The passive voice in Brazilian Portuguese: What is it, how to form it, and when to use it?

In the passive voice, the past participle of the main verb must agree in gender and number with the subject of the verb because the participle functions as an adjective. Earlier, we saw this example:

Did you notice the extra -s on the past participle? Here, escritos (meaning written) agrees with os livros (meaning the books) in gender (masculine) and number (plural).

Check out our post on the past participle in Brazilian Portuguese to review all the forms you’ll need!

The preposition por (meaning by) is used to indicate the agent (do-er) of the passive verb. We saw this in the earlier example: por Monteiro Lobato (meaning by Monteiro Lobato).

When the agent is accompanied by the definite article o, a, os, as (meaning the), the preposition por must form a contraction with the article, as in:

• por + o = pelo

• por + a = pela

• por + os = pelos

• por + as = pelas

So, we can break down the examples from earlier:

• por + os professores → pelos professores

  Translation: by the teachers
• por + as crianças → pelas crianças

  Translation: by the children

In the passive voice, the verb ser (meaning to be) is the most standard auxiliary verb, but there are a few additional verbs that can be used as auxiliaries when expressing states, changes of state, and movement:

• estar (meaning to be)

• andar (meaning to walk)

• viver (meaning to live)

• ficar (meaning to stay)

• ir (meaning to go)

• vir (meaning to come)

In these cases, the structure of the passive voice is exactly the same; only the auxiliary verb changes. For example:

When you form the passive voice of a verb in a compound tense, you’ll simply conjugate the passive auxiliary (e.g. ser) in that compound tense. Let’s say we want to start with the active sentence below:

This sentence is in the past perfect, and uses the auxiliary verb ter (meaning to have). To make this sentence passive, all that we need to do is conjugate the passive auxiliary ser (meaning to be) in this same tense, giving us the form, tinham sido (meaning had been), which we use before the past participle:

It’s actually very much like English!

Before we move on to the uses of the passive voice, let’s first take a closer look at some additional auxiliary verb options, the agreement of the past participle, and the use of the preposition por (meaning by).

Use the following structure to form the passive with se:

The pronoun se, used in this construction, is invariable — it never changes!

There are a few more things to keep in mind when conjugating the verb to use the passive se form:

• The verb will always be in the third person, but whether it is singular or plural depends on the subject.

  • singular

    Procura-se ajudante.
  • plural

    Procuram-se ajudantes.

    Translation: Helpers wanted.

• In the passive with se the agent of the verb is always understood to be human. However, unlike the passive with ser + participle, the agent will always be omitted.

  • passive with participle:

    O inglês é falado (pela maioria das pessoas) na Austrália.

    Translation: English is spoken by most people in Australia.
  • passive with se:

    Fala-se inglês na Austrália.

    Translation: English is spoken in Australia.

    por + agent is not allowed!

• The pronoun se is usually attached to the verb by a hyphen in affirmative sentences, but it can occasionally be placed before the verb if an adverb like não (meaning not) or aqui (meaning here) comes before the verb:

  Não se vendem casas.

  Translation: Houses are not sold.

• Just like the passive voice with ser + past participle, the verb in the passive se form can be conjugated in all verb tenses and moods, with the exception of the imperative.

• The subject of a passive verb with se will always be understood to be the noun that would have been the direct object of the active verb (not the indirect object).

  • Active:

    direct objectindirect object

    Alguém aluga um apartamento para estudantes no bairro da Tijuca.

    Translation: Somebody is renting an apartment for students in Tijuca.
  • Passive:

    subjectindirect object

    Aluga-se apartamento para estudantes no bairro da Tijuca.

    Translation: Apartment for rent for students in Tijuca.

In both the passive with se and the passive with a participle, a noun that undergoes the action of the verb is the subject of the sentence. So when should you use each construction?

• We use the passive with a participle in most cases where you might use the passive voice in English. This form of the passive voice is especially common in journalism, where it is used to create a sense of neutrality and an objective tone in the reporting.

• The passive with se is only used in a case where the agent is understood to be human, but is not specific or often, unknown. This form of the passive is often used to advertise something being sold or a job being offered, as in:

  • alugam-se apartamentos

    Translation: apartments for rent
  • procura-se ajudante

    Translation: help wanted

  This is also used when you’re speaking about generalities, as in:

  Fala-se inglês na Austrália.

  Translation: English is spoken in Australia.