2. Contents of the presentation
• Explaining Active & Passive voice
• How to convert sentences between active and passive voice
• When to use which and why
3. Sentence Structure (SVO)
The police arrested the robbers.
(subject) (verb) (object)
*A verb is an action. The performer of that action is called the subject,
and the one on whom that action is performed is called the object.
4. Active Voice
Millions of viewers watched the World Cup.
(Subject) (verb) (object)
Passive Voice
The World Cup was watched by millions of viewers.
(object) (verb) (subject)
5. Changing Active to Passive Voice
• Positions of the subject and the object are switched.
• Auxiliary verbs and prepositions are added where necessary.
• The verb is converted to its 3rd form.
6. Active Voice
The storm caused the delay of the flight
(subject) (verb) (object)
Passive Voice
The delay of the flight was caused by the storm
(object) (h.verb) (m.verb) (preposition) (subject)
7. 7
Here’s another example:
Someone or
something
(the agent)
The rain
does
something
(verb)
soaked
to someone or
something
else
(recipient)
the pitch.
8. 8
Let’s see that again.
Someone or
something
(recipient)
has
something
done to it
(verb)
by someone
or something
(the agent)
by the rain.
was soaked
The pitch
9. Some sentences cannot be converted
to the passive voice.
Sentences containing intransitive verbs cannot be converted to
the passive voice.
For example: ‘The lion roared’, ‘the glass cracked’
(since these sentences do not contain an object, they cannot
be converted to the passive voice)
10. 10
Sometimes in passive sentences, the agent is left
out.
Someone or
something
(recipient)
has
something
done to it
(verb)
by someone
or something
(the agent)
by the rain
was soaked
The pitch
The agent - ‘the
rain’ - is left
out.
Why do you
think that the
agent might be
left out in this
example?
11. 11
Compare these sentences. One has the
agent, and the other hasn’t. Discuss the
differences.
The man was murdered
by someone!
The man was
murdered!
We do not know who
did the murder so
the agent is not
needed. It’s more
dramatic without it.
I see your car was
damaged last night by
my friend
I see your car was
damaged last night.
Far better to leave
out the agent if you
don’t want to be
involved!
Create your own passive
sentences which would be
best without an agent.
12. When to use what & why ?
The active voice is used when:
• The sentences need to be kept short and
simple.
• The focus is on the subject.
13. The passive voice is used when :
• The subject is unknown or irrelevant.
• The subject is obvious.
• The focus is on the verb or object rather than the subject.
14. The passive voice should be generally avoided :
• When writing news articles and stories.
• When the subject of the sentence is more important than the
object.
• When there needs to be a direct relationship between the subject
and the verb.
