Passive Voices

What does passive voice mean?

When is it used?
 The passive writing voice occurs when something that is ordinarily “done by”
the subject of a sentence is “done by” the object of a sentence.

 It is used when the writing focus on the action

EXAMPLES:

 The work was completed by Jaime.

 Even though “Jaime” completed the work, “Jaime” is not the grammatical subject
of this sentence. The subject of this sentence is “work.”

In passive sentences, the thing that seems to be doing the action will be ordered
chronologically after the verb.

 The ball was hit by Johnny.

 Again, in this sentence, rather than say, “Johnny hit the ball.” the ball becomes
the subject of the sentence.
CONSTRUCTION OF PASSIVE VOICE

 Examples of Passive Voice:

 Start with active voice.
 Austin bought clothes.
 “Austin” is subject; “clothes” is object
 The object becomes the subject.
 The clothes
 Add “to be” and past participle
 The clothes were bought.
 (Optional) Add original subject (and a preposition, when necessary)
 The clothes were bought by Austin.
 Auxiliary verb +
Tense sample V3 (past Examples
participle)
The book is written
Present simple am, is, are +written
Many novels are written
The document is being
am, is, are + being + sent right now.
Present continuous
sent I am being sent to work
in the London office.
John was invited to
speak at the conference.
Past simple was, were + invited We were invited to
Daniel and Mary’s
wedding.
The dog was being
washed when I got
was, were + being + home.
Past continuous
washed Their cars were being
washed while they were
in the mall shopping.
 The contract will be signed
tomorrow.
Future (will) will be + signed
The documents will all be
signed by next week.

A bridge is going to be built

am, is, are + going to be + within the next two years.
Future (going to)
built New houses are going to be
built in our neighborhood.

That start-up has been sold for

$5 million.
Present perfect has, have + been + sold
The rights to his book have
been sold for $250,000.
The new manager had been
hired before John left the
Past perfect had + been + hired company.
All the employees had hired
before the store opened.
The car will have been loaded
by the time he gets home.
Future perfect will + have been + finished
The crates will have been
loaded by then.
 A passport can only be
issued at the embassy.
can, could + be +
Modals: can/could He said the documents
issued
could be issued within
the week.

A babysitter has to be
arranged for this
have to, has to, had evening.
Modal: have to
to + be + arranged Joan’s travel plans
have to be arranged by
December.
Criminals must be
Modal: must must + be + stopped stopped before they
commit crimes.
 Passive vs. Active Voice

 What is a passive sentence?  What is an active sentence?

Active voice occurs when the
The passive writing voice occurs when
subject “does” the action of the
the action is done by what seems like
sentence.
it should be the subject.

Example:
Example:
 The play was written by
Shakespeare. (passive)  Shakespeare wrote the play.
(active)