VOICE OF THE VERB

Another property of the verb is voice. “It is a special verb form arranged in
certain positions with noun/pronoun to indicate whether the grammatical subject of a
sentence is performing an action or is itself being acted upon. In other words, voice
shows whether the subject of your sentence is acting or being acted upon” (Avalos and
Avalos, 2007).
Examples:
Linda passed the biscuits. → The biscuits were passed by Linda.
Active Passive
simple present is/are + p.p.
o deliver/s o is/are delivered
present progressive is/are + being + p.p.
o is/are delivering o is/are being delivered
present perfect has/have + been + p.p.
o has/have delivered o has/have been delivered
simple past was/were + p.p.
o delivered o was/were delivered
past progressive was/were + being + p.p.
o was/were delivering o was/were being delivered
past perfect had + been + delivered
o had delivered o had been delivered
simple future will/shall + be + p.p.
o will/shall deliver o will/shall be delivered
future perfect will/shall + have + been + p.p.
o will/shall have delivered o will/shall have been delivered

TRANSFORMATION CHANGES (Avalos and Avalos, 2007)

1. The tense of the predicate verb does not change but its form does.
o I corrected the error. → The error was corrected by me.
o I will correct the error. → The error will be corrected by me.
2. Regarding pronouns as subject, the case changes in the transformation.
o I grow vegetables. → Vegetables are grown by me.
o She checked the error. → The error was checked by her.
o They checked the error. → The error was checked by them.
3. The positions of the subject and direct objects are interchanged. In the passive
voice, the subject becomes the object of the by-phrase; the direct object becomes the
subject.
o I did it. → It was done by me.
o We claimed our prize. → Our prize was claimed by us.
o She reprimanded us. → We were reprimanded by her.
4. There are instances that the doer of the action in the passive voice is not so
important so that you don’t have to mention it.
o The new highway will be completed next before the election.
o Corn is grown in Masbate.
o Women are trivialized, marginalized, and stereotyped in all male-authored texts.