored well or that you at least learnt something along the way.
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Question 1 of 15
1. Question
‘Las puertas fueron cerradas’ just looks weird in Spanish so what would be a much better way to translate ‘the door were closed’ if you were referring to the action of the doors being closed rather than the resultant state of the doors being in a closed position?
Correct
That’s right. Estar wouldn’t be used because that’s for resultant states instead of actions. And rather than using the true passive with ‘ser’ and a past participle, it is much more common in Spanish to use the reflexive pronoun ‘se’ construction when the doer of the action isn’t mentioned or understood..
When the reflexive ‘se’ construction is used you must remember that the verb will be either singular or plural to match the subject. In this case because ‘the doors’ are plural, the verb is in the third person plural.
Incorrect
No, actually the correct choice is ‘se cerraron las puertas’.
It’s important to know that when the doer of the action isn’t mentioned it is much more common in Spanish to use the reflexive pronoun ‘se’ construction than the true passive using ‘ser’ and a ‘past participle’. Estar wouldn’t be used because that’s for resultant states instead of actions.
Also, when the reflexive ‘se’ construction is used you must remember that the verb will be either singular or plural to match the subject. In this case because ‘the doors’ are plural, the verb is in the third person plural.
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Question 2 of 15
2. Question
Using the passive voice how would you express the phrase ‘I am loved’?
Correct
That’s right, the true passive voice is expressed using ‘ser’ plus a past participle that is inflected (changed) to agree with the subject in gender and number.
Soy querido. = I am loved (said by a male)
Soy querida. = I am loved (said by a female)
Incorrect
Not quite, the true passive voice is expressed using ‘ser’ plus a past participle that is inflected (changed) to agree with the subject in gender and number.
Soy querido. = I am loved (said by a male)
Soy querida. = I am loved (said by a female)
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Question 3 of 15
3. Question
Using the passive voice, how would you translated the phrase ‘we have been forgotten’?
Correct
That’s right, the true passive voice in Spanish is formed with ‘ser’ and a past participle that has been inflected (changed) to agree in gender and number with the subject of the sentence.
Incorrect
Not quite, the true passive voice in Spanish is formed with ‘ser’ and a past participle that has been inflected (changed) to agree in gender and number with the subject of the sentence.
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Question 4 of 15
4. Question
Using the passive voice how would you translate the phrase ‘the girls are punished’.
Correct
That’s right, the true passive voice uses ‘ser’ plus a past participle, inflected (changed) to agree with the subject of the verb in gender and number.
Incorrect
Not quite, the true passive voice uses ‘ser’ plus a past participle, inflected (changed) to agree with the subject of the verb in gender and number.
The correct answer is ‘las niños son castigadas’.
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Question 5 of 15
5. Question
How would you translate ‘by’ in this sentence?
Hemos sido olvidados ____ nuestros amigos.
We have been forgotten by our friends.
Correct
That’s right, although ‘por’ is the most usual translation for ‘by’ after a passive verb, ‘de’ is another possibility if the action described is not physical.
Incorrect
The correct answer is actually ‘por’ or ‘de’.
Although ‘por’ is the most usual translation for ‘by’ after a passive verb, ‘de’ is another possibility if the action described is not physical.
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Question 6 of 15
6. Question
How would you translate ‘by’ in this sentence?
Los niños son castigados ____ el maestro.
The children are punished by the teacher.
Correct
That’s right, ‘por’ is the most usual translation for ‘by’ after a passive verb, ‘de’ is another possibility but this tends to be used only if the action described is not physical.
Incorrect
No, actually ‘por’ is the most usual translation for ‘by’ after a passive verb, ‘de’ is another possibility but this tends to be used only if the action described is not physical.
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Question 7 of 15
7. Question
In Spanish, rather than always using a temporal conjunction (such as ‘after’, ‘when’ etc) there is an alternative way to say such sentences using an inflected past participle (ie a past participle that has been changed to match the subject in number and gender).
Eg. What would be an alternative translation for …
‘Después de que la lección se había aprendido.’ – ‘After the lesson had been learnt/learned.’
Correct
That’s right, in these kind of sentences the past participle always appears first in the sentence.
We sometimes use a similar construction in English, ‘lesson learnt, he never did it again’.
Incorrect
No the correct answer is ‘Aprendida lección.’. It’s important to note that in these kind of constructions the past participle always comes first and it must agree with the subject.
We sometimes use a similar construction in English, ‘lesson learnt, he never did it again’.
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Question 8 of 15
8. Question
If you wanted to say that a room was poorly heated, referring, not to the action of it being heated but rather, the state that it was in, which of the following sentences would be correct?
Correct
Correct, although the true passive is formed using ‘ser plus a past participle’ a similar construction is found using ‘estar’.
The difference is that the passive construction refers to an act that is performed whereas the ‘estar’ construction refers to the condition that someone or something is in.
Incorrect
No, although the true passive is formed using ‘ser plus a past participle’ a similar construction is found using ‘estar’.
The difference is that the passive construction refers to an act that is performed whereas the ‘estar’ construction refers to the condition that someone or something is in.
Also, in either construction the past participle needs to be inflected (changed) to match the subject’s gender and number.
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Question 9 of 15
9. Question
How would you translate this sentence?
The room is heated by the fireplace.
Correct
Right, although it might seem a bit back to front to start with (perhaps because we use ‘estar’ for the present progressive tense to refer to actions) the passive voice using ser and an inflected past participle refers to an act that is performed.
Conversely, and logically if you think about it, ‘estar’ plus an inflected past participle is used to refer to the state that something is in.
In both cases you must make sure that the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.
Incorrect
No, although it might seem a bit back to front to start with (perhaps because we use ‘estar’ for the present progressive tense to refer to actions) the passive voice using ser and an inflected past participle refers to an act that is performed.
Conversely, and logically if you think about it, ‘estar’ plus an inflected past participle is used to refer to the state that something is in.
In both cases you must make sure that the past participle agrees in gender and number with the subject.
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Question 10 of 15
10. Question
What would be the most common way to translate ‘Spanish is spoken in Spain’?
Correct
That’s right, the ‘estar’ construction is for ‘states’ not ‘actions’ and the true passive is rarely used apart from in the past tenses so in the present tense it is much more common, as in this case, to use a reflexive substitute (or an active verb).
For this kind of construction the verb will be either singular or plural to match the subject.
Incorrect
No, remember the ‘estar’ construction is for ‘states’ not ‘actions’ and it’s important to know that the true passive is rarely used apart from in the past tenses so in the present tense it is much more common, as in this case, that a reflexive substitute (or an active verb) is used.
For this kind of construction the verb will be either singular or plural to match the subject.
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Question 11 of 15
11. Question
How would you translate ‘the demonstrations were organized without problems’ in a way that would emphasize ‘the demonstrations’ instead of the fact that they were organized without problems?
Correct
Yes, well done. The ‘passive reflexive’ (or in Spanish the ‘pasiva refleja’) construction using the reflexive pronoun ‘se’ is often used to emphasize the recipient of the action instead of the doer.
Incorrect
No, the best choice would be ‘las demonstraciones se organizaron sin problemas.’.
The ‘passive reflexive’ (or in Spanish the ‘pasiva refleja’) construction using the reflexive pronoun ‘se’ is often used to emphasize the recipient of the action instead of the doer.
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Question 12 of 15
12. Question
How would you translate, ‘After the elections a new government was formed.’?
Correct
That’s right, if the doer of the action isn’t mentioned it is much more common in Spanish to use the passive reflexive construction (pasiva refleja) using the reflexive pronoun ‘se’.
In this type of construction the verb must match the subject.
Incorrect
No, if the doer of the action isn’t mentioned it is much more common in Spanish to use the passive reflexive construction (pasiva refleja) using the reflexive pronoun ‘se’ and the verb must match the subject.
In this example the subject was singular, ‘el gobierno’ so the verb is singular too, se formó.
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Question 13 of 15
13. Question
Is this sentence ‘true passive’, ‘passive reflexive’ or ‘not passive at all’?
La nueva proposición está mal redactada.
Correct
That’s right, the true passive cannot be formed using estar, it must be ser and the passive reflexive uses the reflexive pronoun ‘se’.
This sentence is not passive at all but the verb ‘estar’ is used to describe a final or resulting condition.
Incorrect
No, the true passive cannot be formed using estar, it must be ser and the passive reflexive uses the reflexive pronoun ‘se’.
This sentence is not passive at all but the verb ‘estar’ is used to describe a final or resulting condition.
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Question 14 of 15
14. Question
How would you change this sentence from active to true passive?
“El prisionero ha acusado al policía.”
Correct
Well done, using ‘ser’ plus a past participle is the way to form the true passive.
Incorrect
No, you need to use ‘ser’ plus a past participle to form the true passive.
El policía ha sido acusado por el prisionero.
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Question 15 of 15
15. Question
What is the difference between ‘los libros se quemaron’ and ‘se quemaron los libros’?
Correct
Good choice. When pronominal verbs are used with inanimate objects it is not always easy to determine if the meaning is passive (the books were burn) or intransitive (the books burnt).
One tip for pronominal verbs that have an intransitive possibility (hundirse, abrirse, esconderse etc) is that if the verb precedes the subject the meaning is more likely to be passive (se quemaron los libros – the books were burnt) than intransitive (los libros se quemaron – the books burnt).
NB: If a verb doesn’t have a possible intransitive meaning then it’s an easy choice can only be passive. no matter which way around the sentence goes.
Incorrect
Not really, when pronominal verbs are used with inanimate objects it is not always easy to determine if the meaning is passive (the doors were opened) or intransitive (the doors opened).
One tip for pronominal verbs that have an intransitive possibility (hundirse, abrirse, esconderse etc) is that if the verb precedes the subject the meaning is more likely to be passive (se quemaron los libros – the books were burnt) than intransitive (los libros se quemaron – the books burnt).
NB: If a verb doesn’t have a possible intransitive meaning then it’s an easy choice, it can only be passive. no matter which way around the sentence goes.