USING THE AUXILIARY
VERB “BE”
The passive voice is formed by using a form of
the auxiliary verb “be” (be, am, is, are, was,
were, being, been) followed by the past
participle of the main verb.
Active Passive
He loves me. I am loved.
We took our children to the
circus. The children were taken to the circus.
A thief stole my money. My money was stolen.
Notice how the “be” auxiliaries change the
meaning of the verbs from action to condition or
from “doing” to “being.”
He remembers his grandmother. (“he”
is doing an action: remembering)
His grandmother is remembered. (“she” is in a
condition: being remembered)
In this way, the past participle functions very
much like an adjective; it describes the subject.
The woman is pretty. She is a pretty woman
The woman is married. She is a married woman.
VERB TENSES USED IN
ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE
The following is a summary of active and passive
forms of all verb tenses. Remember that in
active forms the subject
of the sentence is the person or thing that does the action. In passive
constructions, the verb
is performed by someone or something other than the subject; often, the
action is done to the
subject by someone else.
Present Time
• Simple Present
Use the simple present tense to make a
generalization, to present a state of being, or to
indicate a habitual or repeated action.
Active Passive
base form or
“-s/-es” form am/is/are + past participle
Professor Brown teaches at Hunter.
All humans are equal.
Sonia is taught by Professor Brown.
All humans are created equal.
Maria eats in the cafeteria. The
cafeteria is cleaned
• Present Progressive
Use the present progressive to describe an
ongoing activity or a temporary action.
Active Passive
am/is/are + -ing
am/is/are + being + -ed/-en
The students are learning Spanish. Classes are being conducted in Spanish.
He is being hired to work at McDonald’s.
I am working at McDonald’s until I
finish
school.
• Present Perfect
Use the present perfect to describe an action
occurring in the past but relevant to the
present, or extending to the present.
Active Passive
has/have + -ed/-en
has/have + been + -ed/-en
Hunter has opened a language institute in
East Harlem.
The language institute has been opened to
relocate students off
the main campus.
Hunter has offered E.S.L courses for
twenty years.
E.S.L. courses have been offered since the
beginning of Open
Admissions
• Present Perfect Progressive
Use the present perfect progressive to describe
an ongoing action beginning before now and
is still relevant to the
present.
Active Passive
has/have + been +
-ing has/have + been + being + -ed/-en
Hunter has been awarding BA and MA
diplomas for over one
hundred years.
Note: Because of awkward construction, the
perfect progressive form is not used in the passive
voice. Instead, an adverb may be used to show
continuing action: “We have been repeatedly scolded for being late.”
Past Time
• Simple Past
Use the simple past to indicate a general or
habitual action occurring in the past or at a
specific time in the past.
Active Passive
base + -ed or
irregular form
was/were + -ed/-en
Our family bought all our clothes at Sears
when I was young.
The clothes were bought by my mother On my fifteenth birthday, my uncle gave me one hundred dollars.The money was given to me to buy new clothes. When I was in high
school, my friends and I drove to the mall on
weekends.We were always driven to the mall by my friend's older brother.
In informal
conversation, speakers of English often express habitual behavior in the past
using
the modal “would.”
Active
would + base
Passive
would + be +
-ed/-en
We would usually eat burgers in the food court.
Most of the french fries would be eaten before we got to the
table.
• Past Progressive
Use the past progressive to indicate an ongoing
action in the past or an action continuing
through a specific past time.
Active Passive
was/were + -ing
was/were + being +
-ed/-en
Mary and Paul were dating in those days. One
afternoon, Mary was being kissed by
Paul when her mother
passed by.
• Past Perfect
Use the past perfect to indicate an action
completed prior to a particular time or before
another action in the past.
Active Passive
had + -ed/-en
had + been +
-ed/-en
Completed:
Mary's mother was shocked because she
had forbidden her daughter to date.
Mary had been kissed many times before
that day.
• Past Perfect Progressive
Use the past perfect progressive to indicate a
continuing action that began before a past
action or time.
Active Passive
had + been + -ing
had + been + being + -ed/-en
Mary had been trying to tell her mother
about Paul for a long
time.
Future Time
• Simple Future
Use the future to indicate an action that is
expected to take place at a future time.
Active Passive
will + base
will + be + -ed/-en
Paul and Mary will marry in June. They will be married by a priest and a rabbi.
or
am/is/are going to
+ base
am/is/are + going
to be + -ed/-en
Mary is going to wear her grandmother's
gown.
The gown is going to be adjusted to fitnMary.
• Future Progressive
Use the future progressive to indicate an action
in future with emphasis on continuing
action.
Active Passive
will + base + -ing
will + be + being + -ed/en
Mary and Paul will be spending lots of
time on the beach.
Note: Not used in the
passive voice.
• Future Perfect
Use the future perfect to indicate a future
action expected to be completed before another
future action or time.
Active Passive
will + have +
-ed/-en will + have + been + -ed/en
By their wedding date, they will have saved enough money to buy a
house.
Note: Not used in
the passive voice.
• Future Perfect Progressive
Use the future perfect progressive to indicate
an action projected to have been going on for
a while before a time in
the future.
Active Passive
will + have + been
+ -ing will + have + been + being + -ed/-en
When they celebrate their first
anniversary, they will have been living together for a full
year.
Note: Not used in
the passive voice.
WHEN TO USE PASSIVE
VOICE
Although active voice is generally preferred in
academic writing, passive voice is acceptable
under certain
conditions.
Use passive voice to emphasize the receiver of the action instead of the doer
Quizzes are given regularly.
Grades for all students
are averaged.
Questions are
encouraged.
• to keep the focus on the same subject through several sentences or
paragraphs
My sister and I grew up
and went to school in Jamaica. We were educated according to
the British system. In 1997 we were given the opportunity to come
to the United States. We decided to finish
high school before
leaving our own country. We were concerned
that the education in
this country might not be as good as the one
we had there, and we
wanted to improve our English too.
• when we do not know who performed the
action:
Ray's calculator was made in Germany.
The answers have been
filled in.
• when we do not wish to mention the doer of
the action:
Many problems have been ignored for too long.
I was given some bad
advice.
Note: This use often reveals an unwillingness to take
responsibility (or place it on someone else).
Substitute: For:
“A mistake was made.” “I made a mistake.”
“Not enough has been done to
end homelessness.”
“We have not done enough to end
homelessness.”
“You have been misinformed.” “You are wrong.”
• when we want to sound objective or avoid
using the subject “I”
Studies have shown . . .
It is well-known . . .
Hamlet is considered . . .
It can be assumed . . .
It has been established
. . .
PASSIVE VOICE EXERCISES
Turn the verbs in the
following sentences into the passive, but do not change the tenses! The original subject disappears because it is not important.
E.g.: Somebody fetched
a chair for Mrs Dixon. => A chair was fetched for Mrs Dixon.
No
|
Active Voice
|
Passive
Voice
|
1.
|
They speak French at this shop.
|
French is spoken at this shop.
|
2.
|
Somebody stole my car.
|
My
car was stolen.
|
3.
|
They have sent the books to the wrong address.
|
The books have been sent to the wrong address.
|
4.
|
Somebody will bring the beer.
|
The beer will be brought.
|
5.
|
Somebody has bought this fur coat.
|
This
fur coat has been bought.
|
6.
|
Somebody has left this umbrella behind.
|
This umbrella has been left behind.
|
7.
|
They haven't caught the robbers yet.
|
The robbers have not been caught yet.
|
8.
|
They don't drink ice-cold beer in England.
|
Ice-cold beer is not drunk in England.
|
9.
|
They eat a lot of fish.
|
A lot of fish are eaten.
|
10
|
They drink tea with milk at least five times a
day.
|
Tea with milk is drunk at least five times a
day.
|
11.
|
They discuss the weather every day.
|
The weather is discussed every day.
|
12.
|
Some men robbed the Glasgow-London mail train
in 1961.
|
The Glasgow-london mail train was robbed in
1961.
|
13.
|
They stopped the train between two stations.
|
The
train was stopped between two stations.
|
14.
|
They disconnected the engine and the first two
coaches.
|
The engine and the first two coaches were
disconnected.
|
15.
|
They drove them to a lonely bridge.
|
They were driven to a lonely bridge.
|
16.
|
People discussed the mail robbery all over the
world.
|
The
mail robbery was discussed all over the word.
|
17.
|
The police caught some of the robbers and found
part of the money.
|
Some of the robbers were caught and part of the
money was found.
|
18.
|
The court sentenced the men in January 1964.
|
The
men were sentenced in January 1964.
|
19.
|
Somebody will look after their children.
|
Their children looked after.
|
20.
|
You have not paid for the car.
|
The car has not been paid for.
|
