Active vs Passive

voice
TEACHER: KALYNE MELO
Active voice

• When the subject of a sentence performs the verb’s action, we say that
the sentence is in the active voice:

Monkeys adore bananas.

Subject Verb Object

The dog chased the squirrel.

Subject Verb Object
Passive voice
• Recognizing the structure: not all sentences can be changed to the
passive voice. Only an active voice sentence with a direct object can
be made passive.

The boy fell.

The table is black.
The girl cried a lot.
Passive voice

• Make the object the subject

Monkeys adore bananas. Bananas are adored.

The dog chased the squirrel. The squirrel are chased.

Passive voice

• Changing the verb: when changing an active sentence to a passive sentence, the tense of
the verb changes. Every passive sentence contains a “be” verb.
If the speaker or writer
Monkeys adore bananas. wants to include the noun
performing the action,
they must include it in a
“by” phrase after the
passive verb.

Bananas are adored (by monkeys).

How to use the passive voice

• When the noun performing the action is not important:

“The test was administered” (it doesn’t matter who administered the test)

• If a person doesn’t know who performed the action:

“My purse was stolen” (We do not know who stole the purse)

• The one performing the action is obvious:

“She was fired” (She could only be fired by her boss)
Past, present and future passive voice

• Past: “The girl was kissed by the boy”

• Present: “The homework is done by Leo”.

• Future: “Lucy’s speech will be given in room 3.”

Usage of passives in context
Exercises with passive voice

• Read the texts and try to explain why the writer used the active or the passive
voice in the titles:

Philadelphia Police: Officer Shoots Man Armed With Knife In Feltonville

– CBS Philly (cbslocal.com)

10 Nigerian troops killed in clashes with jihadists: sources | CGTN Africa