The Active and Passive Voice

Voice refers to the form of verb that indicates when a subject is the performer of the action, or it is the
receiver of the action. When a sentence is written in:
 Active voice, the subject performs the action.
Example: the sun heats the oceans. ( the sun does the heating (the action)
subject verb object

 Passive voice, the subject receives the action.

Example: The oceans are heated by the sun. (the oceans receive the heat )
passive subject verb agent

Agent: is the person or thing that performs the action (the doer). It is the subject of the active sentence.

Note: you can use the passive voice only with transitive verbs.
Examples of transitive verbs: heat, read, write, drink, kick, throw, borrow, discuss, pay, have, …..etc.

When do we use the passive voice?

We use the passive voice when:

 we focus on the action rather than the performer (doer) of the action, usually because the action is
more important.
Example: The project was completed before the deadline.

 describing a process or how something works.

Example: Evaporation from oceans, lakes and rivers is driven by the heat energy.

 the performer of the action is unknow, uninteresting, unimportant or obvious.

Example: The thief was arrested two hours ago. ( it is obvious that the police arrested the thief)

 we want to avoid beginning the active sentence with a complex subject.

Example:
Active: Photosynthesis and cellular respiration provide energy for living things.
Passive: Energy is provided for living things by photosynthesis and cellular respiration.

Tenses:
Tense Passive form of the verb

Present Simple am/is/are + Past Participle

Past Simple was/were + Past Participle

Future Simple will be + Past Participle

Present Perfect have/has been + Past Participle