PASSIVE VOICE

WHEN DO WE USE PASSIVE VOICE?

• when we want to place more emphasis
on the object or receiver of an action.
– Mr. Jones was fired last week.
• when we do not know who is
performing the action
– The front door lock was damaged.
• when it is not apparent who is
performing the action.
– Smoking is prohibited in this area.
• To make formal writing less personal
– The research was conducted for three
months.
Compare with:
– I conducted the research for three
months.
• To describe a process
– The seminar was organized by only 5
students.
1. In the passive, the object of an active verb
becomes the subject of the passive verb
2. In passive voice, the subject is acted upon.
3. Only transitive verbs are used in the passive. It
is not possible to use verbs such as happen,
sleep, run, and seem in the passive.
4. Form: be + past participle (Verb 3)
5. Passive Voice Form depends on a specific time
reference, that is present, past, and future
form of passive voice Passive_voice.ppt
 S + get + past participle (V3)

Sean got hit by a bicycle.

Mary got stung by a poisonous bee.
 Reporting with passive voice
• This building is believed to be haunted.
• It has been predicted that our team will win
the game.
• It is known that black diamond is very rare.
 Passive causative
• I had my brother fix the sink.
• I had the sink fixed (by my brother).

• I will get the janitor to clean the room.

• I will get the room cleaned by the janitor.
 Need
• I need to revise the paper.
• The paper needs to be revised.
• The paper needs revision.
Oklahoma hit by deadly tornadoes.

Oklahoma was hit by deadly tornadoes.

 COMMON PASSIVE SENTENCES WITH OBJECTS

• Water is absorbed by the seed and causes it to

swell.
• Irrigation has been extensively practiced by
the earliest known civilization.
• Oil is extracted by careful separation at certain
stages of the milling process.
 Very often in scientific writing, the verbs in
passive sentences are followed by
• A prepositional phrase
Their potentiality is realized in only a few areas.
The management has been developed to a fine art.
• A to-infinitive phrase
Better cultivation practices can be applied to raise output
from pasture.
• Another clause
The animal numbers must be adjusted so that they stand in
reasonable relationship to the feed output.
• Nothing
In this case only one type of reproductive cell will be
reproduced.