GRAMMAR

THE PASSIVE VOICE

 THE PASSIVE VOICE
• Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein in 1818. (ACTIVE)
– Here we are interested in the author, Mary Shelley, and what she did

• Frankenstein was written (by Mary Shelley) in 1818.

(PASSIVE)
– Here we are not really interested in the author. We are interested in the
book and when it was written

• You can use “by” to say who does or did the action in a
passive sentence.
• But often you don’t say “by” because you don’t know
who did it or because it is not important
• Two hundred bicycles are stolen in this city every year
 THE PASSIVE VOICE: FORM
SUBJECT + TO BE + PAST PARTICIPLE

PRESENT SIMPLE PASSIVE

• SUBJECT + AM/IS/ARE + PAST PARTICIPLE

• POSITIVE SENTENCES
– This book is written in English
– These bottles are made of glass

• NEGATIVE SENTENCES
– This book isn’t written in English
– These bottles aren’t made of glass

• QUESTIONS
– Is this book written in English? Yes, it is/ No, it isn’t
– Are these bottles made of glass? Yes, they are/ No, they aren’t
 THE PASSIVE VOICE: FORM
SUBJECT + TO BE + PAST PARTICIPLE

PAST SIMPLE PASSIVE

• SUBJECT + WAS/WERE + PAST PARTICIPLE

• POSITIVE SENTENCES
– This book was written in English
– These bottles were made of glass

• NEGATIVE SENTENCES
– This book wasn’t written in English
– These bottles weren’t made of glass

• QUESTIONS
– Was this book written in English? Yes, it was/ No, it wasn’t
– Were these bottles made of glass? Yes, they were/ No, they weren’t
 THE PASSIVE VOICE: FORM
SUBJECT + TO BE + PAST PARTICIPLE

ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE

• Present simple • Present simple
– They serve lunch from 1 pm – Lunch is served from 1 pm
• Past simple • Past simple
– They ate all the food very quickly – All the food was eaten quickly
• Present continuous • Present continuous
– They are painting the house – The house is being painted
• Future with ‘will’ • Future with ‘will’
– They will finish their project in two – The project will be finished in two
months. months.
• Present perfect • Present perfect
– We have sold the car. – The car has been sold.
• A modal verb • A modal verb
– You can see the beach from the hotel – The beach can be seen from the hotel
window. window.
 USES OF THE PASSIVE VOICE
• The passive is used when:
1. The speaker doesn’t know who does something
• My bike was stolen last night.
2. The speaker doesn’t want to say who does
something because it’s obvious or not important
• The killer was arrested (obviously by the police)
3. The action is more important than who did it
• The post is delivered at 8 am.
4. When you write in a formal style
• Half of the patients were treated with aspirin; the other
half were given a placebo.