PASSIVE VERBS. (175.)
Passive verbsare formed from active-transitive verbs by adding theirparticiple past, orpassive, to the auxiliary verbser, (to be,) through all its changes, as in English; thus, from the active verbamar, (to love,) is formed the passive verbser amado, (to be loved.)
Obs. 5. The participle must agree in gender and number with the nominative it refers to; consequently it changes theointoawhen the subject is feminine, and addssfor the plural; thus,
Obs. 6. In the compound tenses the participle of the principal verb is the only one that admits the change; the participle of the auxiliary verbto be(been,sido) is unchangeable; as,
Obs. 7.Passive impersonal verbs, and those referring to inanimate objects or things, are translated by placing the verb which is in the participle past in English, in the same person and number in which the verbto beis in the English sentence, placing the pronounsebefore it; thus,—This ship was built in less than three months;Esta fragata se construyó en ménos de tres meses, instead offué construida. It is said;Se dice, instead ofEs dicho.