4 PICS, 1 WORD

VOICES OF THE
VERBS

English Lesson IX
Proficiency
Voice of the Verb

 tells us whether the

subject is the doer
or the receiver of
the action within a
statement
 Active Voice Passive Voice
 If the subject of the  If the subject of the
sentence is sentence is being
performing the acted upon by
action, the sentence is someone or
written in active something else, the
voice. sentence is in passive
voice.
The teacher taught the The children were
children. taught by the teacher.
 The overall thought of
the sentence is clear,
straightforward, and
understandable.

Answers the question, Structure:

“Who did the action
in the sentence?”
subject + verb +
object
 She milks her cow twice a
day.

 William Shakespeare wrote

Romeo and Juliet.

 The teacher sends a lot of

emails everyday. Passiv
e Voice
She milks her cow twice a day.
Her cow is milked twice a day.

William Shakespeare wrote Romeo and

Juliet.
Romeo and Juliet was written by William
Shakespeare.

The teacher sends a lot of emails everyday.

A lot of emails are sent by the teacher

everyday.
Note: not always the
presence of “to be” and
“by” is the only indication
of passive voice. To make always constructed with
sure that the sentence is in form “to be” followed
the passive voice, ask the by the past participle
question, “Does the of the verb
subject receive the
action?” Structure:
object + verb + subject
 A christmas party was
organized by the students.

 Chocolates are loved by

everybody.

 Our house is being painted by

decorators. Passiv
e Voice
A Christmas party was organized by the
students.
The students organized a Christmas party.

Chocolates are loved by everybody.

Everybody loves chocolate.

Our house is being painted by decorators.

Decorators are painting our house.

 In terms of writing, active voice
PASSIVE is often used rather than passive
voice for it gives clearer
ACTIVE
information and a lot way easier
to absorb. On the other hand,
passive voice is somehow useful
if you intend to focus on the
object rather than the subject.
Isn’t it amazing that same
ideas can be written into
different ways and how
powerful these voices can
do in the subject of the
sentence?!
 GRAMMATICAL STRUCTURE

NOTE: Future progressive, future perfect, and perfect

progressive are NOT used in passive voice.
NOTE: If the sentence does not have a
subject and . . .
COMPARISO
N
Directions: Read and analyze the following sentences and
try to change them according to the demand.

1. He threw the old picture of his ex-girlfriend. (A-P)

2. You will be promoted this year by the president of the
company. (P-A)
3. The poor people were amazed with her kindness. (P-A)
4. Apple sells thousands of iPhones everyday. (A-P)
5. This project was accomplished last night. (P-A)
6. These mangoes were bought by my mother in the market. (P-A)
7. The cat was killed with the poison. (P-A)
8. The technician fixes the defect of the refrigerator. (A-P)
9. Andrew is thinking of the word “incomparable”. (A-P)
10. Bongbong Marcos tops the latest presidential survey. (A-P)
We’re done
today!