Passive Voice PDF
Document Details
Uploaded by Deleted User
Tags
Summary
This document provides an explanation of passive voice, including functions, examples, and how to form passive voice sentences in English. It also covers passive voice with infinitives and gerunds, offering further grammar examples.
Full Transcript
Passive voice Functions of the passive voice The passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action. In other words, the most important thing or person becomes the subject of the sentence. Test your...
Passive voice Functions of the passive voice The passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action. In other words, the most important thing or person becomes the subject of the sentence. Test your knowledge Examples The passive voice is used frequently. (= we are interested in the passive voice, not in who uses it.) The house was built in 1654. (= we are interested in the house, not in who built it.) The road is being repaired. (= we are interested in the road, not in the people who are doing the repairs.) Sometimes we use the passive voice because we don't know or do not want to express who performed the action. Examples I noticed that a window had been left open. Every year thousands of people are killed on our roads. All the cookies have been eaten. My car has been stolen! The passive voice is often used in formal texts. Switching to the active voice will make your writing clearer and easier to read. Passive Active A great deal of meaning is conveyed by a few A few well-chosen words convey a great well-chosen words. deal of meaning. Our planet is wrapped in a mass of gases. A mass of gases wrap around our planet. Waste materials are disposed of in a variety of The city disposes of waste materials in a ways. variety of ways. If we want to say who or what performs the action while using the passive voice, we use the preposition by. When we know who performed the action and are interested in him, it is always better to switch to the active voice instead. Passive Active "A Hard Day's Night" was written by the The Beatles wrote "A Hard Day's Night". Beatles. The movie ET was directed by Spielberg. Spielberg directed the movie ET. This house was built by my father. My father built this house. 1 Forming the passive voice The passive voice in English is composed of two elements: the appropriate form of the verb 'to be' + past participle Affirmative Negative Interrogative Negative interrogative The house was The house wasn't Was the house built Wasn't the house built built in 1899. built in 1899. in 1899? in 1899? These houses were These houses weren't Were these houses Weren't these houses built in 1899. built in 1899. built in 1899? built in 1899? To clean, passive voice Subject + to be (conjugated) + past participle + rest of sentence Simple present The house is cleaned every day. Present continuous The house is being cleaned at the moment. Simple past The house was cleaned yesterday. Past continuous The house was being cleaned last week. Present perfect The house has been cleaned since you left. Past perfect The house had been cleaned before they arrived. Future The house will be cleaned next week. Future continuous The house will be being cleaned tomorrow. 2 Subject + to be (conjugated) + past participle + rest of sentence Present conditional The house would be cleaned if they had visitors. Past conditional The house would have been cleaned if it had been dirty. Inifinitive The house must be cleaned before we arrive. Passive voice with infinitives The infinitive passive voice is used after modal verbs and other most verbs normally followed by an infinitive. Examples You have to be tested on your English grammar. John might be promoted next year. She wants to be invited to the party. I expect to be surprised on my birthday. You may be disappointed. Passive voice with gerunds Gerunds are used after prepositions and verbs normally followed by a gerund. Examples I remember being taught to drive. The children are excited about being taken to the zoo. The children are excited to be taken to the zoo. Most film stars hate being interviewed. Most film stars hate to be interviewed. Poodles like to be pampered. Poodles like being pampered. Using "to be born" "To be born" is a passive form and is most commonly used in the past tense. However, in some cases, the present or future tense is appropriate Examples I was born in 1976. Where were you born? Around 100 babies are born in this hospital every week. We don't know on exactly which day the baby will be born. 3 Sometimes the passive is formed using the verb to get or to have instead of the verb to be. Alternative ways to form the passive voice You can form sentences that are passive in meaning but not in form by using the verb to get or the verb to have in place of the verb to be. These constructions often describe situations where we want someone else to do something for us or where we are going to hire someone else to do something for us. The subject is active, but he is only doing the "getting". It is the unnamed person who is gotten who will perform the action of the main verb in the sentence. That second person is not explicit in the sentence when the sentence has a passive meaning. We are more interested in the result of the activity than in the person that performs the activity. Test your knowledge Examples I must get my hair cut. I must have my hair cut. When are you going to get that window mended? We're having the house painted. This type of construction can refer to the completion of an activity, especially if a time expression is used. Examples We'll get the work done as soon as possible. I'll get those letters typed before lunchtime. She said she'd have my lunch delivered by noon. You should have your roof repaired before next winter. If the verb refers to something unwanted, it has the same meaning as a passive sentence. Examples Jim had his car stolen last night. Jim's car was stolen. They had their roof blown off in the storm. Their roof was blown off in the storm. Using "to need" in passive constructions You can also use the verb to need followed by the gerund in an active construction with a passive meaning. The important thing in our minds in these sentences is the person or thing that will experience the action, not the person performing the action. Examples The ceiling needs painting. The ceiling needs to be painted. My hair needs cutting. My hair needs to be cut. That faucet needs fixing. That faucet needs to be fixed. 4 Passive voice to active voice Sentences written in the active voice are easier to understand than sentences written in the passive voice. Switching the passive voice into the active voice is straightforward, but it requires a bit of practice. In the equivalency table below, notice that the tense of the verb to be in the passive voice is always the same as the tense of the main verb in the active voice. In order to use the active voice, you will have to make the subject of the action explicit. Test your knowledge To keep, active and passive voice Tense Active Passive Active sentence Passive equivalent voice voice Simple keep is kept I keep the butter in the The butter is kept in the present fridge. fridge. Present is is being John is keeping my house My house is being kept continuous keeping kept tidy. tidy. Simple past kept was kept Mary kept her schedule Mary's schedule was meticulously. kept meticulously. Past was was being The theater was keeping A seat was being kept continuous keeping kept a seat for you. for you. Present have have been I have kept all your old All your old letters have perfect kept kept letters. been kept. Past perfect had kept had been He had kept up his His training regimen kept training regimen for a had been kept up for a month. month. Simple Future will keep will be Mark will keep the ficus. The ficus will be kept. kept Conditional would would be If you told me, I would If you told me, your Present keep kept keep your secret. secret would be kept. Conditional would would I would have kept your Your bicycle would Past have have been bicycle here if you had have been kept here if kept kept left it with me. you had left it with me. Present to keep to be kept She wants to keep the The book wants to be Infinitive book. kept. Perfect to have to have Judy was happy to have The puppy was happy Infinitive kept been kept kept the puppy. to have been kept. Present keeping being I have a feeling that you I have a feeling that a Participle & kept may be keeping a secret. secret may be being 5 Tense Active Passive Active sentence Passive equivalent voice voice Gerund kept. Perfect having having Having kept the bird in a The bird, having been Participle kept been kept cage for so long, Jade kept in a cage for so wasn't sure it could long, might not survive survive in the wild. in the wild. References: https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-grammar 6