The passive

voice
 English language

Active voice Passive voice

In active voice constructions, the subject of the In the passive voice, the subject is passive, receiving
sentence is the one performing the action. The or undergoing the action. The focus is on the action.
focus is on the subject. Object-Verb-Subject or Object-Verb, in passive
voice we do not normally mention the agent (the
Subject-Verb-Object
one performing the action)
John (Subject) built (Verb) a house (Object).
The house (object) was built (verb) by John (Subject).
The passive voice is used
when we want to
emphasize the action
itself rather than the
person or thing
performing the action.
 OKAY... BUT
HOW DO WE MAKE PASSIVE SENTENCES?
 We use "-ed" for regular
verbs and for irregular verbs
we consult our list of irregular

PRESENT SIMPLE PASSIVE

verbs and select the verb from
the third column.

We use the present simple Structure:

passive to describe routines and Subject + am/are/is + past participle of the main
everyday activities, much like verb
the present simple tense.
The report is written by the team every month
This construction is formed by
(Here, the focus is on the action of writing, not on
combining the subject with the
who is writing it.)
appropriate form of the verb "to
be" (am/are/is) and the past
participle of the main verb.
 PAST SIMPLE PASSIVE
The past simple passive is Structure:
employed to narrate completed Subject + was/were + past participle of the main
actions that occurred in the past. verb

This construction is formed by Example: The report was completed yesterday.

combining the subject with the (Here, the emphasis is on the completion of the
past tense of the verb "to be" action, not on who completed it.)
(was/were) and the past participle
of the main verb.
 The agent in the passive voice
When using the passive voice, the
agent (the person or thing
performing the action) is not
always mentioned. However, if
you choose to include the agent,
you can use the preposition "by"
followed by the person or thing.
-John painted the mural.
In the active voice, "John" is the one performing the action
(painting the mural).
-The mural was painted by John.
In the passive voice, the focus is on the action (painting), and
"by John" indicates who performed the action. The agent
(John) is introduced with the preposition "by."