PASSIVE VOICE

FUNCTIONS OF THE PASSIVE VOICE

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

EXAMPLES
 The passive voice is used frequently. (= we are interested in the passive voice, not in who uses it.)
 The house was built in 1654. (= we are interested in the house, not in who built it.)
 The road is being repaired. (= we are interested in the road, not in the people who are doing the repairs.)

Sometimes we use the passive voice because we don't know or do not want to express who performed the action.

EXAMPLES
 I noticed that a window had been left open.
 Every year thousands of people are killed on our roads.
 All the cookies have been eaten.
 My car has been stolen!

The passive voice is often used in formal texts. Switching to the active voice will make your writing clearer and easier to read.

Passive Active

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

Our planet is wrapped in a mass of gases. A mass of gases wrap around our planet.

Waste materials are disposed of in a variety of ways. The city disposes of waste materials in a variety of ways.
If we want to say who or what performs the action while using the passive voice, we use the preposition by. When we know who performed the
action and are interested in him, it is always better to switch to the active voice instead.

Passive Active

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

The movie ET was directed by Spielberg. Spielberg directed the movie ET.

This house was built by my father. My father built this house.

Read more about the passive voice and active equivalents for all English verb tenses.

FORMING THE PASSIVE VOICE

Affirmative Negative Interrogative Negative Interrogative

The house was built in 1899. The house wasn't built in 1899. Was the house built in 1899? Wasn't the house built in 1899?

These houses were built in 1899. These houses weren't built in 1899. Were these houses built in 1899? Weren't these houses built in 1899?

The passive voice in English is composed of two elements:

the appropriate form of the verb 'to be' + past participle

TO CLEAN, PASSIVE VOICE

Subject + to be (conjugated) + past participle + rest of sentence

Simple present
Subject + to be (conjugated) + past participle + rest of sentence

The house is cleaned every day.

Present continuous

The house is being cleaned at the moment.

Simple past

The house was cleaned yesterday.

Past continuous

The house was being cleaned last week.

Present perfect

The house has been cleaned since you left.

Past perfect

The house had been cleaned before they arrived.

 Subject + to be (conjugated) + past participle + rest of sentence

Future

The house will be cleaned next week.

Future continuous

The house will be being cleaned tomorrow.

Present conditional

The house would be cleaned if they had visitors.

Past conditional

The house would have been cleaned if it had been dirty.

Inifinitive

The house must be cleaned before we arrive.

PASSIVE VOICE WITH INFINITIVES

The infinitive passive voice is used after modal verbs and other most verbs normally followed by an infinitive.
EXAMPLES
 You have to be tested on your English grammar.
 John might be promoted next year.
 She wants to be invited to the party.
 I expect to be surprised on my birthday.
 You may be disappointed.

PASSIVE VOICE WITH GERUNDS

Gerunds are used after prepositions and verbs normally followed by a gerund.

EXAMPLES
 I remember being taught to drive.
 The children are excited about being taken to the zoo.
 The children are excited to be taken to the zoo.
 Most film stars hate being interviewed.
 Most film stars hate to be interviewed.
 Poodles like to be pampered.
 Poodles like being pampered.

USING "TO BE BORN"

"To be born" is an passive form and is most commonly used in the past tense. However, in some cases, the present or future tense is appropriate.

EXAMPLES
 I was born in 1976.
 Where were you born?
 Around 100 babies are born in this hospital every week.
 We don't know on exactly which day the baby will be born.

Sometimes the passive is formed using the verb to get or to have instead of the verb to be. A separate page deals with these alternative ways to
form the passive voice.
Sentences in Active and Passive Voice
Here are examples of sentences written in both the active voice and the passive voice, with the active voice sentence
appearing first:
Harry ate six shrimp at dinner. (active)
At dinner, six shrimp were eaten by Harry. (passive)
Beautiful giraffes roam the savannah. (active)
The savannah is roamed by beautiful giraffes. (passive)
Sue changed the flat tire. (active)
The flat tire was changed by Sue. (passive)
We are going to watch a movie tonight. (active)
A movie is going to be watched by us tonight. (passive)
I ran the obstacle course in record time. (active)
The obstacle course was run by me in record time. (passive)
The crew paved the entire stretch of highway. (active)
The entire stretch of highway was paved by the crew. (passive)
Mom read the novel in one day. (active)
The novel was read by Mom in one day. (passive)
The critic wrote a scathing review. (active)
A scathing review was written by the critic. (passive)
I will clean the house every Saturday. (active)
The house will be cleaned by me every Saturday. (passive)
The staff is required to watch a safety video every year. (active)
A safety video will be watched by the staff every year. (passive)
She faxed her application for a new job. (active)
The application for a new job was faxed by her. (passive)
Tom painted the entire house. (active)
The entire house was painted by Tom. (passive)
The teacher always answers the students’ questions. (active)
The students’ questions are always answered by the teacher. (passive)
The choir really enjoys that piece. (active)
That piece is really enjoyed by the choir. (passive)
Who taught you to ski? (active)
By whom were you taught to ski? (passive)
The forest fire destroyed the whole suburb. (active)
The whole suburb was destroyed by the forest fire. (passive)
The two kings are signing the treaty. (active)
The treaty is being signed by the two kings. (passive)
The cleaning crew vacuums and dusts the office every night. (active)
Every night the office is vacuumed and dusted by the cleaning crew. (passive)
Larry generously donated money to the homeless shelter. (active)
Money was generously donated to the homeless shelter by Larry. (passive)
No one responded to my sales ad. (active)
My sales ad was not responded to by anyone. (passive)
 
The wedding planner is making all the reservations. (active)
All the reservations will be made by the wedding planner. (passive)
Susan will bake two dozen cupcakes for the bake sale. (active)
For the bake sale, two dozen cookies will be baked by Susan. (passive)
The science class viewed the comet. (active)
The comet was viewed by the science class. (passive)
Who ate the last cookie? (active)
The last cookie was eaten by whom? (passive)
Alex posted the video on Facebook. (active)
The video was posted on Facebook by Alex. (passive)
The director will give you instructions. (active)
Instructions will be given to you by the director. (passive)
Thousands of tourists view the Grand Canyon every year. (active)
The Grand Canyon is viewed by thousands of tourists every year. (passive)
The homeowners remodeled the house to help it sell. (active)
The house was remodeled by the homeowners to help it sell. (passive)
The team will celebrate their victory tomorrow. (active)
The victory will be celebrated by the team tomorrow. (passive)
 The saltwater eventually corroded the metal beams. (active)
The metal beams were eventually corroded by the saltwater. (passive)
The kangaroo carried her baby in her pouch. (active)
The baby was carried by the kangaroo in her pouch. (passive)
Some people raise sugar cane in Hawaii. (active)
Sugar cane is raised by some people in Hawaii. (passive)
These different sentences written in both active voice and passive voice illustrate the differences.


Read more at http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-active-and-passive-voice.html#UpfhMkiuG0sHJb5J.99

The passive voice is a specific grammatical construction. The essential components, in English, are a form of the auxiliary verb be (or
sometimes get[6]) and the past participle of the main verb denoting the action. The agent (the doer of the action) may be specified using
a prepositional phrase with the preposition by, but this is optional.[7] It can be used in a number of different grammatical contexts; for
instance, in declarative, interrogative, and imperative clauses, and in gerundial constructions. For example:

 "Being attacked by Geoffrey Howe was like being savaged by a dead sheep."

 "Have you ever been kicked by an elephant?"
 "Kennedy was assassinated in 1963."
 "Mistakes were made."
 "The window got broken."
 "Don't get killed."

Write passive sentences (use the indications between brackets.)

1. the picture / draw (Simple Present) 

 
2. the door / close (Simple Past) 

3. the house / steal (Present Continuous) 

4. the bike / repair (Past Continuous) 

 5. the room/ clean (Present Perfect) 

6. the homework / do (Past perfect) 

7. the window / break (Simple future) 

8. the essay / write (Should + Verb) 

Rewrite the following sentences as suggested:

1. The boy writes poems. 

2. The girl drove the blue car.

3. They have collected enough money.

4. They will open a new restaurant.

5. The little boy can draw pictures.

6. The guard watched the prisoner. 

7. They will not play soccer.

 8. They believe that he writes good poems. 

Rewrite these sentences starting with the words in bold:

1. Her friend gave her a book.

2. They offered him a job.

3. The man showed us the house.

4. My friend gave me a pen.

Warning

Before submitting the test, check the following:

 Punctuation and capitalization

 Spelling
 Spaces (don't add any unnecessary spaces)

Such mistakes would cost you valuable points. Good luck!

Active and passive voice worksheet

SEPTEMBER 29, 2013 - 

Test your knowledge of active and passive voice with this grammar exercise. Each sentence given below is in the active
voice. Change it into passive voice.

1. He sings a song.
…………………………………………… .

2. The boy killed the spider.

…………………………………………… .

3. Help him.

…………………………………………… .

4. Farmers sow maize in the rainy season.

…………………………………………… .

5. Are you writing a letter?

…………………………………………… ?

6. The workers were digging a canal.

…………………………………………… .

7. I will finish the job by the end of this week.

…………………………………………… .

8. Have you finished your job?

…………………………………………… ?

9. They have informed him of his mother’s death.

…………………………………………… .

10. They took all the necessary precautions.

…………………………………………… .

Answers

1. A song is sung by him. (Active verb – sings; passive verb – is sung)

2. The spider was killed by the boy. (Active verb – killed; passive verb – was killed)

3. Let him be helped. (Imperative sentences in the passive voice begin with let.)

4. Maize is sown in the rainy season. (Active verb – sow; passive verb – is/are sown)

5. Is a letter being written by you? (Active verb – is/are writing; passive verb – is/are being written)

6. A canal was being dug by the workers. (Active verb – was/were digging; passive verb – was/were being dug)

7. The job will be finished (by me) by the end of this week. (Active verb – will finish; passive verb –will be finished)

8. Has your job been finished by you? (Active verb – has/have finished; passive verb – has/have been finished)

9. He has been informed of his mother’s death. (Active verb – has/have informed; passive verb – has/have been
informed)

10. All the necessary precautions were taken by them. (Active verb – took; passive verb – was/were taken)