SIMPLE PASSIVE VOICE
There are two voices
in English, the active and the passive. The active
tells us what the subject does, for example:
-
The secretary wrote a letter.
The passive tells
us what is done to the subject. For example:
-
The letter was written by the secretary.
Form
The passive is made
with the verb "to be" and the past participle.
Here are the main English tenses used in the
passive voice.
How to construct the
passive.
1. Check to see if the active sentence contains an
object.
John ate an
apple.
(S V
O)
Passive is possible.
John ate yesterday.
(S
V)
Passive is not possible.
2. Move the object to the front of the
sentence. Put the original subject in a “by”
phrase .
An apple (V) by John.
3. Put the verb in the form “be” +3 (of main verb)
An apple “ be ” eaten by John.
4. Put the “be” in the same tense as the original
active sentence.
An apple was/were eaten by John. ( past tense)
5. Make the first verb agree with the new subject.
An apple was eaten by John.
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Tense
Simple present:
Present continuous:
Simple past:
Past continuous:
Present perfect:
Past perfect:
Future:
Future
continuous:
Present
conditional:
Past conditional:
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Subject
Flowers
Flowers
Flowers
Flowers
Flowers
Flowers
Flowers
Flowers
Flowers
Flowers
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Verb "to
be"
are
are being
were
were being
have been
had been
will be
will be being
would be
would have been
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Past
Participle
planted every year
planted now.
planted last
year
planted last
summer.
planted here for 10
years.
planted until last
year.
planted next
year.
planted during the
summer.
planted if we had
seeds.
planted if we had
had seeds.
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By
To state what the
cause of a passive action is, you can use
by. For example:
- This photo was taken
by my friend.
- I was given this by
my brother.
It is often not
necessary to statethe cause of a passive action,
especially when clearly understood or irrelevant.
For example:
- The meeting was cancelled. (The
meeting's cancellation is what is important, not
who cancelled it.)
- These boots were made in
Italy. (The fact they were made in Italy is what's
important, not who made them.)
Born
When talking abut the
birth of specific people of things we use the
passive form "to be born". For example:
- I was
born in Iran.
- The twins were born just last
year.
Get
Get can be
used instead of to be in situations where
something happens. For example:
- Our flight
got cancelled = Our flight was
cancelled.
- I got paid today = I
was paid today.
Get can't be
used with general situations and state verbs
(verbs that express a state, not an action). For
example:
- He is liked by a lot of
people. - OK
- He gets liked by a
lot of people. - Incorrect.
- She is
known to be a hard-working employee. - OK
- She
gets known to be a hard-working
employee.- Incorrect
Get is used more
often in informal English.
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