PASSIVE VOICE

Passive Voice is a sentence used to emphasize the object affected

by the action, not the subject performing the action. The tense of

the passive voice must follow the tense in the active voice..

Example: My bike was stolen.

The snack had been eaten.

The passive voice is also used when the subject cannot perform

the action on it’s own.

Example: Soup has been cooked.

The book is being done.

In addition, the passive voice is also used when we want to talk

about something in a polite and delicate way.

Example: The mistake was made.

The accident was happenned. 

GENERAL STRUCTURE OF PASSIVE VOICE

Active voice: S + V + O

Passive voice: S + be + VpII + (by + O)

In which: The object (O) in the active voice will be changed to the

subject in the passive voice .

The subject (S) in the active voive will act as the object in the

passive voice and is used with the preposition "by".

The verb V in the active voice will be conjugated in the form of

"be + V participle 2" in the passive voice. The tense of the verb

in the passive voice depends on the subject, and on the tense of the

verb in the active voice.

Example: They will sell their car next month.

S V O

=> Their car will be sold (by them) next month.

S be + VpII (by O)

HOW TO CHANGE THE ACTIVE VOIVE TO

PASSIVE VOIVE
Conditions for changing active voice to passive voice

Active voice must have an object (O).

Verbs in active sentences must be transitive verbs .

Steps to change active voice to passive voice
Step 1: Identify the object in the active voice to change it into

the subject in the passive voice.

Step 2: Determine the tense in the active voice to move the word

into the passive voice (be + VpII) respectively. Verbs can be

singular or plural depending on the subject of the passive voice.

Step 3: Change the subject in the active voive to the object in the

passive voice by adding the preposition "by" in front.

Step 4: Determine the standing position of the adverb in the active

voice:

 Adverbs of time: after “by”

 Adverbs of place: before “by”

Step 5: If the beginning of the active voice has "No" (nobody, no

one, …), follow the steps above and then change the sentence to

negative form .
Example: They sold bread on the street yesterday.

=> Bread was sold on the street (by them) yesterday.

Nobody visited Anna for a long time.

=> Anna wasn’t visited for a long time.

 HOW TO CHANGE TENSES IN ENGLISH
Tense Active voice Passive voive

Simple present S + V(s/es) + O S + am/is/are + VpII + (by + O)

Present continuous S + am/is/are + V-ing + O S + am/is/are + being + VpII + (by + O)

Present perfect S + have/has + VpII + O S + have/has + been + VpII + (by + O)

Present perfect S + have/has + been + V- S + have/has + been + being + VpII +

continuous ing + O (by + O)

Simple past S + V-ed + O S + was/were + VpII + (by + O)

Past continuous S + was/were + V-ing + S + was/were + being + VpII + (by + O)

Past perfect S + had + VpII + O S + had + been + VpII + (by + O)

Past perfect S + had + been + V-ing + S + had + been + being + VpII + (by +

continuous O O)

Simple future S + will + V(inf) + O S + will + be + VpII + (by + O)

Future continuous S + will + be + V-ing + O S + will + be + being + VpII + (by + O)

Future perfect S + will + have + VpII + S + will + have + been + VpII + (by +

O O)
Future perfect S + will + have + been + S + will + have + been + being + VpII +

continuous V-ing + O (by + O)

Modal verbs S + can/may/must/have S + can/may/must/have to/should/used

to/should/used to/be to/be going to + be + VpII + (by + O)

going to + V(inf) + O

SOME NOTES WHEN CHANGING ACTIVE

VOICE INTO PASSIVE VOIVE
 If the subject in the active voice is idefinite (they, somebody,

someone, anyone, people,…), it can be omitted in the passive

voice.

Example: Someone has took my umbrella.

=> My umbrella has been taken.

 The preposition “by” is used with the subject directly

performing the action. The preposition “with” is used to

indicate tools, means, and materials to perform an action.

Example: Papers were cut by my sister.

Papers were cut with scissors.

  Intransitive verbs (verbs without an object) are not used in

the passive voice.

Example: The house collapsed.

 If the active voice has 2 objects, choose the object that we

want to emphasize as the subject in the passive voice.

Example: He gave her some flowers yesterday.

=> She was given some flowers by him yesterday.

=> Some flowers were given to her by him yesterday.

 In some cases, the structures to be/ to get + VpII does not

have a passive meaning, but describes some action performed

by the subject itself, or the situation or state that the subject is

facing.

Example: My 3 years old daughter get dressed very quickly.

I got lost yesterday.

SPECIAL TYPES OF PASSIVE VOICE

Declarative verbs, verbs of opinion
Some verbs for reporting, indicating opinions in English such as:

say, claim, fine, know, report, asume, consider, feel, expect,

think, believe, ...

Active voice: S1 + V1 + that + S2 + V2 +…..

Passive voice:

 When the main verb (V1) in the active voice is conjugated in

present tenses such as present simple, present continuous,

present perfect.

=> It + is + V1pII + that + S2 + V2 +…..

=> S2 + am/is/are + V1pII + to V2 +…

(only used when V2 is in present simple or simple

future).

S2 + am/is/are + V1pII + to have V2pII +…

(only used when V2 is in the past simple or present

perfect).

Example: People think that he worked very hard last year.

=> It is thought that he worked very hard last year.

=> He is thought that to have worked very hard last year.

 People think that their boss is very rich

=> It is thought that their boss is very rich.

=> Their boss is thought to be very rich.

 When the main verb (V1) in the active voice is conjugated in

past tenses such as past simple, past continuous, past perfect.

=> It + was + V1pII + that + S2 + V2 +….

=> S2 + was/were + V1pII + to V2 +…..

(only used when V2 is conjugated in the simple past)

=> S2 + was/were + V1pII + to have V2pII +…

(only used when V2 is in the past perfect).

Example: People said that he was very polite.

=> It was said that he was very polite.

=> He was said to be very plite.

 People said that he had been very polite.

=> It was said that he had been very polite.

=> He was said to have been very polite.

Request sentence (have, get)

Active voice: S + have + Sb + V(inf) + Smt

S + get + Sb + to V + Smt

Passive voice: S + have/get + sth + VpII + (by + sb)

Example: Nina has her boyfriend buy her a new bag.

=> Nina has a new bag bought by her boyfriend.

My mother gets me to clean my room.

=> My mother gets my room cleaned by me.

WH- question

Steps to turn a WH- question into the passive voice:

 Turn the question into an affirmative sentence.

 Turn affirmative sentences into passive question.

Example: What did he do?

 He did what

 What was done by him?

Who do you know?

 You know who

  Who is known by you?

Who cleaned the bathroom?

 The bathroom was cleaned by who

 Who was the bathroom cleaned by?

Yes/No question

Active voice: Auxiliary + S + V (inf) + O …?

Passive voice: Be + S + VpII + (by O)?

Steps to avoid confusion when changing yes/no questions into the

passive voice:

 Step 1: Turn the question into an affirmative sentence.

 Step 2: Change the affirmative sentences into passive.

 Step 3: Change the above passive voice into a question.

Example: Did she clean the kitchen?

 She cleaned the kitchen

 The kitchen was cleaned by her

 Was the kitchen cleaned by her?

Verbs of senses
Some common perceptual verbs in English can be mentioned as:

look, see, notice, hear, watch,...

If in an active sentence the verb following the sense words is in the

infinitive form, then in the passive sentence the verb is changed to

V.

Example: I heard her scream last night.

=> She was heard to scream by me last night.

I saw him talk to someone.

=> He was seen to talk to someone by me.

Verb “Let”

Active voice with the structure "let somebody do something" are

often changed to the structure "be allowed to do something" in

the passive voice .

Example: My mom let me go out tonight.

=> I was allowed to go out by my mom tonight.

In an active voice, if the infinitive after "let" is accompanied by an

object of the same object as the subject, the "subject + let" clause

is preserved, only the latter part is changed.

Example: He let her hug him.

=> He let himself be hugged by her.

Don’t let them bother you.

=> Don’t let yourself be bothered.

Affirmative: Let + O + be + VpII

Example: Open the door.

=> Let the door be opened.

Negative: Let + O + not + be + VpII

Example: Don’t touch it.

=> Let it not be touched.

Structure S + V + O + V-ing

In this structure, the main verb is usually keep, see, find,

remember, …

Example: They keep me waiting in line for half an hour.

=> I was kept waiting in line for half an hour.

I found him playing soccer in the backyard.

=> He was found playing soccer in the backyard by me.

Structure “Would like”

Example: I would like to invite my friends to my house for dinner.

=> I would like my friends to be invited to my house for

dinner.

I would love somebody to give me present.

=> I would love to be given present.

Verb “Need/Want”

Structure: S + need/ want + V_ing/ to be VpII ( passive meaning)

Example: My car needs fixed.

=> My car needs to be fixed.

My dog wants to be cuddling.

=> My dog wants cuddling.

Passive voice with Gerund + V-ing

The gerunds after some verbs such as suggest, recommend,

advise,… in active voice will be replaced by the structure "should

be VpII" in passive voice .

Example: They advised locking the doors carefully at night. 

=> They advised that the doors should be locked carefully at

night.
Structure: It’s one’s duty to V(inf)

Active voice: It’s one’s duty to V (whose task does what)

Passive voice: S + be + supposed + to V

Example: It’s her duty to manage this project.

=> She is supposed to manage this project.

Structure: It’s impossible + to do sth

Active voice: It’s impossible to do sth (can not do anything)

Passive voice: S + can’t be + VpII

Example: It is impossible to fix this car.

=> That car can’t be fixed.

Verb “Crowd, fill, cover”

In the passive voice, the verbs cover, crowd, and fill are used with

"with" instead of "by".

Example: Chocolate covers the fruit.

 => The fruit are covered with chocolate.

In some cases, intransitive verbs are still used in the passive

form and must be accompanied by a preposition.

Example: She laughed at me.

=> I was laughed at by her.

We slept on that bed.

=> That bed was slept on by us.

Passive with “Make”

If in the active voice, after "make" is an infinitive, then in the

passive voice, this verb will be changed to V(inf) form.

Example: He made me smile.

=> I was made to smlie by him.

Passive forms are made up of the verb be with a past
participle:

Be Past participle

English Is Spoken All over the

world

The windows Have been Cleaned

Lunch Was being Served

The work Will be Finished Soon

They Might have Invited To the party

been

If we want to show the person or thing doing the action, we use by:

-She was attacked by a dangerous dog.

-The money was stolen by her husband.

If we want to show the person or thing doing the action, we use by:

 She was attacked by a dangerous dog.
The money was stolen by her husband.
The passive infinitive is made up of to be with a past participle:

The doors are going to be locked at ten o'clock.

You shouldn't have done that. You ought to be punished.
We sometimes use the verb get with a past participle to form the passive:

Be careful with that glass. It might get broken.

Peter got hurt in a crash.
We can use the indirect object as the subject of a passive verb:

active passive

I gave him a book for his birthday. > He was given a book for hi

Someone sent her a cheque for a thousand euros. > She was sent a cheque for a thou

We can use phrasal verbs in the passive:

active passive

They called off the meeting. > The meeting was called off.

His grandmother looked after him. > He was looked after by his grandmother.

active passive

They will send him away to school. > He will be sent away to school.