THE

PASSIVE
VOICE
 We form the passive with the verb to be and
the past participle of the main verb.

The simple present passive form is: am/is/are +

past participle.

Passive English is spoken all over the world.

voice The simple past passive form is: was/were + past

participle.

The project was finished yesterday.

 We use the passive when we want to focus on
the action of the verb rather than on the person who
carries out the action.

Passive
The meeting was canceled last week.

voice We introduce the agent (the person who carries out the

action) with the preposition by. The agent is mentioned
only when the identity of the person is important.

Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming.

 The agent is not mentioned when:

Passive
a) it is unknown. Their car was stolen
yesterday. (We do not know who stole it.)

voice b) it is unimportant. She was given a fruit

basket as a gift. (It doesn't matter who
gave it.)

c) it is obvious from the context. He was

arrested. (by the police - only they arrest
people)
 The object of the active sentence
becomes the subject in the passive
sentence.

Changing
from active The active verb changes into

into passive
a passive form.

voice The subject of the active sentence

becomes the agent in the passive
sentence.
 Subject Verb Object

Active: The decorator paints the house

Subject Verb Agent

Passive: The house is painted by the decorator

Note: Only the verbs that take an object can have passive form
   ACTIVE PASSIVE
Simple present He paints the house. The house is painted.
Present progressive He is painting the house. The house is being painted.

Simple past He painted the house. The house was painted.

Past progressive He was painting the house. The house was being painted.

Present perfect He has painted the house. The house has been painted.

Past perfect He had painted the house. The house had been painted.

Simple future He will paint the house. The house will be painted.

Infinitive He needs to paint the house. The house needs to be

painted.
Modals (modal + be +pp) He may paint the house. The house may be painted.
When the subject of the active sentence
is people, one, someone/somebody, they, he, etc.,
we often omit the agent in the passive sentence
except when 'people'' is modified by a numeral.

People speak English in most parts of the world. ➝

English is spoken in most parts of the world.
Object pronouns (me, you, him,
etc.) become subject pronouns (I,
you, he, etc.) in the passive.

I asked her to read the book.

➝ She was asked to read the
book.
When the verb of the active sentence is
followed by a preposition, the preposition is
kept in the passive sentence as well and is
placed right after the past participle.

I put him up for the night. ➝ He was put

up for the night.
When we want to find out who or what did Who was Australia discovered by? What was
something, then the passive question form the accident caused by?
is: Who/What ... by?
 We use by + agent in passive sentences to
say who or what performs the action.

These pancakes were made by my mother.

By/with We use with +
tool/material/ingredient etc. to say what
the agent used.

These pancakes were made with flour,

eggs, and milk.