Passive voiceby Lipovac Tatjana

When do we use passive voice?

• 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)

• 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).

• In factual or scientific writing: The chemical is placed in a test tube and the data entered into the computer.

• 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.

• 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.

• When the subject is very long:I was surprised by how well the students did in the test.

How to make a passive:

To make a passive sentence you need to start with object first and then use the be form of the verb (depending on the tense) and then add a past participle. If we want to say who or what performs the action, we use the preposition by:

object + be + past participle + by

Example of Present Simple:

Active: Tom cleans the house.

Passive: The house is cleaned by Tom.

Example of Past Simple:

Active: Sam repaired the car.

Passive: The car was repaired by Sam.

Example of Present Perfect:

Active: Many tourists have visited that castle.

Passive: That castle has been visited by many tourists.

Example of Past Perfect Continuous:

Active: Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant's fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to Paris.

Passive: The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been being prepared by Chef Jones for two years before he moved to Paris.

Example of Future Continuous (Will):

Active: At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes.

Passive: At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being washed by John.

Example of Future Continuous (Going to):

Active: At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be washing the dishes.

Passive: At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being washed by John.

Example with Modal Verb:

Active: The gardener must water the flowers.

Passive: The flowers must be watered by the gardener.

- object of the "active" sentence becomes subject in the "passive" sentence

- subject of the "active" sentence becomes "object" in the "passive" sentence" (or is left out)

$FWLYH 3HWHU EXLOGV DKRXVH

3DVVLYH $KRXVH LVEXLOW E\ 3HWHU

Changes in the sentence:

1. Active: Anne writes a letter.

Passive: A letter is written by Anne.

2. Active: Anne wrote a letter.

Passive: A letter was written by Anne.

5 Examples:

3. Active: Anne has written a letter.

Passive: A letter has been written by Anne.

4. Active: Anne will write a letter.

Passive: A letter will be written by Anne.

5. Active: Anne has to write a letter.

Passive: A letter has to be written by Anne.

The End