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The Magic of Mnemonics · Module 80
B2 · Module 80 · Passive/Result pattern

Action Passive, Result State & Natural Alternatives

What you will learn:distinguish an action/event from its resulting state, make the participle agree correctly, and choose among active voice, passivese,ser + participle, andestar + participleaccording to what you want the sentence to emphasize.

75 quick varied Practice Rolls50 Review & Reuse6 combined3 apply134 total

Can-Do

I can distinguish what was done, what resulting state exists, and when Spanish naturally usesser + participle,estar + participle, passivese, or an active pattern.

English → Spanish

English often packages information in the passive. Mexican Spanish has more than one natural choice. The goal is not to translate “was” word for word; the goal is to decide whether you are focusing on the action, the result, or the event without naming who did it.

Keep in mind

Module 80 uses only the learned passive/result pattern and the verbs abrir, cerrar, enviar, publicar, preparar and terminar where the contrast lesson allows them.

0 / 134 completed0 without help0 important extra-practice tasks to finish

Lesson 1 — SER + Participle: Action Passive

What you are learning: ser + participlepresents an action or event. The participle agrees with the subject, andporcan name who did it when that is natural.

abrir → abierto
to open → open
cerrar → cerrado
to close → closed
enviar → enviado
to send → sent
publicar → publicado
to publish → published
El documento fue publicado por usted.
The document was published by you. The sentence focuses on the action or event.
Los documentos fueron publicados por usted.
The documents were published by you. The participle agrees with the plural subject.

Practice: 30 varied Practice Rolls — five different ways to practice each Lesson 1 point.

Lesson 2 — ESTAR + Participle: Result State

What you are learning: estar + participledescribes the state that exists as the result of an earlier action. The participle agrees like an adjective.

La puerta está abierta.
The door is open — resulting state.
Las puertas están cerradas.
The doors are closed — plural feminine agreement.
El documento está preparado.
The document is prepared/ready.
El trabajo está terminado.
The work is finished.
English comparison:English “is closed” can be ambiguous between event and state. Spanish makes the contrast clearer:fue cerradapresents what happened;está cerradapresents the state that exists.

Practice: 25 varied Practice Rolls — five different ways to practice each Lesson 2 point.

Lesson 3 — Active vs Passive SE vs SER Passive vs ESTAR Result

What you are learning:choose the Spanish pattern by meaning and by what you want to emphasize, rather than copying English passive voice word for word.

Usted cerró la puerta.
You closed the door. Active: the doer is emphasized.
Se cerró la puerta.
The door was closed. Passive se: the action matters; the person who did it is not named.
La puerta fue cerrada por usted.
The door was closed by you. SER passive: The sentence focuses on the action or event and the person who did it is named.
La puerta está cerrada.
The door is closed. ESTAR result: The sentence focuses on the resulting state.
Mexican Spanish usage:when an English sentence is passive, Spanish does not automatically needser + participle. Active voice or passiveseis often the more natural choice when who did it is obvious or unimportant.

Practice: 20 varied Practice Rolls — five different ways to practice each Lesson 3 contrast.

Review & Reuse

What you learned:Review Module 80 after a delay and keep earlier B2 patterns active. These 50 rolls introduce no new Spanish.

Combined Practice

Change what the sentence emphasizes while keeping the same event or resulting state. Extra practice after Reveal lands here in a new situation.

Apply & Communicate

Show the Module 80 Can-Do without a tense label telling you which structure to choose.

You can nowdistinguish action passive from result state and control agreement.
Show What You Can Dochoose the form that best matches the meaning: active, passive se, ser passive, or an estar result.
Ready to continuewhen all rolls are completed and no extra practice remains to finish.

Ready to continue

Complete all Practice Rolls. Reveal helps you learn, but you should also try the skill without it; a Reveal on an important practice also activates its extra practice in a new situation.