THE PASSIVE VOICE

We use the passive when we want to emphasize the action done. The passive voice
in English is composed of two elements :

1. the appropriate form of the verb 'to be'

2. the past participle of the verb in question

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, e.g.

In other words, the most important thing or person becomes the subject of the
sentence.

Sometimes we use the passive voice because we don't know or cannot express who
or what performed the action:

• I noticed that a window had been left open

• Every year people are killed on our roads.

If we want to say who or what performs the action, we use the preposition by:

• "A Hard Day's Night" was written by the Beatles

• ET was directed by Spielberg

TRANSFORMING AN ACTIVE SENTENCE INTO A PASSIVE SENTENCE

1. Identify the DIRECT OBJECT in the active sentence and put it as the
SUBJECT of the passive sentence.
2. Put the verb TO BE in the same tense as the main verb was in the active
sentence, and transform the main verb into its PAST PARTICIPLE.
3. The subject of the active sentence becomes the Agent Object and is
introduced by the preposition BY. It is only present in the passive sentence if
it is someone in particular or if it is relevant for the passive sentence.

ACTIVE: THE SOLDIERS BUILT THE BRIDGE IN 1879.

PASSIVE: THE BRIDGE WAS BUILT BY THE SOLDIERS IN 1879.

EQUIVALENT ACTIVE AND PASSIVE TENSES

Complete this chart with the verb: to give

TENSE / VERB FORM ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE

Simple present
Present continuous
Simple past
Past continuous
Present perfect
Past perfect
future
Conditional present
Conditional past
Some practice!! Transform these sentences into passive: (Notice that the tense of
the verb to be in the passive voice is the same as the tense of the main verb in the
active voice.)

Active: I keep the butter in the fridge.

Passive:

Active: They stole the painting.

Passive:

Active: They are repairing the road.

Passive:

Active: Shakespeare wrote Hamlet.

Passive:

Active: A dog bit Maria.

Passive:

! If we find an object pronoun as a direct object, when we put it as the subject of

the passive sentence, we have to change it to its subject pronoun equivalent.

Object pronouns Subject pronouns

Me _______
You _______
Him _______
Her _______
It _______
Us _______
You _______
Them _______

More practice!! Write these sentences into the passive voice:

1. Mr Jones watches the film.

2. Somebody built the house last year.

3. They speak English in the shop.

4. The waiter brought me a big steak.

5. She gave me the box.

6. Max will look after him.

7. We saw her in Dresden last week.

8. No one has ever beaten me at chess

9. They never forgot their first Christmas present.

10. Our neighbours bought us a lovely picture for our living-room.

 THE PASSIVE VOICE III: Impersonal Passives
Cuando nos referimos a algo que muchas personas creen o piensan acerca de
alguien o de algo, es frecuente utilizar este tipo de pasivas impersonales. En
español se traduciría como:

“Se dice”, “Se comenta”, “Se pensó”, etc.

Las frases que se pueden transformar a pasiva impersonal tienen la siguiente

estructura:

Sujeto + verbo (say, think, know, expect, recon, believe, estimate, know, predict,
consider, allegue, guess, report, rumour, understand ) + THAT + frase

Ejemplo: Experts expect that the Chinese economy will grow rapidly.
(Los expertos esperan que la economía china crezca rápidamente.)

Hay dos opciones para transformar ese tipo de frases a pasivas impersonales:

1º :SUJETO IMPERSONAL “IT” + VERBO TO BE (en el tiempo verbal que esté el

primer verbo) + PRIMER VERBO EN PARTICIPIO PASADO + THAT + FRASE

“It is expected that the Chinese economy will grow rapidly.”

2º: SUJETO PASIVO (el que va después de “that”) + PRIMER VERBO EN

PARTICIPIO PASADO + TO + INFINITIVO DEL SEGUNDO VERBO + RESTO
DE LA FRASE.

“Chinese economy is expected to grow rapidly.”

PRACTICE:
1. People believe that nuclear power stations are dangerous.

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2. People know that cars pollute the environment.

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3. They believe that she will win a gold medal.

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4. The students find that the passive is very difficult.

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5. People think that the crisis will not affect many sectors in society.

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THE PASSIVE VOICE II: Sentences with two objects
Con esto nos referimos a las frases que tienen dos complementos, un DIRECTO y
un INDIRECTO.

Aquí también hay dos formas de transformar una frase activa a su equivalente en
pasiva.

Ejemplo:

“They gave me a picture”

CD CI

OPCIÓN 1: Pasar el complemento directo a sujeto pasivo, transformar el verbo a

su equivalente pasivo y añadir el resto de la frase. ¡No olvidéis poner “TO” antes
del complemento indirecto!

PASIVA 1: “A picture was given TO me”.

OPCIÓN 2: Pasar el complemento indirecto a sujeto pasivo, transformar el verbo a

su equivalente pasivo y añadir el resto de la frase. ¡No olvidéis cambiar los
pronombres objeto a pronombres sujeto! (Están en el otro folio)

PASIVA 2: “I was given a picture”.

PRACTICE:

• Rewrite the sentences below in the passive. Use both possible structures:
1. Someone will lend me some money.
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2. The judge may give them a huge fine for the dangerous driving.
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3. Someone has sent him a Valentine’s card.
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4. Did they promise you a pay rise?
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5. They give us extra money at Christmas.
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6. The police officer showed us the way.
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7. They have written her a postcard.
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8. She told me a lie.
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9. Kerrie will make you a cup of tea.
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10. They did not offer her a seat.
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