ACTIVE AND PASSIVE

VOICE
LESSON N7
 ACTIVE FORM
In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the
thing receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active.

[Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action]

 PASSIVE VOICE
In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject and the thing doing the action
is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think
that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also use
the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who
is doing the action.
[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action]
 HOW TO MAKE THE PASSIVE IN
ENGLISH?

We make the passive by putting the verb 'to

be' into whatever tense we need and then
adding thePAST PARTICIPLE. For regular
verbs, we make the past participle by adding
'ed' to the infinitive. Soplaybecomesplayed
 WHEN SHOULD WE USE THE PASSIVE?

When we want to change the focus of the sentence:

The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo Da Vinci. (We are more interested in the painting than the
artist in this sentence)
When who or what causes the action is unknown or unimportant or obvious or 'people in
general':
He was arrested (obvious agent, the police). My bike has been stolen (unknown agent).
The road is being repaired (unimportant agent).
In factual or scientific writing:
The chemical is placed in a test tube and the data entered into the computer.
In formal writing instead of using someone/ people/ they (these can be used in speaking or
informal writing):
The brochure will be finished next month.
In order to put the new information at the end of the sentence to improve style:
Three books are used regularly in the class. The books were written by Dr. Bell. ('Dr. Bell wrote the
books' sound clumsy)
When the subject is very long:
I was surprised by how well the students did in the test. (More natural than: 'how well the students
did in the test surprised me')
 TENSE ACTIVE PASSIVE
PRESENT SIMPLE Imakea cake. A cakeis made(by me).
A cakeis being made(by
PRESENT CONTINUOUS Iam makinga cake.
me).
PAST SIMPLE Imadea cake. A cakewas made(by me).
A cakewas being made (by
PAST CONTINUOUS Iwas makinga cake.
me).
A cakehas been made(by
PRESENT PERFECT Ihave madea cake.
me).
A cakehas been being
PRES. PERF. CONTINUOUS Ihave been makinga cake.
made(by me).
A cakehad been made (by
PAST PERFECT Ihad madea cake.
me).

FUTURE SIMPLE Iwill makea cake. A cakewill be made(by me).

A cakewill have been

FUTURE PERFECT Iwill have made a cake.
made(by me).
 HOMEWORK!
Unit 11
STUDY VERBS