Active and Passive Voice + Exercises

Active Voice, Passive Voice There are two special forms for verbs called voice:

1. 2.

Active voice Passive voice

Water 100 people I We

is are

Are

they

drunk employed

am are

no t

paid paid

by everyone. by this company. in euro. in dollars.

paid

in yen?

Use of the Passive Voice The active voice is the "normal" voice. This is the voice that we use most of the time. You are probably already familiar with the active voice. In the active voice, the object receives the action of the verb:

We use the passive when:

active

•

we want to make the active object more important

•

we do not know the active subject

subjec t

verb

Cats

eat

object > fish.

The passive voice is less usual. In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb: passiv e

subjec t

verb are eaten

by cats.

subject Everybody Water

verb drinks is drunk

object water. by everybody.

Passive Voice

Look at this sentence: He was killed with a gun. Normally we use by to introduce the passive object. But the gun is not the active subject. The gun did not kill him. He was killed by somebody with a gun. In the active voice, it would be: Somebody killed him with a gun. The gun is the instrument. Somebody is the "agent" or "doer".

Conjugation for the Passive Voice: We can form the passive in any tense. In fact, conjugation of verbs in the passive tense is rather easy, as the main verb is always in past participle form and the auxiliary verb is always be. To form the required tense, we conjugate the auxiliary verb. So, for example: present simple: It is made

The passive voice is less usual than the active voice. The active voice is the "normal" voice. But sometimes we need the passive voice. In this lesson we look at how to construct the passive voice, when to use it and how to conjugate it. Construction of the Passive Voice The structure of the passive voice is very simple: subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle) The main verb is always in its past participle form. Look at these examples: subject

has been sto len.

object by Lee Harvey Os wald. ?

Note that we always use by to introduce the passive object (Fish are eaten by cats).

The object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb:

active passiv e

verb was killed

object

< Fish

subject President Ke nnedy My wallet

give importance to active object (President Kennedy) active subject unknown

auxiliary verb (to be)

main verb (past participle)

present continuous: It is being made present perfect: It has been made Here are some examples with most of the possible tenses:

infinitive simple

present past future conditio nal

to be washed It is washed. It was washed. It will be washed. It would be washed.

continuous

perfect simple

perfect continuous

present past future conditio nal present past future conditio nal present past future conditio nal

It It It It

is being washed. was being washed. will be being washed. would be being washed.

It has been washed. It had been washed. It will have been washed. It would have been washed. It has been being washed. It had been being washed. It will have been being washed. It would have been being washed.

Active or Passive Quiz 1

I ate a piece of chocolate cake.

2

The librarian read the book to the students.

3

The money was stolen.

4

They are paid on Fridays.

5

The movie is being made in Hollywood.

6

I washed my car three weeks ago.

7

His hair was cut by a professional.

8

I will introduce you to my boss this week.

9

It would have been fixed on the weekend.

10

The national anthem is being sung by Jason this time.

Active to passive Transformations 1. They make shoes in that factory. Shoes ____________________in that factory.

2. People must not leave bicycles in the driveway. Bicycles _______________________________ in the driveway. 3. They built that skyscraper in 1934. That skyscraper ______________________ in 1934. 4. The students will finish the course by July. The course____________________________ by July. 5. They are repairing the streets this month. The streets ____________________________this month. 6. They make these tools of plastic. These tools ______________________________of plastic. 7. They have finished the new product design. The new product design______________________________ . 8. They were cooking dinner when I arrived. Dinner____________________________________________ when I arrived. 9. Smithers painted 'Red Sunset' in 1986. 'Red Sunset' _______________________________________in 1986 by Smithers. 10.Did the plan interest you? ___________________________________ in the plan? 11.They had finished the preparations by the time the guests arrived. The preparations ________________________________by the time the guests arrived. 12.You should take care when working on electrical equipment. Care _________________________________when working on electrical equipment. 13.They are going to perform Beethoven's Fifth Symphony next weekend.

Beethoven's Fifth Symphony ____________________________________________ next weekend. 14.Someone will speak Japanese at the meeting. Japanese_________________________ at the meeting. 15.Karen is going to prepare the refreshments. The refreshments ___________________________________ by Karen.