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SIMPLE PASSIVE VOICE


There are two voices in English, the active and the passive. The active tells us what the subject does, for example:
- The secretary wrote a letter.

The passive tells us what is done to the subject. For example:
- The letter was written by the secretary.

Form

The passive is made with the verb "to be" and the past participle. Here are the main English tenses used in the passive voice.

How to construct the passive.

1. Check to see if the active sentence contains an object.

John ate an apple. (S V O) Passive is possible.

John ate yesterday. (S V) Passive is not possible.

2. Move the object to the front of the sentence. Put the original subject in a “by” phrase .

An apple (V) by John.

3. Put the verb in the form “be” +3 (of main verb)

An apple “ be ” eaten by John.

4. Put the “be” in the same tense as the original active sentence.

An apple was/were eaten by John. ( past tense)

5. Make the first verb agree with the new subject.

An apple was eaten by John.

Tense

Simple present:

Present continuous:

Simple past:

Past continuous:

Present perfect:

Past perfect:

Future:

Future continuous:

Present conditional:

Past conditional:


Subject

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers

Flowers



Verb "to be"

are

are being

were

were being

have been

had been

will be

will be being

would be

would have been
Past Participle

planted every year

planted now.

planted last year

planted last summer.

planted here for 10 years.

planted until last year.

planted next year.

planted during the summer.

planted if we had seeds.

planted if we had had seeds.



By

To state what the cause of a passive action is, you can use by. For example:
- This photo was taken by my friend.
- I was given this by my brother.

It is often not necessary to statethe cause of a passive action, especially when clearly understood or irrelevant. For example:
- The meeting was cancelled. (The meeting's cancellation is what is important, not who cancelled it.)
- These boots were made in Italy. (The fact they were made in Italy is what's important, not who made them.)

Born

When talking abut the birth of specific people of things we use the passive form "to be born". For example:
- I was born in Iran.
- The twins were born just last year.

Get

Get can be used instead of to be in situations where something happens. For example:
- Our flight got cancelled = Our flight was cancelled.
- I got paid today = I was paid today.


Get can't be used with general situations and state verbs (verbs that express a state, not an action). For example:

- He is liked by a lot of people. - OK
- He gets liked by a lot of people. - Incorrect.
- She is known to be a hard-working employee. - OK
- She gets known to be a hard-working employee.- Incorrect

Get is used more often in informal English.

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PASSIVE VOICE (EDILGEN ÇATI) 2

Events may be related in the active or the passive voice. In the passive, the person or thing receiving the action becomes the grammatical subject.

For example (the entity receiving the action is in boldface):

active voice: Eric Rohmer made this film.
passive voice: This film was made by Eric Rohmer.
One forms the passive by conjugating the verb "to be" before the past participle of the principal verb. the tense of the verb "to be" will determine the tense of action. When an agent of the action (that is, the person or entity performing the action) must be described, one does so by using the preposition "by":

This industry will soon be developed in the third world.
Sorry, but this car has been purchased by another customer.
English uses the passive voice frequently, although it is best to avoid it when possible. An option is to use an impersonal subject, such as "one" or "someone"

(passive voice): This job needs to be done.
(active voice): Someone needs to do this job.
The passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action, e.g.

The passive is used ...:
We are interested in the passive, not who uses it.

The house was built in 1654:
We are interested in the house, not the builder.

The road is being repaired:
We are interested in the road, not the people repairing it.

In other words, the most important thing or person becomes the subject of the sentence.

Sometimes we use the passive voice because we don't know or cannot express who or what performed the action:

I noticed that a window had been left open

Every year people are killed on our roads.

If we want to say who or what performs the action, we use the preposition by:

"A Hard Day's Night" was written by the Beatles

ET was directed by Spielberg

The passive voice is often used in formal or scientific texts:

A great deal of meaning is conveyed by a few well-chosen words.

Our planet is wrapped in a mass of gases.

Waste materials are disposed of in a variety of ways.

Infinitive form: infinitive of 'to be' + past participle: (to) be cleaned

This form is used after modal verbs and other verbs normally followed by an infinitive, e.g.

You have to be tested on your English grammar
John might be promoted next year.
She wants to be invited to the party.

Gerund or -ing form: being + past participle: being cleaned

This form is used after prepositions and verbs normally followed by a gerund

Examples:

a. Most film stars hate being interviewed.
b. I remember being taught to drive.
c. The children are excited about being taken to the zoo.

NOTE: Sometimes the passive is formed using the verb to get instead of the verb to be:

a. He got arrested for dangerous driving.
b. They're getting married later this year.
c. I'm not sure how the window got broken.

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