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.
The passive tells us what is done to the subject. For example: The letter was written by the secretary.
Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.
Definition the passive voice
A passive construction occurs when you make the object of an action into the subject of a sentence. That is, whoever or whatever is performing the action is not the grammatical subject of the sentence.
The Generic Structure/Formula :
- Active : S + V active + O
- Passive : O + to be + V3 + by + S
Active to passive voice
Simple Present
Rumus : Noun + is/am/are + verb III
Active : I write a letter
Passive : A letter is written by me
Present Continuous
Rumus : Noun + is/am/are + being + verb III
Active : He is buying a car
Passive : A car is being bought by him
Simple past
Rumus : Noun + was/were + verb III
Active : The judge sentenced the convicted 5 years imprisonment
Passive : The convicted was sentenced 5 years imprisonment by the judge
Past Continuous
Rumus : Noun + was/were + being + verb III
Active : The officer was investigating the case
Passive : The case was being investigated by the officer
Simple Future
Rumus : Noun + shall/will + be + verb III
Active : The judges will issue a verdict against the accused.
Passive : A verdict against the accused will be issued by the judges
Past Future
Rumus : Noun + should/would + be + verb III
Active : The investigator would hand in the file
Passive : The file would be handed in by the investigator
Simple Present Perfect
Rumus : Noun + has/have + been + verb III
Active : They have committed another crime
Passive : Another crime has been committed by them
Past Perfect
Rumus : Noun + had + been + verb III
Active : We had found your watch
Passive : Your watch had been found by us
Simple Future Perfect
Rumus : Noun + shall/will +have +been + verb III
Active : The witness shall have shown the evidence
Passive : The evidence will have been shown by the witness
Past Future Perfect
Rumus : Noun + should/would +have + been + verb III
Active : The major should have been invited the president
Passive : The president should have been invited by the major
Modals :
Rumus : Noun + must/shall/will/have to/has to + be +verb III
Active : Sugiarto must report his attendance to the police once a week
Passive : His attendance must be reported by to the police once a week
EXAMPLE
TENSES | ACTIVE | PASSIVE | |||||||||||
Simple Present Present Continuous Present Perfect Past Tense Past Continuous Simple Future Be going to Past perfect Future perfect | Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary Mary | Helps is helping has helped helped was helping will help is going to help had helped will have helped | John John John John John John John John John | John John John John John John John John John | is helped is being helped has been helped was helped was being helped will be helped is going to be helped had been helped will have been helped | by Mary by Mary by Mary by Mary by Mary by Mary by Mary by Mary by Mary | |||||||
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.
Example: My bike was stolen.
In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I don’t know, however, who did it.
Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:
Example: A mistake was made.
In this case, the focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I don’t blame anyone.
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:
§ the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
§ the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
§ the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped).
Examples of Passive
Tense | Subject | Verb | Object | |
Simple Present | Active: | Rita | writes | a letter. |
Passive: | A letter | is written | by Rita. | |
Simple Past | Active: | Rita | wrote | a letter. |
Passive: | A letter | was written | by Rita. | |
Present Perfect | Active: | Rita | has written | a letter. |
Passive: | A letter | has been written | by Rita. | |
Future I | Active: | Rita | will write | a letter. |
Passive: | A letter | will be written | by Rita. | |
Hilfsverben | Active: | Rita | can write | a letter. |
Passive: | A letter | can be written | by Rita. | |
Tense | Subject | Verb | Object | |
Present Progressive | Active: | Rita | is writing | a letter. |
Passive: | A letter | is being written | by Rita. | |
Past Progressive | Active: | Rita | was writing | a letter. |
Passive: | A letter | was being written | by Rita. | |
Past Perfect | Active: | Rita | had written | a letter. |
Passive: | A letter | had been written | by Rita. | |
Future II | Active: | Rita | will have written | a letter. |
Passive: | A letter | will have been written | by Rita. | |
Conditional I | Active: | Rita | would write | a letter. |
Passive: | A letter | would be written | by Rita. | |
Conditional II | Active: | Rita | would have written | a letter. |
Passive: | A letter | would have been written | by Rita. | |
Passive Sentences with Two Objects
Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.
Subject | Verb | Object 1 | Object 2 | |
Active: | Rita | wrote | a letter | to me. |
Passive: | A letter | was written | to me | by Rita. |
Passive: | I | was written | a letter | by Rita. |
.
As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.
How about the negative and interrogative?
Take a look at the followings:
- Active : People don’t use bikes anymore
Passive : Bikes are not used anymore
- Active : Did the students play the cards in the class yesterday?
Passive : Were the cards played in the class yesterday?
