Active and Passive Voice

Today's topic is Active Voice versus Passive Voice.

In a sentence written in the Active Voice, the subject of  the sentence performs the action. In the Active voice, the object receives the action of the verb:

Monkeys eat bananas.

        Subject        +  verb  +     Object 

    doing action                    receiving action

"Monkeys" is the subject and it is doing the action.

"Bananas" is the object of the sentence

In a sentence written in the Passive Voice the subject receives the action.  In the Passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb:

Bananas are eaten by monkeys.

        Subject      +     Passive verb    +            Object 

  receiving action                                         doing action

"The object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb"

	Subject	Verb	Object
Active	The hunter	killed	The bear.
Passive	The bear	was killed	by the hunter.

Construction of the Passive Voice

The structure of the passive voice is very simple:

Subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle)

A letter was written by John.

Water is drunk by everyone.

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).

Use of the Passive Voice

We use the passive when:

• We want to make the active object more important.
• We do not know the active subject.

President Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald.

My wallet has been stolen.

Conjugation for the Passive Voice

Active/Passive overview

Tense	Active	Passive
Present simple	John does it	It is done by John
Past simple	John did it	It was done by John
Future simple	John will do it	It will be done by John
Present continuous	John is doing it	It is being done by John
Past continuous	John was doing it	It was being done by John
Future continuous	John will be doing it	It will be being done by John
Present perfect	John has done it	It has been done by John
Past perfect	John had done it	It had been done by John
Future perfect	John will have done it	It will have been done by John
Present perfect continuous	John will have doing it
Past perfect continuous	John had been doing it
Future perfect continuous	John will have been doing it
Conditional	John would have done it	It would be done by John

In other words...

For more examples, and a better understanding, check out this video:

If you need extra or related information no doubt in clicking the following links
http://www.towson.edu/ows/activepass.html
http://www.perfect-english-grammar.com/passive.html

Some online tests for you to practice:
Online Test #1
Online Test #2

Here are some tests for you
Onedrive Test

Types of Essay

Essay writing is one of the most important aspects about writing composition in ESL learning.

An essay is a short piece of writing that discusses, describes or analizes one topic. It can describe personal opinions, or just report information. An essay can be written from any perspective.

There are different types of essays. The purpose of the writer determines what type is to be made. It all depends upon the objective of the writer. The most common used types are narrative, descriptive, persuasive and expository.

1. Narrative Essays: Telling a Story
In a narrative essay, the writer tells a story about a real-life experience in a sequence of events. The narrative essay challenges students to think and write about themselves. When writing a narrative essay, writers should try to involve the reader by making the story as vivid as possible. There should be some point, lesson, or idea learned from this narrative to make the essay meaningful.

2. Descriptive Essays: Painting a Picture
A descriptive essay paints a picture with words. It explains the what, how, why, when and where of a topic. A writer might describe a person, place, object, or even memory of special significance. However, in a descriptive essay, the writer should show, not tell, through the use of colorful words and sensory details.

4. Persuasive Essays: Convince Me
The goal of the persuasive essay is to convince the reader to accept the writer’s point of view or recommendation. The writer must build a case using facts and logic, as well as examples, expert opinion, and sound reasoning. The writer should present all sides of the argument, but must be able to communicate clearly and without equivocation why a certain position is correct.

3. Expository Essays: Just the Facts
The expository essay is an informative piece of writing that presents a balanced analysis of a topic. In an expository essay, the writer explains or defines a topic, using facts, statistics, and examples. Expository writing uses some figures, such as comparison and contrast, causes and effects, and the “how to” or process. Writers don’t reveal their emotions or write in the first person.



For more examples, and a better understanding, check out this video

Need more information? No doubt in clicking the following links
Types of Essay Word File
Types of Essay PDF File

Writing different types of essays

Hope this information to be helpful to you!

Parts of Speech

“Parts of speech” are the basic types of words that English has. Traditional grammar classifies words based on eight parts of speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, conjunctions, prepositions and interjections. Here, we will add one more type: articles.

Noun

A noun is a naming word. It names a person, place, thing, idea, living creature, quality, or action.

Examples: cowboy, theatre, book, tree, kindness, arrival

Books are made of ink, paper, and glue.

Verb

A verb is a word which describes an action (doing something) or a state (being something).
Examples: walk, talk, read, believe, live, like, want

Peter reads books everyday.

Adjective

An adjective is a word that describes a noun. It tells you something about the noun.
Examples: big, yellow, thin, amazing, beautiful, quick, important

I like to read big books.

Adverb

An adverb is a word which usually describes a verb. It tells you how something is done. It may also tell you when or where something happened.
Examples: slowly, intelligently, well, yesterday, tomorrow, here, everywhere

My sister eats quickly.

Pronoun

A pronoun is used instead of a noun, to avoid repeating the noun.
Examples: I, you, he, she, it, we, they

Marie is my sister. She is very tall.

Conjunction

A conjunction joins two words, phrases or sentences together.
Examples: but, so, and, because, or

She likes to eat a lot, so she is a little overweight.

Preposition

A preposition usually comes before a noun, pronoun or noun phrase. It joins the noun to some other part of the sentence.
Examples: on, in, by, with, under, through, at

Peter likes tu run in marathons.

Interjection

An interjection is an unusual kind of word, because it often stands alone. Interjections are words which express emotion or surprise, and they are usually followed by exclamation marks.
Examples: Ouch!, Hello!, Hurray!, Oh no!, Ha!

Oh no! Peter did not win.

Article

An article is used to introduce a noun.
Examples: the, a, an

The ol man is very slow.

As we can see, it is not that difficult. We only need to practice.

Following, there is a video for a better understanding about the topic

If you need extra or related information no doubt in clicking the following links

Parts of Speech Word File

Parts of Speech PDF File

Finally, here are some online tests for you to practice

Parts of Speech Online Test 1

Parts of Speech Online Test 2

Hope this information to be helpful to you

About me...

Hi! My name is Jose. I am a student of the 5th option course for the English Bachelor Degree at the National University in Santiago, Panama.

The purpose of this academic blog is to provide important and related content about the learning of English as a second language. We are going to be focusing on two very important aspects; Grammar and Composition. So, if you want to learn more about these aspects of the English Language, or if you just like it as much as I do :D, then enjoy this blog, specially made for people like you who like to learn more.