Use of Passive

Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not
known, however, who or what is performing the action.

Example: My bike was stolen.

In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not
know, however, who did it.

Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the

following example shows:

Example: A mistake was made.

In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame
anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).

Form of Passive

Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)

Example: A letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence
(or is dropped)

Examples of Passive

Tense Subject Verb Object

writes a letter.
Simple Present Active: Rita

Passive: A letter is written by Rita.

Simple Past Active: Rita wrote a letter.

Passive: A letter was written by Rita.

Present Perfect Active: Rita has written a letter.

Passive: A letter has been written by Rita.

Future I Active: Rita will write a letter.

Passive: A letter will be written by Rita.

Hilfsverben Active: Rita can write a letter.

Passive: A letter can be written by Rita.

Examples of Passive

Tense Subject Verb Object

is writing a letter.
Present Progressive Active: Rita

Passive: A letter is being written by Rita.

Past Progressive Active: Rita was writing a letter.

Passive: A letter was being written by Rita.

Past Perfect Active: Rita had written a letter.

Passive: A letter had been written by Rita.

Future II Active: Rita will have written a letter.

 Passive: A letter will have been written by Rita.

Conditional I Active: Rita would write a letter.

Passive: A letter would be written by Rita.

Conditional II Active: Rita would have written a letter.

Passive: A letter would have been written by Rita.

Passive Sentences with Two Objects

Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of
the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which
object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.

Subject Verb Object 1 Object 2

wrote a letter to me.

Active: Rita

Passive: A letter was written to me by Rita.

Passive: I was written a letter by Rita.

As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant.
Thats why it is usually dropped.

Personal and Impersonal Passive

Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes
the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive
verb) can form a personal passive.

Example: They build houses. Houses are built.

Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a personal
passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the subject of the
passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive verb in passive voice, you
need an impersonal construction therefore this passive is called Impersonal
Passive.

Example: he says it is said

Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g.

German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of
perception (e. g. say, think, know).

Example: They say that women live longer than men. It is said that women live
longer than men.

Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.

Example: They say that women live longer than men. Women are said to live
longer than men.

The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning of the
sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The rest of the sentence
is added using an infinitive construction with 'to' (certain auxiliary verbs
and that are dropped).

Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect
object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.

Passive and Active Voices

Verbsarealsosaidtobeeitheractive(Theexecutive
committeeapprovedthenewpolicy)orpassive(Thenewpolicywas
approvedbytheexecutivecommittee)invoice.Intheactivevoice,thesubject
andverbrelationshipisstraightforward:thesubjectisabeeroradoerandthe
verbmovesthesentencealong.Inthepassivevoice,thesubjectofthesentence
isneitheradoerorabeer,butisacteduponbysomeotheragentorby
somethingunnamed(Thenewpolicywasapproved).Computerizedgrammar
checkerscanpickoutapassivevoiceconstructionfrommilesawayandaskyou
toreviseittoamoreactiveconstruction.Thereisnothinginherentlywrongwith
thepassivevoice,butifyoucansaythesamethingintheactivemode,doso(see
exceptionsbelow).Yourtextwillhavemorepizzazzasaresult,sincepassive
verbconstructionstendtolieaboutintheirpajamasandavoidactualwork.

Wefindanoverabundanceofthepassivevoiceinsentencescreatedbyself
protectivebusinessinterests,magniloquenteducators,andbombasticmilitary
writers(whomustgetwearyofthisaccusation),whousethepassivevoiceto
avoidresponsibilityforactionstaken.Thus"Cigaretteadsweredesignedto
appealespeciallytochildren"placestheburdenontheadsasopposedto
"Wedesignedthecigaretteadstoappealespeciallytochildren,"inwhich"we"
acceptsresponsibility.AtaWhiteHousepressbriefingwemighthearthat"The
PresidentwasadvisedthatcertainmembersofCongresswerebeingaudited"
ratherthan"TheHeadoftheInternalRevenueserviceadvisedthePresidentthat
heragencywasauditingcertainmembersofCongress"becausethepassive
constructionavoidsresponsibilityforadvisingandforauditing.Onefurther
cautionaboutthepassivevoice:weshouldnotmixactiveandpassive
constructionsinthesamesentence:"Theexecutivecommitteeapprovedthenew
policy,andthecalendarfornextyear'smeetingswasrevised"shouldberecastas
"Theexecutivecommitteeapprovedthenewpolicyandrevisedthecalendarfor
nextyear'smeeting."

Takethequiz(below)asanexerciseinrecognizingandchanging
passiveverbs.

Thepassivevoicedoesexistforareason,however,anditspresenceisnot
alwaystobedespised.Thepassiveisparticularlyuseful(evenrecommended)in
twosituations:

Whenitismoreimportanttodrawourattentiontothepersonor
thingactedupon:Theunidentifiedvictimwasapparently
struckduringtheearlymorninghours.

Whentheactorinthesituationisnotimportant:Theauroraborealiscanbe
observedintheearlymorninghours.

Thepassivevoiceisespeciallyhelpful(andevenregardedasmandatory)in
scientificortechnicalwritingorlabreports,wheretheactorisnotreally
importantbuttheprocessorprinciplebeingdescribedisofultimateimportance.
Insteadofwriting"Ipoured20ccofacidintothebeaker,"wewouldwrite
"Twentyccofacidis/waspouredintothebeaker."Thepassivevoiceisalso
usefulwhendescribing,say,amechanicalprocessinwhichthedetailsofprocess
aremuchmoreimportantthananyone'stakingresponsibilityfortheaction:"The
firstcoatofprimerpaintisappliedimmediatelyaftertheacidrinse."

Weusethepassivevoicetogoodeffectinaparagraphinwhichwewishto
shiftemphasisfromwhatwastheobjectinafirstsentencetowhatbecomes
thesubjectinsubsequentsentences.

The executive committee approved an entirely new policy for dealing with academic
suspension and withdrawal. The policy had been written by a subcommittee on student
behavior. If students withdraw from course work before suspension can take effect, the
policy states, a mark of "IW" . . . .

Theparagraphisclearlyaboutthisnewpolicysoitisappropriate
thatpolicymovefrombeingtheobjectinthefirstsentencetobeingthesubjectof
thesecondsentence.Thepassivevoiceallowsforthistransition.

Passive Verb Formation

Thepassiveformsofaverbarecreatedbycombiningaformofthe"tobe
verb"withthepastparticipleofthemainverb.Otherhelpingverbsarealso
sometimespresent:"Themeasurecouldhave
beenkilledincommittee."The
passivecanbeused,also,invarioustenses.Let'stakealookatthepassiveforms
of"design."

Auxiliary Past
Tense Subject
Singular Plural Participle

Present The car/cars is are designed.

Present perfect The car/cars has been have been designed.
Past The car/cars was were designed.
Past perfect The car/cars had been had been designed.
Future The car/cars will be will be designed.
Future perfect The car/cars will have been will have been designed.
Present progressive The car/cars is being are being designed.
Past progressive The car/cars was being were being designed.
 Asentencecastinthepassivevoicewillnotalwaysincludeanagentofthe
action.Forinstanceifagorillacrushesatincan,wecouldsay"Thetincanwas
crushedbythegorilla."Butaperfectlygoodsentencewouldleaveoutthe
gorilla:"Thetincanwascrushed."Also,whenanactivesentencewithanindirect
objectisrecastinthepassive,theindirectobjectcantakeontheroleofsubjectin
thepassivesentence:

Active Professor Villa gave Jorge an A.

Passive An A was given to Jorge by Professor Villa.
Passive Jorge was given an A.

Onlytransitiveverbs(thosethattakeobjects)canbetransformedinto
passiveconstructions.Furthermore,activesentencescontainingcertainverbs
cannotbetransformedintopassivestructures.Tohaveisthemostimportantof
theseverbs.Wecansay"Hehasanewcar,"butwecannotsay"Anewcarishad
byhim."Wecansay"Josefinalackedfinesse,"butwecannotsay"Finessewas
lacked."Hereisabrieflistofsuchverbs*:

resemble look like equal agree with

mean contain hold comprise
lack suit fit become

Verbals in Passive Structures

Verbalsorverbformscanalsotakeonfeaturesofthepassivevoice.
Aninfinitivephraseinthepassivevoice,forinstance,canperformvarious
functionswithinasentence(justliketheactiveformsoftheinfinitive).

Subject:Tobeelectedbymypeersisagreathonor.

Object:Thatchildreallylikestobereadtobyhermother.

Modifier:Grassowasthefirstwomantobeelectedgovernorinherownright.

Thesameistrueofpassivegerunds.
 Subject:Beingelectedbymypeerswasagreatthrill.

Object:Ireallydon'tlikebeinglecturedtobymyboss.

Objectofpreposition:Iamsotiredof
beinglecturedtobymyboss.

Withpassiveparticiples,partofthepassiveconstructionisoftenomitted,the
resultbeingasimplemodifyingparticipialphrase.

[Havingbeen]designedforoffroadperformance,thePathseekerdoesnot
alwaysbehavewellonpavedhighways.

be able to
Although we look at be able to here, it is not a modal verb. It is simply
the verb be plus an adjective (able) followed by the infinitive. We look
at be able to here because we sometimes use it instead ofcan and could.

We use be able to:

to talk about ability

Structure of be able to

The basic structure for be able to is:

subject + be + able + to-infinitive

main verb adjective

subject be able to-infinitive

+ I am able to drive.

- She is not able to drive.

 main verb adjective
subject be able to-infinitive

isn't

? Are you able to drive?

Notice that be able to is possible in all tenses, for example:

I was able to drive...

I will be able to drive...

I have been able to drive...

Notice too that be able to has an infinitive form:

I would like to be able to speak Chinese.

Use of be able to

Be able to is NOT a modal auxiliary verb. We include it here for

convenience, because it is often used like "can" and "could",
which are modal auxiliary verbs.

be able to for ability

We use be able to to express ability. "Able" is an adjective meaning:
having the power, skill or means to do something. If we say "I am able
to swim", it is like saying "I can swim". We sometimes use be able
to instead of "can" or "could" for ability. Be able to is possible in all tenses
- but "can" is possible only in the present and "could" is possible only in the
past for ability. In addition, "can" and "could" have no infinitive form. So we
use be able to when we want to use other tenses or the infinitive. Look at
these examples:

I have been able to swim since I was five. (present perfect)

You will be able to speak perfect English very soon. (future simple)
 I would like to be able to fly an airplane. (infinitive)
Be able to + infinitive significa poder. Como sabris, el verbo poder es can en
ingls. Este can es lo que llamamos en gramtica un verbo modal. Otros
verbos modales son: must, should, may y might. Bien, qu quiere decir
verbo modal? Un verbo modal tiene varias implicaciones:
1) Va seguido de un infinitivo sin to, por ejemplo: I can swim, NO I can to swim.
2) Es la misma forma para todas las personas, por ejemplo: You can swim,
pero tambin he can swim, es decir, la tercera persona no lleva -s, como
sucede en la tercera persona de cualquier verbo que no sea modal en el
presente simple (he drinkscoffee every day).
3) No requiere auxiliares, como cualquier verbo, ni para la negativa ni para las
preguntas. La negativa se hace pegando nt al verbo, cant: I cant go out
tonight. Y la interrogativa se hace poniendo can al principio, seguido de sujeto
e infinitivo: Can I go to the toilet, please?
Estas tres reglas se aplican a todos los verbos modales.
Ahora bien, te preguntars, por que nos explica el verbo can, si el ttulo de este
post es Be able to, muy fcil, porque como os deca al principio, be able to
significa poder, igual que can, pero cundo usamos can y cundo be able

to? Vamos a ello!

El verbo can slo se usa para presente, no podemos ponerlo en ningn otro
tiempo verbal, es decir, si yo quiero utilizarlo en futuro, podr, por ejemplo, no
puedo, o si quiero decir he podido, tampoco puedo. Slo es posible en
presente, que es la forma can.
Para el pasado, s que tenemos una forma, could. Por ejemplo: I could swim
very well when I was 6 years old = saba nadar muy bien cuando tena 6 aos =
referido a un tiempo pasado.
Por tanto, recuerda:
can = presente
could = pasado
Cmo expreso entonces futuro, presente perfecto, y cualquier otro
tiempo verbal? Es aqu donde entra be able to.
Be able to + infinitive se utiliza para expresar poder en cualquier otro tiempo
verbal que no sea ni presente ni pasado. Veamos una lista de posibilidades en
los distintos tiempos verbales:
Future = will be able to + infinitive = I will be able to go to the party = podr ir
a la fiesta.
Present perfect = have/ has been able to + infinitive = You have always been
able to sing very well = siempre has podido cantar muy bien.
Past perfect = had been able to + infinitive = if I had been able to phone you,
I would have done it = si hubiera podido llamarte, lo habra hecho (esto es una
tercera condicional)
 2nd Conditional = If I had more money, I would be able to spend my holidays
on the beach = si yo tuviera ms dinero, podra pasar mis vacaciones en la
playa.
Date cuenta que aqu en la segunda conditional, podemos utilizar el would be
able to y tambin el could, ya que could tiene un sentido de condicional en uno
de sus significados, ste es, cuando no se refiere a una accin pasada, si no a
una situacin imaginaria, como es la segunda condicional.
Verbo en ing = veamos aqu unos ejemplos para que lo entendis bien.
1) I like being able to get up late at the weekend = me gusta poder levantarme
tarde el fin de semana. En este ejemplo ponemos being con ing porque el
verbo like siempre va seguido de verbo en ing, y como quiero expresar, poder,
detrs de like, tengo que poner en be able to con ing.
2) Being able to get up late at the weekend is good = poder levantarse tarde el
fin de semana est bien = en este caso, ponemos be con ing porque se trata
un verbo con funcin de sujeto. Recuerda que cuando tenemos un verbo a
principio de oracin que hace funcin de sujeto, hay que poner ese verbo en
ing.
Si necesitas ms informacin sobre el verbo con funcin de sujeto (verbo en
ing), aqu lo puedes ver: sujeto con verbo en ing.
Con verbo modal: I should be able to talk to her this evening = debera
poder hablar con ella esta tarde. Con verbo modal, tambin utilizamos la
estructura be able to.
Por ltimo, decirte que be able to tambin se puede poner en presente y en
pasado: Im able to dance well y I was able to do it.
En el presente, hay una diferencia entre utilizar could o was/ were be able to +
infinitive. Cuando estamos hablando de una situacin especfica en el pasado,
tengo que utilizar was/were able to + infinitive, por ejemplo: it was difficult for
me the last exercise of my exam, but eventually, I was able to do it = me fue
difcil, pero al final lo pude hacer. En este caso tambin podramos utilizar
manage to + infinitive = I managed to do it = pude hacerlo, me las apa, me
las arregl para hacerlo.
Bien, pues esto es todo. Espero que lo hayas entendido.
Si te ha gustado mi explicacin, no olvides hacer click en algunos de los iconos
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verlo tambin. If you have knowledge, let others light their candles with it
(Winston Churchill)