USES
* The passive voice is used:
a) when we do
not know or we are not interested in
or we can easily guess who did
something
Her jewels were stolen. / Coffee is grown in Brazil. /
The thief was arrested.
b)when we are more
interested in the action than the doer (for example in newspaper headlines,
articles, announcements, advertisements, instructions)
The car has been damaged.
c)when we do
not want to mention who did something because we want to be polite
It hasn't been cleaned!
* The passive voice is used more in the written form than in the oral speech.
FORM
Transitive
verbs (verbs with objects) have both active and passive
voice.
The passive voice is formed with the verb to be with a past participle.
The verb to be
Simple
Present
|
am/is/are
|
Present
Continuous
|
am/is/are
being
|
Simple
Past
|
was/were
|
Past
Continuous
|
was/were
being
|
Present
Perfect
|
have/has
been
|
Past
Perfect
|
had
been
|
Simple
Future
|
will
be
|
Simple
Future Perfect
|
will
have been
|
Be
going to
|
am/is/are
going to be
|
Modal
Verb
|
Modal
verb + be
|
Gerund
|
being
|
Four
Steps from the Active to the Passive Voice
When
rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:
1) the object
of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
2)
use the verb to
be in the tense of the main verb
3) use the past
participle of the main verb
4)
the subject
of the active sentence becomes the agent of the passive sentence. The agent
is introduced with the preposition by+person or with + thing / tool / instrument / material
/ ingredient. The agent is not mentioned when the subject of
the active sentence is 'people', 'one',
'someone', 'somebody', 'they', 'he' etc.
Subject Verb Object
Active
Voice: The
company employs eighty people.
1 2
3 4
Passive Voice: Eighty people are employed by the
company.
Notes
1) When the object of the active sentence is an object pronoun (me, you, him, them etc)
becomes a subject pronoun in the
passive voice.
Mark told me.
ð I
was told by Mark.
2)Verbs
with TWO objects: direct and indirect (bring, tell, send, show, teach, promise, buy, throw, write,
award, hand, sell, owe, grant, allow, feed, pass, post, read, take, offer,
give, pay, lend) can form the passive voice in two ways.
Mrs Brown teaches us English. *
We
are taught English by Mrs Brown. (more common)
* English is taught to us by Mrs
Brown.
3)When the verb is followed by a preposition, the preposition remains in the passive
voice.
A baby-sitter looks after my baby. * My baby is looked after by a baby-sitter.
4) Verbs
of saying/believing/perception (agree, assume, believe, consider, expect, feel, find, hope,
know, report, say, suppose, think, understand). These verbs can form
the passive in two ways:
a) personal construction - it is used more
frequently than impersonal construction
He is said to play tennis well.
b) impersonal construction
It is said that he plays tennis well.
The passive is formed with the verb of saying or
believing in the passive form followed by the 'to-infinitive' of the verb.
5)The verbs help, make, see, hear are followed by bare infinitive in the active voice and by full infinitive in the passive voice.
He made me tell lies! *
I was made
to tell
lies!
6) Let + bare infinitive * Let+reflexive
pronoun+bare passive infinitive
Tom lets people cheat him. * Tom lets himself be
cheated.
Tense
|
Active Voice
|
Passive Voice
|
Present Simple
|
Tina waters the plants twice a week.
|
The plants are watered twice a week.
|
Present Continuous
|
Mary is decorating her flat.
|
The flat is being decorated.
|
Past Simple
|
Graham Bell invented the telephone.
|
The telephone was invented by Graham Bell.
|
Past Continuous
|
He was delivering the letters.
|
The letters were being delivered.
|
Present Perfect
|
She has broken the vase.
|
The vase has been broken.
|
Past Perfect
|
The cleaner had cleaned the windows.
|
The windows had been cleaned.
|
Future Simple
|
I will buy new carpets.
|
New carpets will be bought.
|
Future Perfect
|
Tom will have painted the walls.
|
The walls will have been painted.
|
Be going to
|
The gardener is going to plant some trees.
|
Some trees are going to be planted.
|
Modals
|
She should clean her room.
|
Her room should be cleaned.
|
Gerund
|
I can't stand people asking me questions.
|
I can't stand being asked questions.
|
