The document provides an overview of the passive voice in English grammar. It defines the passive voice as using the auxiliary verb "be" and the past participle of the main verb, with the object of the active sentence becoming the subject of the passive sentence. Examples are given of active and passive voice equivalents. The document notes some common uses of the passive voice, such as when the subject performing the action is unknown or unimportant, or to emphasize new information at the end of a sentence.

1. The passiveWelcome to a presentation on

2. The passiveIn an ACTIVE sentence, the subject is the person or thing that performs the action:Masked thieves stole a valuable painting from the museum last night.When you take this into PASSIVE sentence, the object of the verb becomes the subject:A valuable painting was stolen from the museum last night.

3. The passive contd…The passive is formed with the auxiliary verb be and the past participle of the verb:The painting is valued at 2 million dollars.The lock had been broken and the cameras had been switched off.

4. Use the passiveWhen you do not know who performed the action, or when this information is not important. It is common in formal writing, for example scientific writing:The liquid is heated to 60o and then filtered.Note:If you want to mention who performed the action, you use by at the end of the sentence:The theft is being investigated by the police.

5. Use of passive contd…When you want to serve new or important information until the end of the sentence for emphasis:The picture was painted by Constable.It is possible to put a verb that has two objects into the passive:(active) The director told the staff the news this morning.(passive) The staff were told the news this morning by the director.Some verbs cannot be used in the passive, and this is shown at the entries.

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