The passive voice is a syntactic transformation that shifts the focus from the subject performing an action to the subject experiencing the action. In this construction, the object of the active voice can become the subject, and it often emphasizes different elements in a sentence. The document explains how to form passive constructions in English and highlights their usage in various contexts.

2. The passive voice is not a verbal tense, it is a
syntactic process and transformation that
affects the whole sentence. Here, the subject
of the sentence is not the performer of the
action but experiences or suffers it.
Eg. I stole a bag vs. I was a stolen a bag
DEFINITION. WHAT IS THE PASSIVE
VOICE?

3. • The direct/indirect object becomes the subject:
WAS STOLEN/ WAS STOLEN A BAG
• The verb becomes passive (the same tense of to be followed by
the past participle of the main verb)
• The mayor awards a present= A present is awarded
• The mayor awarded a present= A present was awarded
• The subject, if it is important, becomes the Agent, (BY AGENT)
• The president gave my mother a medal
• My mother was given a medal by the president

4. • In English, both direct and indirect object can become the SUBJECT in the
passive:
• MARY GAVE TOM A PRESENT
• In the following, the direct object becomes subject. The Indirect object
appears after the verb with the preposition TO. The agent is introduced
with BY
• A PRESENT WAS GIVEN TO TOM BY MARY
• In the following example, the indirect object is the subject. The verb must
concord with the new passive subject.
• TOM WAS GIVEN A PRESENT BY MARY
• Native speakers prefer the indirect object as subject, as it usually refers
to PEOPLE.

5. • It is a way of changing word order in English and giving more
importance to some elements in the sentence. Important
elements usually appear a the beginning of the sentence:
• Eg. My grandmother was awarded a prize
• It is used when we don't know who the subject is or
the subject is very general and it is not important:
• Eg. JFK was killed ( by someone)
• Spanish impersonal and "SE" passives are translated as
passive voice in English
• English is spoken here (Se habla inglés)