Use of the passive voice in english

1. The passive voice
Guillermo Pérez Ferrand

2. Use of the passive voice
Main uses:
• The receiver of the action is more important than the doer or performer
• The doer or performer of the action is unknown or unimportant
• The doer or performer of an action is too obvious to be worth mentioning
Other uses:
• To conceal the performer of an action or the identity of a person responsible
for a mistake
• To emphasize the doer or performer of an action

3. Form of the passive voice
General rule:
• To be + Past Participle
Examples:
• Present simple: eat/s ----------------- is/are eaten
• Past simple: sold ------------------- was/were sold
• Present perfect: has/have asked ----- has/have been asked
• Future with will: will buy --------------- will be bought
• Going to future: going to play --------- going to be played
• Modal verbs: can do --------------- can be done

4. Active to passive transformation.
Changes in the sentence
Active voice
The object receives the action of the verb
Subject + main verb + Object
Passive voice
The subject receives the action of the verb and the object of the active verb
becomes the subject of the passive verb
Object + To be + main verb + Subject
of the active
sentence
same form
than the
main verb
past
participle
of the active
sentence

5. Examples
My friend speaks japanese -------- Japanese is spoken by my friend
You didn´t wash the car -------- The car wasn´t washed by you
I have written an email -------- An email has been written by me
We will play a football match -------- A football match will be played
I must study the exam hardly -------- The exam must be studied hardly by me