Passive voiceby Lipovac Tatjana
When do we use passive voice?
• When we want to change the focus of the sentence:The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. (We are more interested in the painting than the artist in this sentence)
• When who or what causes the action is unknown or unimportant or obvious or 'people in general': He was arrested (obvious agent, the police).
• My bike has been stolen (unknown agent).
• In factual or scientific writing: The chemical is placed in a test tube and the data entered into the computer.
• In formal writing instead of using someone/ people/ they (these can be used in speaking or informal writing): The brochure will be finished next month.
• In order to put the new information at the end of the sentence to improve style: Three books are used regularly in the class. The books were written by Dr. Bell.
• When the subject is very long:I was surprised by how well the students did in the test.
How to make a passive:
To make a passive sentence you need to start with object first and then use the be form of the verb (depending on the tense) and then add a past participle. If we want to say who or what performs the action, we use the preposition by:
object + be + past participle + by
Example of Present Simple:
Active: Tom cleans the house.
Passive: The house is cleaned by Tom.
Example of Past Simple:
Active: Sam repaired the car.
Passive: The car was repaired by Sam.
Example of Present Perfect:
Active: Many tourists have visited that castle.
Passive: That castle has been visited by many tourists.
Example of Past Perfect Continuous:
Active: Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant's fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to Paris.
Passive: The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been being prepared by Chef Jones for two years before he moved to Paris.
Example of Future Continuous (Will):
Active: At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes.
Passive: At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being washed by John.
Example of Future Continuous (Going to):
Active: At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be washing the dishes.
Passive: At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being washed by John.
Example with Modal Verb:
Active: The gardener must water the flowers.
Passive: The flowers must be watered by the gardener.
- object of the "active" sentence becomes subject in the "passive" sentence
- subject of the "active" sentence becomes "object" in the "passive" sentence" (or is left out)
$FWLYH 3HWHU EXLOGV DKRXVH
3DVVLYH $KRXVH LVEXLOW E\ 3HWHU
Changes in the sentence:
1. Active: Anne writes a letter.
Passive: A letter is written by Anne.
2. Active: Anne wrote a letter.
Passive: A letter was written by Anne.
5 Examples:
3. Active: Anne has written a letter.
Passive: A letter has been written by Anne.
4. Active: Anne will write a letter.
Passive: A letter will be written by Anne.
5. Active: Anne has to write a letter.
Passive: A letter has to be written by Anne.
The End