Passive voice: ser + past participle
Spanish forms the passive with ser + past participle. Tense lives in ser, agreement lives in the participle. Here we use amar as the anchor example.
How the passive works
The passive voice in Spanish is formed with a conjugated form of ser plus the past participle of the main verb. The participle agrees in gender and number with the subject (amada, amadas, amado, amados). Tense and mood are carried entirely by ser.
Anchor example: amar
We use amar as the canonical example. Amar itself is a regular -ar verb; the special part here is the passive construction, not a new conjugation family.
Present
La carta es amada.
The letter is loved.
Preterite
La carta fue amada.
The letter was loved.
Imperfect
La carta era amada.
The letter used to be loved / was being loved.
You can plug in any other verb in place of amar. The pattern is always: ser in the right tense + participle of the main verb, agreeing with the subject.
Where to go next
- Study the ser model (all tenses)
- Review the regular -ar model (cortar)
- Read the tense overview guide
Note: Conjuga.me does not yet generate full passive conjugation tables for every verb. This page focuses on the construction and how to apply it.