Passive Voice

The passive voice is used when focusing on the person or thing affected by an action.

The Passive is formed: Passive Subject To Be Past Particple It is often used in business and in other areas where the object of the action is more important than those who perform the action. For Example: We have produced over 20 different models in the past two years. Changes to: Over 20 different models have been produced in the past two years. If the agent (the performer of the action) is important, use "by" For Example: Tim Wilson wrote "The Flight to Brunnswick" in 1987. Changes to:"The Flight to Brunnswick" was written in 1987 by Tim Wilson. Only verbs that take an object can be used in the passive.

The following chart includes sentences changed from the active to the passive in the principal tenses. Active Passive Time Reference Present Simple Present Continuous

They make Fords in Fords are made in Cologne. Cologne. Susan is cooking dinner. James Joyce wrote "Dubliners". Dinner is being cooked by Susan

"Dubliners" was written Past Simple by James Joyces. Past Continuous Present Perfect

They were painting The house was being the house when I painted when I arrived. arrived. They have produced Over 20 models have over 20 models in been produced in the the past two years. past two years.

Future They are going to A new factory is going to Intention build a new factory be built in Portland. with Going in Portland. to I will finish it tomorrow. It will be finished tomorrow. Future Simple

The Passive Voice

The normal construction of English sentences is Subject + Verb + Object. The subject is the performer of the action expressed by the verb while the object is the receiver of the action of the verb. In the sentence,
John gave Sally a rose.

The subject, John, performed the action of the verb, gave,, and Sally is the receiver of the action. This type of sentence is called an active sentence, and the verb is called an active verb. Active sentences are said to be in the active voice. Sentences in the active voice give more energy to your writing by placing greater emphasis on the action of the subject than on the action of the object. There are times, though, that the action of the object is more important than the action of the subject. So, to remove the emphasis from the subject and place it on the

object, we use the passive sentence construction. NOTE: Only transitive verbs can be used in the passive voice. In the passive voice, the normal sentence construction is reversed. The object becomes the subject of the sentence, and the subject is placed either in a prepositional phrase at the end of the sentence, or left out all together.
John gave Sally a rose. [Active sentence] Sally was given a rose (by John). [Passive sentence]

In the passive voice, Sally becomes the subject of the verb, was given, and the performer of the verb, John, is in a prepositional phrase at the end of the sentence. Notice that, as indicated by the parentheses, the performer, John, can be completely omitted from the sentence. The table below has more examples of passive voice sentences.

Subject to be verb This course Awards The exams was were were

Verb main verb (PP) taken received supervised. by by by

Prepositional phrase performer many freshmen. the best actors.

The bank

was

robbed.

Notice that in the passive voice the main verb is in the past participle form (PP) and comes after the to be verb. Passive sentences can also be contructed using the modals have to be or must be. By using these modals, passive sentences can be used to talk about future events.
All cars must be inspected by an expert. All emergancies have to be reported to the proper authorities.

When to Use the Passive Voice

Active voice sentences are preferred in English because they are more direct and concise; therefore, passive voice sentences are not used as often in English as they are in other languages. There are instances, however, when the passive voice is preferred to the active voice. The following is an outline of when to use the passive voice:

1.

When the performer of the action is not known.

This vase was made in Japan.

2.

When it is preferable not to mention the performer.

I can't say who told me, but, I was told you lied to me.

3.

When the object of an active sentence is more important than the subject.

Marcus was kidnapped by his father.

4.

When the work which resulted from the action is as well known or better known than the performer of the action. Such examples include cases of famous paintings, music, literature and inventions. In this type of sentence, the performer must always be included to complete the statement.

Romeo and Juliet was written by Shakespeare. The Mona Lisa was painted by de Vinci. The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell.

Practice

The sentences below are in the active voice. On a sheet of paper, rewrite the sentences in the passive voice. When you have finished, click

the sentence to check your answers.

1. 2. 3.

The lab attendants set up the equipment. I give regular reading assignments. Jim taught the new English class.

4.

Beethoven composed the Moonlight Sonata.

The following is a partial list of irregular verbs found in English. Each listing consists of the present/root form of the verb, the (simple) past form of the verb, and the past participle form of the verb. List of Irregular Verbs in English Present Past Past Participle be was, were been become became become begin began begun blow blew blown break broke broken bring brought brought build built built burst burst burst buy bought bought burst burst burst catch caught caught choose chose chosen come came come cut cut cut deal dealt dealt do did done drink drank drunk drive drove driven eat ate eaten fall fell fallen feed fed fed feel felt felt fight fought fought find found found fly flew flown forbid forbade forbidden

forget forgive freeze get give go grow have hear hide hold hurt keep know lay lead leave let lie lose make meet pay quit read ride run say see seek sell send shake shine sing sit sleep speak

forgot forgave froze got gave went grew had heard hid held hurt kept knew laid led left let lay lost made met paid quit read rode ran said saw sought sold sent shook shone sang sat slept spoke

forgotten forgiven frozen gotten given gone grown had heard hidden held hurt kept known laid led left let lain lost made met paid quit read ridden run said seen sought sold sent shaken shone sung sat slept spoken

spend spring stand steal swim swing take teach tear tell think throw understand wake wear win write

spent sprang stood stole swam swung took taught tore told thought threw understood woke (waked) wore won wrote

spent sprung stood stolen swum swung taken taught torn told thought thrown understood woken (waked) worn won written