Introduction to the passive voice

The passive voice in English is not very different from Spanish. Compare the following sentences:

El pueblo fue abandonado en los años cuarenta. =  The village was abandoned in the forties.
Esos puentes no fueron construidos en el siglo II. = Those bridges were not built in the second century.
¿Ha sido atacada la ciudad alguna vez? = Has the city ever been attacked?

Basically, you need the verb TO BE, which acts as an auxiliary (notice the question and the negative above) and the past participle of the verb.

Sometimes you don't need to mention the agent (el complemento agente, que es por ejemplo: fue escrito por Cervantes) but if you do, the preposition you use in English is not FOR. It's BY:

The novel was written BY Cervantes.
It was invented BY an Italian.
Poland was invaded BY Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939.

The passive is more common in English, because in Spanish we often use the "SE" passive or simply an active with the plural third person of the verb:

El templo se construyó / fue construido en el siglo I a.C. = The temple was built in the first century BC.
Cada año se publican miles de libros (menos frecuente: son publicados). = Thousands of books are published every year.
El queso se hace a partir de la leche (¿es hecho?). = Cheese is made from milk.
La entrevistaron ayer en la tele / Fue entrevistada ayer... = She was interviewed on TV yesterday.
Esta habitación se limpia todos los días (es limpiada todos los días, español correcto pero poco frecuente) = This room is cleaned every day.
Creo que el ajedrez lo inventaron los indios / Creo que el ajedrez fue inventado por los indios = I think chess was invented by the Indians.