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Questions and Answers
The passive voice in English is a grammatical voice whose syntax is marked by a subject followed by a ______ verb complemented by a past participle.
stative
The enemy was ______. Caesar was ______.
defeated, stabbed
In each instance of a passive voice construction, the subject denotes the recipient of the action (the ______) rather than the performer (the ______).
patient, agent
The enemy was defeated by our ______. Caesar was stabbed by ______.
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Conversely, an active voice construction of the foregoing examples yields the following ______: Our troops defeated the enemy. Brutus stabbed Caesar.
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Study Notes
Passive Voice in English
- The passive voice is a grammatical voice with a specific syntax, where the subject is followed by a stative verb and a past participle.
- In a passive voice construction, the subject denotes the recipient of the action (the patient), not the performer (the agent).
- The agent may be omitted in a passive voice construction, as seen in examples like "The enemy was defeated" and "Caesar was stabbed".
- The agent can also be included adjunctively, as in "The enemy was defeated by our troops" and "Caesar was stabbed by Brutus".
- Active voice constructions have a different sentence structure, with the performer as the subject, as seen in "Our troops defeated the enemy" and "Brutus stabbed Caesar".
- The stative aspect of the English passive voice construction typically involves a form of the verbs "be" or "get".
- The passive participle in the passive voice construction is sometimes called a passive verb.
- English allows for various passive constructions that are not possible in many other languages with similar passive formation.
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Description
Test your knowledge of the passive voice in English with this quiz! Learn how to identify and construct passive voice sentences, and understand the role of the agent in these constructions. Perfect for English language learners and grammar enthusiasts.
