Passive Voice CLB 3-4 Lunch & Learn English Online Inc.

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Passive Voice 1
CLBlevel3-4
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3. AGENDA
1. Welcome!
2. Active and Passive Voice
3. Passive Verb Tenses – Simple Present and Simple Past
4. Examples
5. Practice
6. Homework
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4. Active and Passive Voices
What is the difference…?
All sentences in English are either active or passive.
In an active sentence, a person or thing does the
action, and this comes first.
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5. Active Voice
An active sentence is formed like this:
Subject + Verb + Object
Jon washes dishes.
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6. Passive Voice
An passive sentence is formed like this:
Object + Verb + Subject
(The object is the focus, and the verb is changed into a
passive verb).
The dishes are washed by Jon.
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7. Active and Passive Voices
This person or thing doing the action is called the actor
of the sentence.
EXAMPLE:
We offer online English classes.
“We” is the actor.
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8. Active and Passive Voices
In a passive sentence, the person or object that
receives the action is placed at the beginning of the
sentence, and the actor is placed at the end, often
introduced with “by”.
Example:
English classes are offered by us.
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9. Active voice: I ate the whole cake, and I’m not sorry.
Here is the same sentence in the Passive voice in different verb tenses:
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simple present
The whole
cake
is
eaten (by me) and I’m not sorry.
simple past was

10. Passive and Active Voice
What is the focus in each of the sentences?
1. a. Your money was lost (by me). Passive
b. I lost your money. Active
2. a. His house was burnt down (by us). Passive
b.We burnt down his house. Active
3. a. All the cookies were eaten (by them). Passive
b. They ate all the cookies. Active
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11. Passive and Active Voice
What is the focus in each of the sentences?
The passive voice focuses on what the action is.
The active voice focus on who did the action, the actor.
1. a. Your money was lost (by me). Passive
b. I lost your money. Active
2. a. His house was burnt down (by us). Passive
b. We burnt down his house. Active
3. a. All the cookies were eaten (by them). Passive
b. They ate all the cookies. Active
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12. The Passive Voice
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Look at these examples:
Maya likes ice cream. (ACTIVE)
She likes ice cream.
Ice cream is liked by Maya. (PASSIVE)
Ice cream is liked by her.

13. The Passive Voice
From active to passive…
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1. Move the receiver of the action to the beginning of the sentence.
2. Move the actor to the end.
3. When it is important to know who does the action, we use ”by” before
the actor.

14. The Passive Voice
From active to passive…
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4. Don’t forget to change pronouns:
use “me” instead of “I”
him/her instead of he/she
us instead of we
them instead of they
Pronoun actors in active sentences: I/she/he/they/we
Pronoun actors in passive sentences: me/her/him/them/us

15. The Passive Voice
But, what happens to the verb?
Let’s have a look…
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16. The Passive Voice
How do we make a passive sentence…?
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In a simple present passive sentence, we use the “be” verb and a past
participle.
Notice the verb in these examples:
We offer online English classes. (ACTIVE)
Online English classes are offered by us. (PASSIVE)

17. The Passive – Simple Present
Simple Present: we form the passive with:
the “be” verb + past participle
The “be” verbs are: am / is / are
The past participle is formed: the base verb + ed (regular verbs)
the simple past form (irregular verbs)
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18. The Passive – Simple Past
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In a simple past passive sentence, we use the simple past form of the “be” verb
and a past participle.
Notice the verb in these examples:
We offered online English classes. (ACTIVE)
Online English classes were offered by us. (PASSIVE)

19. Passive: Simple Past
Simple Past: we form the passive with:
the “be” verb + past participle
In the simple past, the “be” verbs are: was /were
The past participle is formed: the base verb + ed (regular verbs)
the simple past form (irregular verbs)
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20. Passive: Simple Present
Like this:
the “be” verb + past participle
Examples:
Ben walks the dog. ACTIVE
The dog is walked by Ben. PASSIVE
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21. Passive: Simple Past
Like this:
the “be” verb + past participle
Examples:
Ben walked the dog. ACTIVE
The dog was walked by Ben. PASSIVE
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22. Passive: Simple Present
Like this:
the “be” verb + past participle
Example:
They make cookies here. ACTIVE
The cookies are made here (by them). PASSIVE
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23. Passive: Simple Past
Like this:
the “be” verb + past participle
Example:
They made cookies here. ACTIVE
The cookies were made here (by them). PASSIVE
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24. Passive: Simple Present
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Like this:
the “be” verb + past participle
Example:
Many people watch this movie. ACTIVE
This movie is watched by many people. PASSIVE

25. Passive: Simple Past
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Like this:
the “be” verb + past participle
Example:
Many people watched this movie. ACTIVE
This movie was watched by many people. PASSIVE

26. Simple Present
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Talking about the present:
I make coffee.
You write letters.
She owns a dog.
They drive that truck.
We like Winnipeg.

27. Passive: Simple Present
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Talk about the present:
ACTIVE: PASSIVE:
I make coffee. Coffee is made by me.
You write letters. Letters are written by you.
She owns a dog. A dog is owned by her.
They drive that truck. That truck is driven by them.
We like Winnipeg. Winnipeg is liked by us.

28. Simple Past:
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Talk about the past.
I made coffee.
You wrote letters.
She had a dog.
They drove that truck.
We liked Winnipeg.

29. Passive: Simple Past
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Talk about the past.
ACTIVE: PASSIVE:
I made coffee. Coffee was made (by me).
You wrote letters. Letters were written (by you).
She owned a dog. A dog was owned by her.
They drove that truck. That truck was driven by them.
We liked Winnipeg. Winnipeg was liked by us.

30. Image shared under CC0
simple present
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31. Simple Present - Practice
1. The shark eats the dolphin.
Her friend celebrates a job promotion.
Active: simple present verb
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32. Simple Present: Passive
1. The shark eats the dolphin.
The dolphin is eaten by the shark.
Her friend celebrates a job promotion.
A job promotion is celebrated by her friend.
Active: simple present verb
Passive: verb “to be” + past participle verb
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33. Let’s practice!
Change these active sentences into passive sentences.
Active: subject + (simple present) verb + object
Passive: object + verb “to be” + (past participle) verb
+ subject
1. She misses the bus each morning.
2. Everyday, I eat a blueberry bagel.
3. We wash the potatoes for supper.
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34. Let’s practice!
Change these active sentences into passive sentences.
Active: subject + (simple present) verb + object
Passive: object + verb “to be” + (past participle) verb
+ subject
1. She misses the bus each morning.
The bus is missed every morning by her.
2. Everyday, I eat a blueberry bagel.
A blueberry bagel is eaten everyday by me.
3. We wash the potatoes for supper.
The potatoes are washed for supper. (by us)
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35. Image shared under CC0
simplepast
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36. Simple Past
2. The shark ate the dolphin.
Her friend celebrated a job promotion.
Active: simple past verb
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37. Simple Past
2. a. The shark ate the dolphin.
b. The dolphin was eaten by the shark.
c. Her friend celebrated a job promotion.
d. A job promotion was celebrated by her friend.
Active: simple past verb
Passive: verb “to be” + past participle verb
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38. Let’s practice!
Change these active sentences into passive sentences.
Active: subject + (simple past) verb + object
Passive: object + verb “to be” + (past participle) verb + subject
1. The police brought the child home.
2. Tia made chocolate chip cookies.
3. She kept us for an hour after class.
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https://pixabay.com/photos/books-pages-story-stories-notes-1245690/ shared under CC0

39. Let’s practice!
Change these active sentences into passive sentences.
Active: subject + (simple past) verb + object
Passive: object + verb “to be” + (past participle) verb + subject
1. The police brought the child home.
The child was brought home by the police.
2. Tia made chocolate chip cookies.
Chocolate chip cookies were made by Trhas.
3. She kept us for an hour after class.
We were kept for an hour after class by her.
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40. Passive: More Practice
In each of the sentences below:
• Use a simple present or simple past verb
• Change the sentence to its passive form.
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Example:
He _________(drive) a small car.
He drives a small car. SIMPLE PRESENT
A small car is driven by him. PASSIVE

41. Passive Practice
In each of the sentences below:
• Use a simple present or simple past verb
• Change the sentence to its passive form.
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1. Alexander Graham Bell _____________ (invent) the telephone.

42. Passive Practice
In each of the sentences below:
• Use a simple present or simple past verb
• Change the sentence to its passive form.
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1. Alexander Graham Bell _____________ (invent) the telephone.
Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone. SIMPLE PAST
The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell.
PASSIVE

43. Passive Practice
In each of the sentences below:
• Use a simple present or simple past verb
• Change the sentence to its passive form.
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2. The teachers _______________ (help) the students.

44. Passive Practice
In each of the sentences below:
• Use a simple present or simple past verb
• Change the sentence to its passive form.
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2. The teachers ____________ (help) the students.
The teachers help the students. SIMPLE PRESENT
The students are helped by the teachers. PASSIVE

45. Passive Practice
In each of the sentences below:
• Use a simple present or simple past verb
• Change the sentence to its passive form.
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3. She _________ (cook) steak and potatoes.

46. Passive Practice
In each of the sentences below:
• Use a simple present or simple past verb
• Change the sentence to its passive form.
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3. She _________ (cook) steak and potatoes.
She cooks steak and potatoes. SIMPLE PRESENT
Steak and potatoes are cooked by her. PASSIVE

47. Passive Practice
In each of the sentences below:
• Use a simple present or simple past verb
• Change the sentence to its passive form.
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4. They ____________ (read) books.

48. Passive Practice
In each of the sentences below:
• Use a simple present or simple past verb
• Change the sentence to its passive form.
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4. They ____________ (read) books.
They read books. SIMPLE PRESENT
Books are read by them. PASSIVE

49. Passive Practice
In each of the sentences below:
• Use a simple present or simple past verb
• Change the sentence to its passive form.
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5. He ____________ (like) coffee.

50. Passive Practice
In each of the sentences below:
• Use a simple present or simple past verb
• Change the sentence to its passive form.
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5. He ____________ (like) coffee.
He likes coffee. SIMPLE PRESENT
Coffee is liked by him. PASSIVE

51. Passive Practice
In each of the sentences below:
• Use a simple present or simple past verb
• Change the sentence to its passive form.
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6. Jake ____________ (wash) the dishes.

52. Passive Practice
In each of the sentences below:
• Use a simple present or simple past verb
• Change the sentence to its passive form.
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6. Jake ___________ (wash) the dishes.

53. Passive Practice
In each of the sentences below:
• Use a simple present or simple past verb
• Change the sentence to its passive form.
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6. Jake ___________ (wash) the dishes.
Jake washed the dishes. SIMPLE PAST
The dishes were washed by Jake. PASSIVE

54. Passive Practice
In each of the sentences below:
• Use a simple present or simple past verb
• Change the sentence to its passive form.
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7. I ___________ (shovel) the snow yesterday.

55. Passive Practice
In each of the sentences below:
• Use a simple present or simple past verb
• Change the sentence to its passive form.
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7. I ___________ (shovel) the snow yesterday.
I shoveled the snow yesterday. SIMPLE PAST
The snow was shoveled yesterday by me. PASSIVE

56. Use of the Passive
We use the passive voice when the object is more
important than the subject. This shifts the focus from
who is doing something, to what is being done.
Passive voice is not very common but is more
common in written English than spoken English.
There are some times when the passive voice is more
effective. Here are three:
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57. We use the passive voice…
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1. to not say who did an action.
Maybe we don’t know who did it, or it is obvious, or we don’t want to say.
“The post office has been robbed!”
“Who did it?”
“I don’t know!”
2. to emphasize who did an action.
When the actor is a new and important piece of information.
This painting is very valuable. It was painted by Van Gogh.
3. when writing in an academic style. Although using the passive voice is less
popular now than it was ten years ago.
Passive: The experiment was performed.
Active: We performed the experiment.

58. The Passive Voice – When to Use It:
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1. When we want to change the focus of the sentence:
Example: This book was written by Steve.
(We are more interested in the book than the writer.)

59. The Passive Voice – When to Use It:
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2. When the actor is unknown or unimportant or obvious or “people in
general”:
Example: The kitchen was cleaned.
(The people who did the cleaning are unknown or unimportant.)
*In this case, we can leave out the actor and “by”.

60. The Passive Voice – When to Use It:
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3. In factual (like news reports) or scientific/academic writing:
Example: In this study, a new model is used.
*In this case, also, we can leave out the actor, and “by”.

61. Homework:
Change each sentence from active to passive voice.
1. I ate the cookies and I am not sorry.
2. Misha writes emails every morning.
3. We decorated a Christmas tree.
4. Nate shoveled the sidewalk yesterday.
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62. HOMEWORK – The Details:
1. Submit your homework to Lori on Skype. live: loramoren.
2. After class, you have until the 11:59 pm the same day to complete the assignment.
3. I will correct your homework and provide feedback!

63. Sources:
Beare, Kenneth. "Passive Voice Usage and Examples for ESL/EFL."
ThoughtCo, Apr. 5, 2023
https://www.thoughtco.com/passive-voice-in-english-grammar-
1211144
https://ellii.com/video/the-passive-voice
https://ell.brainpop.com/level3/unit1/lesson1/summary/#:~:text=In
%20the%20present%20simple%2C%20the,the%20form%20of%20be
%20changes.
Powerpoint (N. Wall): Passive Voice
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65. Thankyou!
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Skype: live:loramoren
livelearn.ca

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livelearn.ca
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Email:
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