There are several functions of using passive voice:

When the agent is unknown,

unimportant or obvious from the
context.
To make polite or formal statment
When the action is more important
than the agent.
To put more emphasis on the agent.

When the agent (the person who does the action) is

unknown, unimportant or obvious from the context.

For example:

- He has been arrested.

Its obvious that

he got arrested by the
(Police)
- Toms bike has been stolen.

If we ask here: Who

stole Toms bike?

So the agent
here is

We dont, right?

unknown.

 ( To make polite or formal statements)

For example:

- The car hasnt been cleaned.

More polite

- You havent cleaned the car.

Less polite

( When the action is more important than the agent as

in: )
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For example:
-

30 people were killed in the earthquakes.

Action

Here the
action is more

important

(This function usually used in the newspapers to attract

readers to read).

( To put more emphasis on the agent)

For example:

- The new library will be opened by the Queen.

Here the
emphasize is
all on the

Queen.

Quiz:
www.quizbean.com/#/passive-voice-functions-2