Passive with "estar"?

DavidC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Passive with "estar"?

It is possible, I believe, to form a [sort of?] passive with 'estar' - is it? … Do you have an exercise on that? (perhaps highlighting comparisons with the 'ser' passive).

Asked 3 years ago
InmaKwiziq team memberCorrect answer

Hola David,

yes, there is a passive formed with estar + past participle. This type of passive is called "pasiva de estado/resultado". It is not always included in the types of passive sentences in books. 

The passive sentence using estar + participle is expressing "the result of an action" (not the process of an action expressed with ser). How to form it:

estar (conjugated) + past participle (agreeing with the subject)

For example, compare these two sentences, one with ser and the other one with estar:

1. Las puertas del colegio son cerradas a las 5 de la tarde.

2. Las puertas del colegio están cerradas a las 5 de la tarde.

1. is conveying the progress of the action, while 2. is talking about the result. 

The result in 2. is a result of having first gonethrough the process in sentence 1. 

We don't have anything at the moment in the system as passive with estar. I am noting it down.

Un saludo

Inma

DavidC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

Thanks Inma … I used the alternative form in the B2 writing exercise "Everlasting love in Caazapá " by writing: "Sus aguas están conocidas por todos los lugareños".

DavidC1 Kwiziq Q&A super contributor

… but I failed to apply the rule later, in the same exercise - when I answered (and was corrected): "Es como si estas aguas fuesen benditas [< Wrong !] > estuvieran benditas [< Right] … I should also have got a clue from the use of 'benditas' (the irregular past participle, which is more like an adjective) instead of 'bendecidas'. 

Passive with "estar"?

It is possible, I believe, to form a [sort of?] passive with 'estar' - is it? … Do you have an exercise on that? (perhaps highlighting comparisons with the 'ser' passive).

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