PASSIVE VOICE

WHAT IS PASSIVE VOICE?

English has two voices: active and passive. 

The active voice is used when the subject does the action of the sentence. E.G. The dog ate my homework. 

 

The passive voice is used when the subject does not do the action of the sentence. E.G. My homework was eaten by the dog. 

We can only form a passive sentence from an active sentence when there is an object in the active sentence (transitive verbs).

 

The passive is formed with any verbal tense of the verb TO BE + the  PAST PARTICIPLE. 

WHEN IS PASSIVE VOICE USED?

1.  When the agent of the action is unknown:

E.G. My wallet was stolen last night. (we don't know who stole the wallet)

2.  When the agent is unimportant:

The new students’ centre was completed last week. (the people who built the centre are unnecessary information for the meaning of the sentence)

3. When the agent of the action is obvious from the context:

I was born in March of '55. (Everyone knows that it was my mother bore me then)

4.  To emphasize (put importance on) the recipient (receiver) of the action:

a. Only Jane was injured in the accident; the remainder of the passengers were unhurt. (we want Jane to be the subject of the sentence and at the beginning to emphasize her importance)

b. Erina was chosen as best student, and of course this made her happy. (the teacher who chose Erina is not what we want to emphasize)

5. To connect ideas in different clauses more clearly:

a. Pharmacologists would like to study the natural ‘pharmacy’ known as the rainforest, if this can be done before clear-cutting destroys it. (in this sentence, keeping THIS near the first clause makes the sentence's meaning clearer)

b. The music was being played too loud by the students, who were finally asked to turn it down.

6.  To make generic statements, announcements, and explanations:

a. Something should be done about the traffic jams in this town.

b. Patrons are asked not to smoke.

c. It's said that it's going to rain tonight.(Often, people will say, 'They say that it's going to rain tonight', the they being the weatherman.)

HOW DO WE FORM PASSIVE VOICE?

The passive form is created by combining a form of the VERB TO BE with the PAST PARTICIPLE of the main verb. 

In the passive voice the object of the active sentence becomes subject in the passive sentence. The subject of the active sentence becomes the agent of the passive sentence or is left out.

In fact, the agent of the passive sentence is not mostly written: we are not normally interested in the doer of the action in the passive sentence or the doer is unimportant or obvious. When we need to mention the doer of the action, we use the preposition BY.

example:

Active:	Peter	builds	a house.
Passive:	A house	is built	by Peter.

The passive can be used in different verbal tenses. Let's take a look at the passive forms of the verb write.

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Simple Present	Active:	Rita	writes	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is written	by Rita.
Simple Past	Active:	Rita	wrote	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	was written	by Rita.
Present Perfect	Active:	Rita	has written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	has been written	by Rita.
Future	Active:	Rita	will write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	will be written	by Rita.
Modals	Active:	Rita	can write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	can be written	by Rita.

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Present Continuous	Active:	Rita	is writing	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	is being written	by Rita.
Past Continuous	Active:	Rita	was writing	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	was being written	by Rita.
Past Perfect	Active:	Rita	had written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	had been written	by Rita.
Future Perfect	Active:	Rita	will have written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	will have been written	by Rita.
Conditional I	Active:	Rita	would write	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	would be written	by Rita.
Conditional II	Active:	Rita	would have written	a letter.
	Passive:	A letter	would have been written	by Rita.

For more explanation about to turn active sentence into passive clikc HERE.

WHAT SHALL I DO WHEN THE ACTIVE SENTENCE HAS TWO OBJECTS?

When there are two objects in an active sentence, there are two possible passive sentences.

E.G. The professor explained the exercise to the students.

There are two objects the example:
object 1 = indirect object: the students
object 2 = direct object: the exercise

An indirect object is very often a person, a direct object a thing. 

Each of the objects (direct and indirect) can be the subject in the passive sentence.

passive sentence - possibility 1
subject	verb	object	(agent)
The students	were explained	the exercise.	(by the professor).

passive sentence - possibility 2
subject	verb	object	(agent)
The exercise	was explained	to the students	(by the professor).

Possibility 1 is sometimes called Personal passive and it is the most common used in passive voice.

CLICK ON THE EXERCISES BELOW TO PRACTISE PASSIVE VOICE

EXERCISE 1

EXERCISE 2

EXERCISE 3

EXERCISE 4

EXERCISE 5

EXERCISE 6

EXERCISE 7

EXERCISE 8

EXERCISE 9