The Passive Voice: Usage and Conversion
The Passive Voice
Another Grammar Structure
Why, When, Why
Why and when should you use the passive
voice?
•
You do not want to say who or what did the action;
•
You do not know who did the action;
•
The object is the most important part of your sentence.
•
You want to change the focus of the sentence.
How do you learn the passive voice?
The Active Voice
For example:
(1) The children ate the cake.
(2) English speakers frequently use the passive voice.
Language Functions
Active Voice
(
1) The children ate the cake.
(
2) English speakers frequently use the passive
voice.
Passive Voice
(
1) The cake was eaten (by the children)
(
2) The passive voice is frequently used
(by English speakers)
Use in
•
Newspaper
•
Scientific paper or legal documents
•
Daily conversation
Given information:
(1) I
was born
on March 11
th
, 1974.
(2) He
is called
Tony.
(3) “The Stand”
was written
by Stephen King.
(4) “Deadpool”
was directed
by Tim Miller.
(5) The national anthem
was sung
by Fergie.
be + V3 (Past Participle)
6 Steps to change active into passive voice
(1) Identify the subject, the verb and the object of the active sentence
(2) Move the object to become the new subject of your passive sentence
(3) Check the active sentence: what is the verb tense?
(4) Conjugate the verb “be”
(5) Add the past participle of the main verb after be
(6) Decide if that is really important to mention the doer of the action:
If yes, use “by…”
The children
ate
the cake
.
Subject
verb
object
The cake was eaten (by the children)
Other examples:
(1) Her grandfather
built
the house in 1893.
The house
was built
in 1893.
(2) The salesman
will sell
this car by the weekend
This car
will be sold
by the weekend.
(3) Her husband
had left out
the washing in the rain.
The washing
had been left out
in the rain.
(4) The volunteers
saved
many people’s lives.
Many people’s lives
were saved
.
You may mention the doers using “by phrases”:
(1) The house
was built
by her grandfather
in 1893.
(2) This car
will be sold
by the salesman
by the weekend.
(3) The washing
had been left
out in the rain
by her husband
.
(4) Many people’s lives
were saved
by the volunteers
.
Summary
(1) Verb
be
is always there.
(2) Verb
be
conjugates with the subject.
(3) Verb
be
is always followed by the past participle.
Exercises
(1) Someone has stolen my neighbor’s car.
(2) We made lots of money in 2018.
(3) I will clean the house on Monday.
(4) He built the house for his parents.
(1) My neighbor’s car has been stolen.
(2) Lots of money was made by us in 2018.
(3) The house will be cleaned on Monday/
(4) The house was built for his parents by him.
Delve into the concept of the passive voice, learning why and when it should be used. Explore examples, steps for converting active to passive voice, and its relevance in different contexts like newspapers, scientific papers, and legal documents.
Download Presentation
Please find below an Image/Link to download the presentation.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author.If you encounter any issues during the download, it is possible that the publisher has removed the file from their server.
You are allowed to download the files provided on this website for personal or commercial use, subject to the condition that they are used lawfully. All files are the property of their respective owners.
The content on the website is provided AS IS for your information and personal use only. It may not be sold, licensed, or shared on other websites without obtaining consent from the author.
E N D
Presentation Transcript
The Passive Voice Another Grammar Structure
Why and when should you use the passive voice? You do not want to say who or what did the action; You do not know who did the action; The object is the most important part of your sentence. You want to change the focus of the sentence.
The Active Voice For example: (1) The children ate the cake. (2) English speakers frequently use the passive voice.
Language Functions Active Voice Passive Voice (1) The children ate the cake. (1) The cake was eaten (by the children) (2) English speakers frequently use the passive (2) The passive voice is frequently used voice. (by English speakers)
Use in Newspaper Scientific paper or legal documents Daily conversation
Given information: (1) I was born on March 11th, 1974. (2) He is called Tony. (3) The Stand was written by Stephen King. (4) Deadpool was directed by Tim Miller. (5) The national anthem was sung by Fergie.
6 Steps to change active into passive voice (1) Identify the subject, the verb and the object of the active sentence (2) Move the object to become the new subject of your passive sentence (3) Check the active sentence: what is the verb tense? (4) Conjugate the verb be (5) Add the past participle of the main verb after be (6) Decide if that is really important to mention the doer of the action: If yes, use by
The children ate the cake. Subject verb object The cake was eaten (by the children)
Other examples: (1) Her grandfather built the house in 1893. The house was built in 1893. (2) The salesman will sell this car by the weekend This car will be sold by the weekend. (3) Her husband had left out the washing in the rain. The washing had been left outin the rain. (4) The volunteers savedmany people s lives. Many people s lives were saved.
You may mention the doers using by phrases: (1) The house was built by her grandfather in 1893. (2) This car will be sold by the salesman by the weekend. (3) The washing had been left out in the rain by her husband. (4) Many people s lives were saved by the volunteers.
Summary (1) Verb beis always there. (2) Verb be conjugates with the subject. (3) Verb beis always followed by the past participle.
Exercises (1) Someone has stolen my neighbor s car. (1) My neighbor s car has been stolen. (2) We made lots of money in 2018. (2) Lots of money was made by us in 2018. (3) I will clean the house on Monday. (3) The house will be cleaned on Monday/ (4) He built the house for his parents. (4) The house was built for his parents by him.
