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
In other words...
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
