The Simple Past Passive in English

 In English, the passive voice is used when the person or thing performing the action is unknown, unimportant, or not the focus of the sentence. This is different from the active voice, where the subject of the sentence performs the action. The passive voice is more commonly used in English than in Spanish, where the active voice is often preferred.

Understanding the Passive Voice

The passive voice in the past tense answers the questions: What was done? or What was being done? In these cases, the emphasis is placed on the action or the result of the action, not on who performed it. Here are a few examples:

• The house was built in 1965 (La casa fue construida en 1965).
• The packet was delivered yesterday (El paquete fue entregado ayer).
• We were given three hours to make a decision (Nos dieron tres horas para tomar una decisión).

These sentences show that the focus is on the action itself (building, delivering, giving) rather than on who did it.

Structure of the Simple Past Passive

To form a sentence in the past passive, we use the past tense of the verb to be (was/were) followed by the past participle of the main verb. The structure is:

• Subject + was/were + past participle + (rest of the sentence)

For example:

• The house was cleaned today (Se limpió la casa hoy).
• The desserts were made (Los postres estaban hechos).

In these examples, the emphasis is on what happened (the cleaning and the making of desserts), not who did it.

Changing Active to Passive

To change an active sentence into a passive one, follow these three steps:

1. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
2. The main verb of the active sentence is replaced with the verb to be in the past tense, followed by the past participle of the main verb.
3. The subject that performs the action in the active sentence can be introduced with the preposition by in the passive sentence, but it is often omitted if not important.

For example:

• Active: They cleaned the house (Ellos limpiaron la casa).
• Passive: The house was cleaned (La casa fue limpiada).

Notice that in the passive sentence, the focus is on "the house," not on "they."

Forming Questions in the Passive Voice

To form questions in the past passive voice, simply invert the subject and the auxiliary verb was or were. The structure is:

• Was/were + subject + past participle + (rest of the sentence)?

For example:

• Was the house cleaned today? (¿Se limpió la casa hoy?)
• Were the desserts made? (¿Estaban los postres hechos?)

Short Answers in the Passive Voice

In English, we often use short answers to avoid repeating the full question. The short answer is formed by using the verb to be in the past tense.

For example:

• Was the house cleaned today? – Yes, it was / No, it wasn't.
• Were the desserts made? – Yes, they were / No, they weren't.

Conclusion

The passive voice in the simple past tense is a useful tool in English for focusing on the action or result, rather than who performed it. It is formed by using the verb to be in the past tense (was/were) followed by the past participle. Changing sentences from active to passive requires a few simple steps, and questions can be formed by inverting the verb to be. The passive voice is common in English and is used in many situations, especially when the agent of the action is unknown or irrelevant.

References

• Azar, B. S. (2002). Understanding and using English grammar (3rd ed.). Pearson Education.
• Swan, M. (2005). Practical English usage (3rd ed.). Oxford University Press.