2. What is the Passive
Verbs are also said to be either active or
passive in voice.
In the active voice, the subject and verb
relationship is straightforward: the subject is a
be-er or a do-er and the verb moves the
sentence along.
In the passive voice, the subject of the
sentence is neither a do-er or a be-er, but is
acted upon by some other agent or by
something unnamed.
3. Use of Passive
Passive voice is used when the focus is on the
action. It is not important or not known,
however, who or what is performing the action.
We use the passive when:
we want to make the active object more
important
we do not know the active subject
4. Examples
My bike was
stolen.
In the example above, the focus is on the fact
that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however,
who did it.
5. Examples
Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite
than active voice, as the following example
shows:
A mistake was
made.
In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake
was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You
6.
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11. Form of Passive
Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle
subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past
participle)
The main verb is always in its past participle
form.
12. Changing into passive
When rewriting active sentences in passive
voice, note the following:
1. the object of the active sentence becomes the
subject of the passive sentence
2. the finite form of the verb is changed (to be +
past participle)
3. the subject of the active sentence becomes the
object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)
22. Examples of the Passive
The Present Continuous, Passive Voice
S + (be) + being + past participle
This tense is confusing because the verb "be" appears twice. This
example uses the verb "tell" as the main verb: tell / told / told
Singular Plural
I am being told We are being told
You are being told You are being told
He is being told
She is being told They are being told
It is being told
23. Examples of the Passive
The Passive Present Progressive:
The book is being read by the boy.
Pancakes are being made in the kitchen.
Flowers are being grown in this garden.
24. Examples of the Passive
The Past Continuous, Passive Voice
S + (be: was or were) + being + past participle
This tense is confusing because the verb "be" appears twice. This example uses the
verb "teach" as the main verb: teach / taught / taught
Singular Plural
I was being taught We were being taught
You were being taught You were being taught
He was being taught
She was being taught They were being taught
It was being taught
* This is similar to the causative form which we will look at in Lesson 15, Green
Level.
25. Examples of the Passive
The Passive Past Progressive:
The book was being read by the boy.
Pancakes were being made in the kitchen.
Flowers were being grown in this garden.
