Thepassive Voice is formed with ‘be+ past participle’. The Object of the transitive verb in the active voice becomes the Subject of the verb in the passive: Active: I saw a tiger. Passive: A tiger was seen (by me). The vague or unknown doer is not mentioned in the passive and the agent with ‘by’ is usually avoided. Postedin Adjectives, Adverbs, Grammar, Grammar Dasar, Modals, Nouns, Other, Part of Speech, Preposition, Sentences, Tenses, Uncategorized, Verbs Tagged rumus passive voice 16 tenses, rumus passive voice adalah, rumus passive voice dalam 16 tenses, rumus passive voice dan contohnya, rumus passive voice interrogative, rumus passive voice lengkap 5 Preposition “by” is not used in the conversion of active voice to passive voice in the following sentences. During the conversion from Active Voice to Passive Voice in most cases we must use the preposition “by”. But in some special cases we also use “to” , “with” , “at” , “in” , “from” in place of “by” . Thisis a series of lectures which will explain all about Passive & Active Voice.#engishgrammarinposhtu#englishinposhto#englishpassive&activevoice#englishinp passivevoice. Active voice Passive voice The caretaker locks the door. The doors are locked by the caretaker. The waiter carries the trays. The trays are carried by the waiter. • For the simple past tense, use was or were with a past participle to form the passive voice. Active voice Passive voice Dad drove us home. We were driven home by Dad. 16Tenses Lengkap dan Contoh Penggunaannya Hertian Pratiwi. active voice and passive Presentasi passive voice 1. GROUP 4 COMPILED BY : 1 . R U S M I YAT U N 2 . L I N DA A N D R I A N I 3. Simple Present Tense Active • S + V1 + O Passive • S + is/am/are + V3 + Example . Active : Somebody holds a ceremony. Subjectdari active voice (we) menjadi object dari passive voice. Perhatikan pula bahwa terjadi perubahan dari subject pronoun ‘we’ menjadi object pronoun ‘us’. c. Jika active voice dalam present perfect tense, maka ‘be’ passive voice-nya adalah been yang diletakkan setelah auxiliary has atau have, 16. A : We are planting Passive– The ball is caught by him. Active – She drives the car. Passive – The car is driven by her. Active – They run the business. Passive – The business is run by them. Active – I don't play football. Passive – Football is not played by me. Active – We don’t eat mangoes. Passive – Mangoes are not eaten by us. . Passive voice voz passiva é muito comum em notícias de jornal, uma vez que as manchetes, frequentemente, omitem o doer o agente de uma ação. A voz do verbo pode ser tratada enquanto passiva ou ativa, dependendo do enfoque que damos ao sujeito/agente doer ou ao objeto/paciente receiver. Muitos aprendizes de língua inglesa podem encontrar alguma dificuldade no uso do passive voice, porque ele é formado pelo verbo to be. No entanto, para que não restem mais dúvidas, abordaremos, nas seções seguintes, o uso do passive voice e suas regras. Além disso, compararemos a voz ativa e a voz passiva entre si. Pronto para continuar? Let’s go! Saiba mais Simple present quando usar esse tempo verbal? Tópicos deste artigo1 - Quando usamos passive voice?2 - Regras do uso da passive voice3 - Diferença entre active voice e passive voice4 - Exercícios resolvidosQuando usamos passive voice? A voz passiva enfatiza o objeto de uma frase. Passive voice é usado em inglês quando se busca enfatizar, em uma oração, o receptor da ação, isto é, o objeto da voz ativa, que na voz passiva encontra-se na posição de sujeito-paciente. Acrescenta-se o uso do apagamento do agente doer da ação, por não ser importante na construção de sentido da frase ou por ser desconhecido1. Ainda é possível omitir o doer da ação quando optamos por assim fazer2. No entanto, em algumas construções da voz passiva, é possível encontrar na posição do objeto o agente da ação, por meio da preposição by por. Não pare agora... Tem mais depois da publicidade ; Observe os exemplos Active voice sujeito agente + verbo + objeto paciente A. The dog ate my cake. O cachorro comeu meu bolo. Passive voice sujeito paciente + verbo auxiliar to be + verbo principal no particípio passado B. My cake was eaten. Meu bolo foi comido. Passive voice sujeito paciente + verbo auxiliar to be + verbo principal no particípio passado + objeto agente C. My cake was eaten by the dog. Meu bolo foi comido pelo cachorro. Mais alguns exemplos D. The bakery was stolen. A padaria foi roubada. E. We heard that the bandits were identified. Nós ouvimos que os bandidos foram identificados. Veja que, em nenhuma das frases anteriores, temos o agente da ação, porque o enfoque está no objeto da voz ativa, que na voz passiva ocupa a posição de sujeito-paciente. Assim, o agente não é identificado nem no final pela preposição by, por não ser significativo. Leia também Prepositions regras, exemplos, usos Regras do uso da passive voice Pode-se utilizar a voz passiva para todos os tempos verbais, desde que se adeque à estrutura necessária. A voz passiva é formada pelo verbo to be + verbo principal no particípio passado. No entanto, só podemos formar a voz passiva com verbos transitivos, ou seja, que são acompanhados por um objeto, uma vez que o objeto da oração na voz ativa ocupará a posição de sujeito na voz passiva. Observe, na tabela seguinte, a voz passiva em diferentes tempos verbais Active voice Teens invent more apps. Adolescentes inventam mais aplicativos. Passive voice Verb Tenses Examples Simple present Am, is, are + past participle More apps are invented by teens. Mais aplicativos são inventados por adolescentes. Simple past Was, were + past participle More apps were invented by teens. Mais aplicativos foram inventados por adolescentes. Present continuous Am, is, are + being + past participle More apps are being invented by teens. Mais aplicativos estão sendo inventados por adolescentes. Past continuous Was, were + being + past participle More apps were being invented by teens. Mais aplicativos estavam sendo inventados por adolescentes. Present perfect Have, has + been + past participle More apps have been invented by teens. Mais aplicativos foram têm sido inventados por adolescentes. Past perfect Had + been + past participle More apps had been invented by teens. Mais aplicativos tinham sido inventados por adolescentes. Future perfect Will + have been + past participle More apps will have been invented by teens. Mais aplicativos terão sido inventados por adolescentes. Future Will + be + past participle More apps will be invented by teens. Mais aplicativos serão inventados por adolescentes. Going to Am, is, are + going to be + past participle More apps are going to be invented by teens. Mais aplicativos vão ser inventados por adolescentes. Diferença entre active voice e passive voice A diferença entre a voz ativa e a voz passiva baseia-se no uso que fazemos delas quando queremos enfatizar o agente de uma ação ou o paciente. Normalmente, a voz passiva aparece em contextos mais formais de escrita ou de fala3. Hoje em dia, no entanto, quando escrevemos um artigo científico em inglês, recomenda-se o uso da voz ativa para manter o texto mais coeso, uma vez que sua estrutura direta permite uma leitura mais fluida, em comparação com a passiva, que possui uma estrutura mais longa. Por exemplo A. Einstein proposed the theory of relativity. Einstein propôs a teoria da relatividade. B. The theory of relativity was proposed by Einstein. A teoria da relatividade foi proposta por Einstein. As duas frases assemelham-se, porque oferecem ao leitor as mesmas informações. No entanto, a primeira frase permite-nos focalizar o sujeito-agente da ação, a pessoa que propôs algo teoria da relatividade; enquanto a segunda frase ressalta o que foi proposto, isto é, a teoria da relatividade, deixando em segundo plano o agente da ação. Veja mais Going to funções dessa estrutura fixa Exercícios resolvidos Questão 1 Cesgranrio Check the item in which there is a verb in the passive voice. a “The oil and natural gas industry has developed and applied…” lines 1 - 2 b “Other segments of the industry have benefited from technological advances as well.” lines 25-26 c “Also, new process equipment and catalyst technology advances have been made very recently…” lines 31-33 d “The industry is committed to investing in advanced technologies…” lines 38-39 e “Gas hydrates could be an important future source of natural gas…” lines 49-50 Resolução A resposta correta é a letra c, porque a estrutura have been made indica a voz passiva. Questão 2 The correct passive voice form for the sentence “Your body needs energy to work normally and keep you alive” is a Energy has been needed by your body to work normally and keep you alive. b Energy is needed by your body to work normally and keep you alive. c Your body should need energy to work normally and keep you alive. d Your body will need energy to work normally and keep you alive. Resolução A resposta correta é a letra b, porque o objeto da frase na voz ativa é energy, e o presente simples da voz passiva é formado pelo verbo to be + verbo principal no particípio passado. Notas 1DECAPUA, 2008. 2EASTWOOD, 2002. 3CLANDFIELD; BENNE, 2015. Por Patricia Veronica Moreira Professora de Inglês Active voice and Passive voice, Active and Passive Verb Tenses in english, present simple, present continuous, present perfect, past simple, past continuous, past perfect, future simple, infinitive, modals;TenseActivePassivePresent simpleReporters write news reportsNews reports are written by reportersPresent continuousMichael is baking a brownieA brownie is being baked by simpleThe company hired new workers last workers were hired by the company last continuousThe salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the perfectThey have already discussed the book has already been perfectHe had delivered the letters had been simpleThe company will hire new workers will be hired by the has to deliver the letters have to be must deliver the letters must be The Author englishstudyhere What is the passive voice? The passive voice in English grammar allows us to make the recipient of the action the focus of the sentence; the person or thing performing the action is unknown, unimportant or obvious. The passive is formed as follows form of be + past participle. Learn the difference between the active and passive voice with Lingolia, then put your knowledge to the test in the exercises. Example My bike was stolen last night. The cellar in our building was broken into and several bikes were taken. I called the police earlier, but they had already been informed by my neighbour. An investigation is being conducted, but the thief has not been arrested yet. Any information should be reported to the police. When to use the passive in English grammar Active sentences usually follow the subject-verb-object word order and focus on the person or thing performing the action. Example A criminal stole my bike. In contrast, the passive voice focuses on the action itself. Passive sentences tell us what happens to the recipient of the action. Example My bike was stolen. We use the passive when the person or thing performing the action known as the agent is unknown, unimportant or obvious. Examples My bike was stolen. → unknown agent An investigation is being conducted. → obvious agent the police A mistake has been made. → avoids naming the agent Any information should be reported to the police. → people in general If we want to include the agent of a passive sentence, we use the preposition by. Example My bike was stolen by a criminal. They had already been informed by my neighbour. How to form the passive in English grammar Passive sentences are formed as follows form of be + past participle of the main verb. Only the form of the verb be changes depending on the tense that we are using; the past participle remains the same in every tense. The table below provides an overview of the passive voice in all of the English tenses. How to change a sentence from active to passive When transforming a sentence from active to passive, we can take a step-by-step approach. Step 1 identify the object of the sentence and bring it to the front active Someone stole my bike. passive My bike … Step 2 identify the tense and conjugate the verb be accordingly active Someone stole my bike. = simple past passive My bike was … Step 3 find the past participle of the main verb active Someone stole my bike. → steal – stole – stolen passive My bike was stolen. Step 4 decide if you need to include the agent active Someone stole my bike. → Who stole the bike? We don’t know. The agent is unknown and therefore unnecessary in this case. Step 5 if the agent is important, we introduce it using the preposition by. active A cyclist caused the crash. passive The crash was caused by a cyclist. This sentence does not make sense without the agent. Note Because the direct object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence, we can only use transitive verbs in the passive voice steal a car, write a book, make a mistake …. Intransitive verbs do not take a direct object arrive, die, go … so cannot be used in the passive. Learn more about the difference between transitive and intransitive verbs. Table of English Tenses in Active and Passive Check out the table below to learn how to change active sentences into the passive voice in every tense. The passive in sentences with two objects Certain verbs like ask, give, offer, pay, send, show etc. are used with two objects. Usually, one is a person indirect object and the other is a thing direct object. In the active voice, these sentences can be expressed in two different ways Example Someone gave Josie this calendar. Someone gave this calendar to Josie. indirect object IO Josie; direct object DO this calendar This is the same in the passive voice; either object can become the subject of the passive sentence. Example Josie was given this calendar. indirect object Josie → subject Josie This calendar was given to Josie. direct object this calendar → subject this calendar Changing object pronouns to subject pronouns When the indirect object of an active sentence is an object pronoun me, you, him, her …, we must change it to a subject pronoun in the passive voice. Personal & Impersonal Passive In formal situations such as news reports or academic articles, we use reporting verbs and verbs of speech and thought in the passive voice to express information in a neutral, unbiased way. Common verbs agree, announce, assume, believe, claim, consider, declare, expect, feel, find, know, mention, say, suppose, think, and understand. Such sentences can start with it impersonal passive or with the subject personal passive. Example It is said that this area has a high crime rate. impersonal passive This area is said to have a high crime rate. personal passive = They say that this area has a high crime rate. Impersonal Passive Sentences in the impersonal passive begin with it it is said/believed/agreed etc. + that + clause. Examples It is believed that the suspect has blonde hair. It is said that the neighbourhood is a hotspot for crime. It is assumed that the thief is local to the area. Note in the impersonal form, only the reporting verb is formed in the passive voice; the rest of the sentence stays the same. Personal Passive Sentences in the personal passive begin with the subject and contain an infinitive clause subject + is said/believed/thought etc. + to + infinitive. Examples The suspect is believed to have blonde hair. The neighbourhood is said to be a hotspot for crime. The thief is assumed to be local to the area. We use the perfect infinitive have + past participle after the reporting verb to refer to the past. Example The theft is believed to have occurred at midnight last night. The thief is said to have acted alone. have/get something done We can also form the passive with have/get + object + past participle. Note get is more informal than have. We use this form when someone else does something for us, particularly in the context of paid services. Active I do my hair. I do this myself Passive I have/get my hair done. I pay someone else to do this for me Like with a standard passive, the agent of the action is unknown or unimportant; the focus is on the action itself. Example Tom has/gets his car cleaned at the garage. If we want to include the agent, we use by. Example He had his suit made by a tailor. We can use this structure in every tense Examples I’m getting my hair done tomorrow. present progressive We had our kitchen renovated last year. simple past They’ve had the dishwasher repaired several times. present perfect simple Info This passive structure is a type of causative. You can learn more on our page all about causative structures with have and get. Passive with have In addition to services, the passive with have has an extra meaning. We use have + object + past participle to express an experience that was negative, painful or unpleasant. Examples I had my bike stolen last week. He had his wisdom tooth taken out. we can’t use get in these examples Online exercises to improve your English Improve your English with Lingolia. Each grammar topic comes with one free exercise where you can review the basics, as well as many more Lingolia Plus exercises where you can practise according to your level. Check your understanding by hovering over the info bubbles for simple explanations and handy tips. Passive Voice – Free Exercise Passive – mixed exercise Lingolia Plus English Unlock all grammar exercises for English with a Lingolia Plus account 983 interactive grammar exercises for English sorted by topic and level A1–C1 with a built-in progress tracker and awards system Get started with Lingolia Plus Passive Voice – Lingolia Plus Exercises Passive voice in simple present 1 A2 Passive voice in simple present 2 A2 Passive voice in simple present 3 A2 Passive voice in simple present 4 A2 Passive voice in simple present 5 A2 Passive voice in simple present Bonfire Night A2 Passive voice in simple present Vietnamese New Year B1 Passive voice in simple present active to passive 1 A2 Passive voice in simple present active to passive 2 A2 Passive voice in simple past 1 A2 Passive voice in simple past 2 A2 Passive voice in simple past 3 A2 Passive voice in simple past 4 A2 Passive voice in simple past active to passive 1 A2 Passive voice in simple past active to passive 2 A2 Passive voice in simple past Shipwrecked B1 Passive voice simple present vs. simple past 1 A2 Passive voice simple present vs. simple past 2 A2 Passive voice simple present vs. simple past 3 B1 Passive voice in present progressive 1 B1 Passive voice in present progressive 2 B1 Passive voice in present progressive 3 B1 Passive voice in past progressive 1 B1 Passive voice in past progressive 2 B1 Passive voice in past progressive 3 B1 Passive voice in present perfect simple 1 B2 Passive voice in present perfect simple 2 B2 Passive voice in present perfect simple 3 B2 Passive voice in present perfect simple 4 B2 Passive voice in present perfect simple 5 B1 Passive voice in past perfect 1 B2 Passive voice in past perfect 2 B2 Passive voice in past perfect 3 B2 Passive voice in past tenses B1 Passive voice in future simple B1 Passive voice in future perfect B2 Passive voice in future tenses B2 Passive infinitive 1 B2 Passive infinitive 2 B2 Passive voice – perfect infinitive 1 C1 Passive voice – perfect infinitive 2 C1 Passive voice – sentences with 2 objects 1 B1 Passive voice – sentences with 2 objects 2 B1 Passive voice – sentences with 2 objects 3 B2 Passive voice – sentences with 2 objects 4 B2 Passive voice – sentences with 2 objects 5 B2 Passive voice impersonal passive with it B2 Passive voice personal passive 1 B2 Passive voice personal passive 2 B2 Passive voice – personal & impersonal passive C1 Passive voice mixed 1 B2 Passive voice mixed 2 B2 Passive voice mixed 3 C1 Active or passive – Hadrian’s Wall C1 Passive voice have/get something done B2 Passive voice have something done 1 B2 Passive voice have something done 2 C1 Passive with have negative experiences C1 A1Beginner A2Elementary B1Intermediate B2Upper intermediate C1Advanced Active and Passive Voice has been a very important chapter in English Grammar. You must have read Active and Passive Voice since the beginning. Have you ever thought what active and passive voice is? In grammar perspective, we know that it is very important but what is its importance in our day to day life? Have you ever thought about it? For better understanding, we should relate the Grammar to our practical world. We should find out the use of active and passive voice in our life. Ok Let’s understand the important terms which we are going to use. They are Active voice and Passive voice. First, let us see how people define. See the definition given by Wikipedia. As we see the type and explanation of active and passive voice according to Wikipedia. But that is not easy to understand. Isn’t it? Now, let me do my part of the job. There are two types of voice. Active Voice Passive Voice Let us have an Active and Passive Voice definition. Active and Passive Voice Definition You must have read an active voice and passive voice definition before. But before going ahead, let us have a look at the format of sentences. Do you know what is the format of sentences? See below- SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT John teaches English. John is subject, teaches is verb/action word and English is an object It consists of Subject, Verb and Object. In other words, we can say that there are doer, action words and object in most of the sentences. Mostly, the subject is the doer of the action in many sentences. For example- John teaches English. Here in the above sentence, John is the subject and doer in the sentence. But in some cases, the subject of the sentence is not the doer of the action word. See the example below- English is taught by John. Here in this sentence, English is the subject of the sentence but not the doer of the action word. The doer is John which is at the place of the object. So this sentence is different from the first sentence. To conclude, let us find the final active and passive voice definition. Active Voice Definition If the subject of a sentence is the doer of the verb, it is called Active Voice. For instance- Carol beats the thief. Carol is the subject and the doer in the sentence. Passive Voice Definition If the subject of a sentence is only the subject of the sentence, not the doer of the verb, it is called passive voice. For instance- The thief is beaten by Carol. The thief is the subject only not the doer of the verb because the doer is Carol so it is a passive voice. Now, let us find out some more active and passive voice differences to make it clear. Active Voice The subject is the doer of the verb. The forms of verbs differ in the sentences according to the tenses. The subject is the hero of the sentence because it performs the action with the verbs. Passive Voice The subject is not the doer of the verb but the object is the doer in the sentence. The forms of the verbs do not differ in the sentences but remain the same third form of the verb. The object tries to become the hero but does not perform the action with the verbs. Finally, you must be clear about the active and passive voice definition. Let’s go ahead now and clear the basic rules of Active and Passive voice. First, we need practice to identify active and passive voice sentences. For the same, do the quiz. Active and Passive Voice Formula Basic Principles There are some basic principles for active and passive voice conversion. They are below- First, a sentence changes into passive voice if it contains a transitive verb. If it contains an intransitive verb, it does not change into passive voice. Secondly, the subject should always be changed into an object and Similarily, the object should always be changed into the subject. If it bears pronoun, that changes according to the case below and by’ is used before the object in the passive voice. 3- Thirdly, the forms of the verb is always in the third form in the passive voice. Active and Passive Voice Rules Basic Level You should start learning the rules with the Tenses. And for that, you should have the basic knowledge of Tenses. One more thing, if you learn the active and passive voice rules in details, you can not get it easily. On the other hand, if you try to study the rules with the chart below, it will make you easy to understand. You, therefore, should see the chart below You might think you are not going to read the rules in details. No, you will surely learn it but after it. Now, you can get the rules with the help of the chart above. And you must have got there are only 8 tenses that can be changed into passive voice. The remaining 4 tenses are not changed into passive voice. You can see it in another way as well. See how helping verbs changes in tenses. Do/Does change into Is/Am/Are. Is/Am/Are change into Is being/Am being/Are being. Has/ Have change into Has been/ Have been. Did changes into Was being/ Were being? Had changes into Had been. Will/ Shall change into Will be/ Shall be. Will have/ Shall have change into Will have been/ Shall have been. The rest of the 4 tenses do not change into passive voice. They are – Future Continuous Tense, Present Perfect Continous Tense, Past Perfect Continous Tense Future Perfect Continuous Tense. Let us go onto the next step explaining the rules in details. Basic Rules Active and Passive Voice in Details Now see the rules in details. Passive Voice of Present Indefinite Tense If the active voice is in present indefinite tense and s/es form of verbs/do/does’ is used, you should use is/am/are’ in the passive voice. See the examples below. For instance, He writes a letter. s/es forms of verbs – present indefinite tense Make an effort to change the following into passive voice. First, take the subject he to the object place a letter. He writes a letter. ………………………..him. in the objective case Then, take the object A letter to the subject place. He writes a letter. A letter…………………..him. Then, place by’ before the object. He writes a letter. A letter…………………..by him. Then, let us work on helping verb. Since the sentence is in the present indefinite tense, you should use is/am/are’. A letter’ is singular in number so you should use is’ He writes a letter. A letter is ………….. by him. Now, it’s time to work on the action word write’. As I already mentioned that in the passive voice, you should always use 3rd forms of verbs. He writes a letter. A letter is written by letter. Well done! you have changed the active voice in to passive voice. That’s it. You won the battle. The same goes in all the tenses. Click here for more Exercises of Present Indefinite Tense Passive Voice of Present Continuous Tense If the active voice is in a present continuous tense and the helping verbs is/am/are’ is used, you should use is being/ am being/ are being’ in the passive voice. For example, Sam is Playing football. Football is being played by Sam. Click here for more Exercises of Present Indefinite Tense Passive Voice of Present Perfect Tense If the active voice is in the present perfect tense and the helping verbs has/have’ is used, you should use has been/ have been’ in the passive voice. For example, I have taught him grammar. Grammar has been taught to him by me. Or He has been taught grammar by me. Note If there are two objects in the sentence, any of them can be used while making passive voice. Try to understand with the above example. There are two objects grammar and him. You can use either grammar as a subject or him as a subject. Both the sentences are right. Click for Exercises Passive Voice of Past Indefinite Tense If the active voice is in the past indefinite tense and 2nd forms of verbs/ did’ is used, you should use was/ were’ in the passive voice. For example, Ram wasted time. Time was wasted by Ram. Click for Exercises Passive Voice of Past Continuous Tense If the active voice is in the past continuous tense and was/were’ is used, you should use was being/were being’ in the passive voice. For example, She was taking a bath early in the morning. A bath was being taken by her early in the morning. Click for Exercises Passive Voice of Past Perfect Tense If the active voice is in the past perfect tense and had’ is used, you should use had been’ in the passive voice. For instance. Carol had completed her writings. Her writings had been completed by Carol. Click for Exercises Passive Voice of Future Indefinite Tense If the active voice is in the future indefinite tense and will/shall’ is used, you should use will be/shall be’ in the passive voice. For example. You will take medicine daily. Medicine will be taken daily by you. Click for Exercises Passive Voice of Future Perfect Tense If the active voice is in the future continuous tense and will have/shall have’ is used, you should use will have been/shall have been’ in the passive voice. For example. He will have finished work tomorrow. Work will have been finished tomorrow by him. Click for Exercises And as I mentioned above, the 4 tenses like the present perfect continuous tense, the past perfect continuous tense, the future perfect continuous tense and the future continuous tense do not change into passive voice. Do the quiz given below for Tense practice. Active and Passive Voice Rules with Examples – Modals and Imperative Download this explanation in PDF here. See all my exercises about the passive here. An active sentence like I drank two cups of coffee has the subject first the person or thing that does the verb, followed by the verb, and finally the object the person or thing that the action happens to. So, in this example, the subject is 'I', the verb is 'drank' and the object is 'two cups of coffee'. But, we don't always need to make sentences this way. We might want to put the object first, or perhaps we don't want to say who did something. This can happen for lots of reasons see the explanation further down the page. In this case, we can use a passive, which puts the object first Two cups of coffee were drunk we can add 'by me' if we want, but it isn't necessary. How to make the Passive in English We make the passive by putting the verb 'to be' into whatever tense we need and then adding the past participle. For regular verbs, we make the past participle by adding 'ed' to the infinitive. So play becomes played. Click here to learn about irregular verbs. TenseActivePassive present simple I make a cake. A cake is made by me. present continuous I am making a cake. A cake is being made by me. past simple I made a cake. A cake was made by me. past continuous I was making a cake. A cake was being made by me. present perfect I have made a cake. A cake has been made by me. pres. perf. continuous I have been making a cake. A cake has been being made by me. past perfect I had made a cake. A cake had been made by me. future simple I will make a cake. A cake will be made by me. future perfect I will have made a cake. A cake will have been made by me. Practise with these exercises Verbs with two objects Some verbs that have two objects can make two different active sentences, and so two different passive sentences too GiveActive He gave me the book / He gave the book to me. You can choose either of the two objects to be the subject of the passive sentence. Passive I was given the book by him/ The book was given to me by him. Other verbs like this are ask, offer, teach, tell, lend, promise, sell, throw. Try an exercise about this hereThe passive in subordinate clauses You can make the passive in a subordinate clause that has a subject and a normal conjugated verb. This is really the same as a normal passive. Active I thought that Mary had kissed John. Passive I thought that John had been kissed by Mary. Active He knew that people had built the church in 1915. Passive He knew that the church had been built in 1915. You can also make the passive using a passive gerund or a passive infinitive in the same place as a normal gerund or infinitive. The child loves being cuddled. She would like to be promoted. Try an exercise about this here When should we use the Passive? 1 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 2 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. The road is being repaired unimportant agent. The form can be obtained from the post office people in general. 3 In factual or scientific writing The chemical is placed in a test tube and the data entered into the computer. 4 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. 5 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. 'Dr. Bell wrote the books' sound clumsy 6 When the subject is very long I was surprised by how well the students did in the test. More natural than 'how well the students did in the test surprised me' Active sentences in the present continuous tense have the following structure Subject + is/are/am + -ing form of the verb + object Passive sentences in the present continuous tense have the following structure Object of the active sentence + is/are/am + being + past participle form of the verb + by + subject of the active sentence. Examples are given below. Active I am reading a story. Passive A story is being read by me. Active The engine is driving the train. Passive The train is being driven by the engine. Active She is singing a song. Passive A song is being sung by her. Active The carpenter is making furniture. Passive Furniture is being made by the carpenter. When the verb is followed by a preposition Read the sentence given below My mother is talking to a stranger. Here the noun a stranger is the object of the preposition to, and not the verb talking. But this sentence can be changed into the passive Passive A stranger is being talked to by my mother. Active The children are laughing at the old beggar. Passive The old beggar is being laughed at by the children. Active I am waiting for him. Passive He is being waited for by me. Changing a negative sentence into the passive When a negative sentence is changed into the passive, not will come between is/am/are and being. Active She is not writing a story. Passive A story is not being written by her. Changing an interrogative sentence into the passive The passive forms of these sentences will begin with be is/am/are. When the active sentence begins with a question word such as when, whose, why, which and how, the passive sentence will also begin with a question word. When the active sentence begins with who or whose, the passive sentence will begin with by whom or by whose. When the active sentence begins with whom, the passive sentence will begin with who. Active Are the masons building a house? Passive Is a house being built by the masons? Active Who is waiting for you? Passive By whom are you being waited for? Active Whom are you waiting for? Passive Who is being waited for by you? Active Why is he not learning his lessons? Passive Why are his lessons not being learnt by him? Active Whose father is helping you? Passive By whose father are you being helped? Take a sentence like “I want ice cream now.” It’s clear and straightforward—you know immediately that the subject, I, wants an object, ice cream. Now, recast this sentence, flipping it so that the object is in the position of the subject “Ice cream is wanted by me now.” It isn’t just longer, but it’s also more detached, roundabout, and a little awkward, too. Those two sentences are examples of the active voice and the passive voice. Certain kinds of writing are best suited for the active voice, while the passive voice is most appropriate for other kinds of writing. Understanding how, when, and why to use each is key to being an effective writer and speaker. Here’s a tip Want to make sure your writing shines? Grammarly can check your spelling and save you from grammar and punctuation mistakes. It even proofreads your text, so your work is extra polished wherever you write. What is active voice, what is passive voice, and what are their different functions? In the active voice, the subject is performing an action The dog chases the ball. Notice how the subject, dog, is performing the action, chase, on the target of the action, ball. This is a simple, direct example of the active voice. In the passive voice, the action’s target, ball, is positioned first as the focus of the sentence. The sentence gets flipped, and the subject is now being acted upon by the verb. In other words, the subject is passive The ball is being chased by the dog. Active and passive are the two grammatical voices in English. Neither is inherently better than the other, but each is suited to certain types of writing. There’s a reason why news anchors sound detached from the stories they’re reporting They often speak using the passive voice. There’s also a reason why the authors of opinion pieces sound so sure of their positions They usually write in the active voice. Although the idea of teachers telling their students to avoid the passive voice is repeated so frequently that it feels like a trope, the truth is that the passive voice does have its applications. We’ll get into those later. For now, let’s look at how to recognize the active voice and the passive voice in your writing and in others’ work. Active voice As we’ve learned, in the active voice, the sentence’s subject performs the action. Here are two examples of sentences in the active voice Shira likes birdwatching. She loves twilight. No matter what verb you use, structuring your sentence so the subject performs the verb is writing in the active voice. The active voice has a direct, clear tone. Use it when you want the reader to focus on the subject of your sentence and the action it is doing rather than on the action’s target. Passive voice In the passive voice, the action’s target is the focus, and the verb acts upon the subject. Or, to put it in the passive voice, the subject is acted upon by the verb. Every sentence in the passive voice contains two verbs A conjugated form of “to be” The main verb’s past participle Take a look at the previous examples, now written in passive voice Birdwatching is liked by Shira. Twilight is loved by her. Notice how the targets of the action—also the direct objects of the sentences—are now the focus. The sentences now contain a conjugated form of “to be” is and the main verb’s past participle liked and loved. Often, sentences in the passive voice are longer than sentences in the active voice simply because they have to include additional words like prepositions. Take a look at this sentence in the passive voice Summer break is [conjugated form of “to be”] loved [past participle of the main verb] by [preposition] my friends. However, sentences written in the passive voice don’t necessarily need a preposition. Take a look at the example sentences below The check was paid. He will be remembered. The Philippines is known for its marine biodiversity. The passive voice has a subtler tone than the active voice has. Sometimes your writing needs this tone, like when you want your reader to focus on the action being described or the action’s target rather than on who or what is performing the action. This is why the passive voice is used in lab reports—it conveys scientific objectivity by minimizing the focus on the doer of the action. Active and passive voice usage Although you may have been told that writing in the passive voice is “bad writing,” it’s actually more nuanced than that. For most of the writing you do, like emails, blog posts, and many kinds of essays, the active voice is a more effective way to communicate the ideas, themes, and facts you’re expressing. In certain kinds of writing, though, the passive voice is necessary. Think about how news reports about crime and incidents are usually written and delivered A car was broken into on Elm Street last night. Cash was stolen from the register. In these kinds of reports, the passive voice is used to emphasize the action that occurred rather than the individual or group who committed the action, often because the perpetrator isn’t known or hasn’t yet been found guilty of the offense. There are other kinds of writing where the action itself, rather than the doer of the action, is the primary focus. These include scientific and, in some cases, historical reports. These use the passive voice to keep the reader’s focus on what has happened or is happening. Here are a few examples The rats were placed into the maze. The governor was inaugurated at the statehouse. Notice how in both of these sentences, the doer of the action isn’t mentioned. That’s because it’s either implied or irrelevant. In the first example, the scientist performing the experiment is the one who placed the rats in the maze. In the second, those conducting the inauguration ceremony aren’t relevant to what’s being expressed in the sentence. How to change passive voice to active voice After you finish your first draft, read it. You might even want to read it aloud and listen to how it sounds. By reading and listening to your own work, you can catch awkward sentences and unclear phrasing and mark them as points to revise in your next draft. You’ll also hear where you used the active and passive voices and how they shift your work’s tone as a whole. Let’s say you’ve detected a few instances of the passive voice in your argumentative essay More flexible scheduling options are deserved by students. Significant amounts of tuition are paid to the university every year, and many feel the level of service being paid for by students is not being received. See how these sentences feel like they’re dancing around the topic at hand rather than addressing it head-on? The writer isn’t making a particularly persuasive argument, but they can make their writing far more impactful by changing it to the active voice. Sentence-by-sentence, identify who or what is performing the action, and make that the subject when you rewrite it. In the first sentence, make students the subject, since that’s who is performing the action. The main verb in this sentence is deserve, and the target is more flexible scheduling options, which will become the direct object in your new sentence. With these identified, restructure the sentence so the subject is now directly performing the verb. In the active voice, this sentence would read like this Students deserve more flexible scheduling options. See how this version gets right to the point? It makes the writer sound more confident too, which is a priority in argumentative writing. Let’s try changing the second sentence to the active voice, which also allows us to condense Students pay a significant amount of tuition to the university every year, and many feel they aren’t receiving the level of service they’re paying for. As you can see from the compound sentence above, you can write any kind of sentence in the active or passive voice as long as the sentence has a transitive verb. Whether it’s a simple or complex sentence or even a compound-complex sentence, you can dramatically alter your tone by simply reworking its structure. If you aren’t sure whether a sentence is active or passive based on how it sounds, use the rules we outlined above to identify the two voices in your work. The biggest clue you have a passive voice sentence on your hands will be a form of “to be” followed by a past participle was requested or will be missed. Not every passive voice sentence says who is performing the action, but if it does, you’ll see a preposition next to it by zombies or by my brother. You can use either voice when you’re paraphrasing a longer work. Sometimes, such as in cases where you’re paraphrasing a scientific article, you’ll need to use the passive voice in your paraphrased version. In others, you might actually make the original clearer by paraphrasing in the active voice. Active and passive voice examples Take a look at these examples of both the active and passive voices in action Active Is Ajani visiting us today? Passive Will we be visited by Ajani today? As you see, questions can be written in either voice. Other kinds of sentences, like exclamatory and imperative sentences, are often best written in the active voice Active Please remove your shoes before entering my house. Passive Shoes should be removed before entering my house. Active Lock the door! Passive Let the door be locked! See how with the first pair, the passive voice makes the request feel more like a suggestion? In the second pair, the passive voice makes the message sound stilted and formal rather than an urgent exclamation. Now take a look at these two examples Active I poured the solution into the beaker and heated it to 100℉. Passive The solution was poured into the beaker and heated to 100℉. Active and passive voice FAQs What is active voice, what is passive voice, and what’s the difference? In the active voice, the sentence’s subject performs the action on the action’s target. In the passive voice, the target of the action is the main focus, and the verb acts upon the subject. There are numerous differences between the two grammatical voices, but the most important is that the active voice is clearer and more direct, while the passive voice is subtler and can feel more detached. When should you use active vs. passive voice? Use the active voice in any sentence that focuses on the doer of the action. Unless the majority of your writing is scientific or reporting incidents involving unknown perpetrators, most of the sentences you write should be in the active voice. The passive voice is meant for sentences where you need to emphasize the target of an action or the action itself rather than who or what is performing the verb. How do you change passive voice to active? To change the passive voice to the active voice, determine who is actually performing the action in the sentence, then restructure the sentence so that the performer is the focus, clearly performing the verb upon the sentence’s direct object. Passive Salsa dancing has always been loved by our community. Active Our community has always loved salsa dancing. Here’s a tip You don’t have to guess whether you’re using certain words correctly or breaking grammar rules in your writing. Just copy and paste your writing into our Grammar Checker and get instant feedback on whether your sentences have misspellings, punctuation errors, or any structural mistakes. 403 ERROR Request blocked. We can't connect to the server for this app or website at this time. There might be too much traffic or a configuration error. Try again later, or contact the app or website owner. 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