Active and Passive Voice

What do we mean by "voice"?

Voice is the form of a verb that shows whether the subject of

a sentence does the action (= the active voice) or is affected
by it (= the passive voice).

Lets take a look at the examples:

The ball hit Janet.

Janet was hit

Janet was hit by the ball.

The mailman carried the mail.

The mail was carried

The mail was carried by the mailman.

Kevin took a picture.

A picture was taken

A picture was taken by Kevin.

We use the passive voice when:

you want to tell about an action, but you don't want

to mention who does it:

"Joe broke the window."

(It is clear who did it.)

"The window was broken."

(Here you only describe the action, without mentioning who
actually did it.)

you want to emphasize the object and not

the subject:

"Charles sold the company."

(Here the emphasis is on Charles doing the action.)

"The company was sold."

(Here the emphasis is on the fact that the company was
sold.)
Lets practice
Transform active into passive voice and the other way
around! You do not need to add a by-agent when
transforming into passive voice!

For example:

Marcus cooked dinner. Dinner was cooked.

The keys were found (by Lara). Lara found the keys.

1. Gina called the police.

2. The cookies were eaten within a minute (by the children).

3. The children broke the window with a stone.

4. The weather was announced to be good (by the TV

presenter).

5. Breakfast was prepared (by James).

6. Everyone thinks it is a good idea.

7. The children were told to bring their books to school (by

the teacher).

8. Anne gave her backpack to Luke.

9. The water is said to be warm (by Charlie).