THE PASSIVE VOICE

In the passive the object of a sentence becomes the subject of the passive verb:
ACTIVE: Mary helped the boy
PASSIVE: The boy was helped by Mary
o Only transitive verbs are used in the passive. These verbs can take an object. However
verbs such as ‘happen, sleep, come…’ are intransitive and are never used in the passive
voice.
o Usually the passive is used without a ‘by phrase’. The passive is used when the person
who performs an action is not known or unimportant, or simply because it is obvious.
Ex. Rice is grown in India / Our house was built in 1990 / This olive oil was imported
from Spain
o The ‘by phrase’ is included only if it is important to know who performs the action.
Ex. Life on the Mississippi was written by Mark Twain.
▪ If the speaker/writer knows who performs the action the active is
used.
Ex. My aunt made this rug (the attention is focused on ‘my aunt’)
This rug was made by my aunt (the attention is focused on ‘the rug’)
o Either a direct or an indirect object can be the subject of a passive sentence
Ex. Someone gave Ben Affleck an award/ An award was given to Ben Affleck / Ben
Affleck was given an award.
o Modals have also their passive form: Subject + modal+be+past participle
Ex. Children should be taught to respect others/The present situation can’t be easily
changed/ This e-mail should be sent as soon as possible.
o Using passive sentences in your composition is a question of style. They look better.
They show your accuracy in the use of the English language.
Ex. They say/ think/believe/consider that we are facing a new era of technology…/
It is said/thought/believed/considered that we are facing a …
We are said/thought/believed/considered to be facing a new era of technology.
o ‘Jill repaired her roof’ ‘Jill had her roof repaired’. What is the difference between these
two sentences? Do you fix your car or do you have your car fixed? Do you cut your hair
or do you have it cut? In English to say that we arrange for someone to do something
for us we use the structure ‘have something done’. In informal English we can use
‘get’ instead of ‘have’.
Ex. Why don’t you have/get that coat cleaned? / Why don’t you clean that coat?
We are having/getting the house painted at the moment/ We are painting the house…

Exercise 1: Why is the use of passive appropriate in these sentences? Think of their active equivalents.
1. My sweater was made in England
2. The new highway will be completed next month.
3. English is spoken all over the world.
4. The Washington Monument is visited by hundreds of people every day.
Exercise 2: Change the following sentences into passive only if possible. Write ‘by phrase’ if necessary.
1. People grow corn in Iowa
2. An accident happened at the corner of Fifth and Main.
3. My sister’s plane will arrive at 10:35
4. Someone stole my purse
5. Translators have translated this book into many languages.
6. When did someone invent the radio?
Exercise 3: Write passive sentences.
1. Coca Cola has offered customers great prizes in its new advertising campaign.
2. NGOs will give the starving people in Africa food supplies in the famine-stricken areas.
Exercise 4: Rewrite the sentences in the passive voice as started.
1. People believe he may be fired.
It _________________________________________________
He _________________________________________________
2. Some people expect that robots will take people’s jobs.
It _________________________________________________
Robots _____________________________________________
3. People think that new mobile phones and tablets are changing the way we work.
It _________________________________________________
New mobile phones ___________________________________________