How to use passive

1. ENGLISH GRAMMAR
PASSIVE VOICE

2. INTRODUCTION:
• A passive construction occurs when the object of an action
turns into the subject of a sentence. That is, whoever or
whatever is performing the action is not the grammatical
subject of the sentence.
Why was the road crossed by the chicken?
• The chicken is the one doing the action, but it is not in the
spot where we would expect the grammatical subject to
be. Instead the road is the grammatical subject.
• The more familiar phrasing (why did the chicken cross the
road?) puts the actor in the subject position.

3. HOW TO USE THE PASSIVE:
• The passive voice is used to show the interest in the
person or in the object that experiences an action rather
than the person or object that performs the action.
The house was build in 1976.
The road is being repaired.
In these sentences, we are interested in the passive, not
who uses it.
• In other words, the most important thing or person
becomes the subject of the sentence.

4. HOW TO FORM THE PASSIVE:
• The passive voice in English is composed of two elements;
• To be + the past particle of the verb in question
• For examples:
 The house is being cleaned at the moment.
 The house was being cleaned last week.
 The house would have been cleaned if it had been dirty.
• Other examples with infinitives and gerunds are;
 She wants to be invited to the party.
 I remember being taught to drive.

5. ACTIVE TENSES AND PASSIVES
EQUIVALENTS
• 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.
• For example:
Active Tense: “I keep the butter in the fridge”
Passive Tense: “The butter is kept in the fridge”
Active Tense: “They are repairing the road”
Passive Tense: “The road is being repaired”

6. THANK YOU!