Learn Active And Passive Voice
Lesson#1_Passive voices in English
Today we're going to look at passive voice in English.First we have look at when we use passive voice and then we have a look at how to formulate passive voice sentences.
In order to have good at passive voice sentences, you need a good mastery of all English tenses.So if you have any doubts about any of the tenses, I would recommend that learn English tenses first and then return to this lesson of passive voices.
By the end of this lesson, you'll have a good understanding of when to use the passive voice and how to formulate passive voice sentences.
Right then if you're ready we can begin...
What is the passive voice?
A sentence generally begins with doer(performer)of the action(subject),then the verb,then the object or person that the action is performed(done) on.This is called an 'Active sentence'.For example
Subject + Verb + Object
John cleaned the room
If we begin a sentence with the object or person that action is performed on,we formulate a 'passive' sentence. For example:
Object + Verb ( + by subject)
The room was cleaned (by John).
Note: Note that not all verbs in English take an object; therefore, some sentences are complete without an object,for example:
👉John slept well.
👉John lives far away.
This type of sentences cannot be changed into passive voice.Right?Let's have a look when should we use the Passive Voice?
There are two main cases:
1#We do not know who the subject is ,or it is not important who the subject is:
👉Somebody cleaned the room.(active)
👉The room was cleaned.(passive)
2# When it is obvious to the listener or reader who the subject is because it is the person who usually does it:
👉The cleaner cleaned the room.(active)
👉The room was cleaned .
Let's have look at how to formulate a passive voice sentence.
There are six steps to formulate a passive sentence:
Step 1: Identify the subject, the verb and the object of the active sentence.
The cleaner cleaned the room
Subject verb object
Step 2: Move the object to become the new subject of our sentence.
The room
Step 3: Check the active
What is the verb tense in the active sentence? This is really important because the passive voice exists across different tenses so you must check what tense the active sentence is in to make your passive sentence correct. It’s in the present simple, “The postman delivered the mail”. Good!
Step 4: Conjugate the verb be so that it’s in the same tense as the main verb in the active sentence. We need to change our be verb to the present simple so it becomes is or are depending on the new subject and our new subject is the mail so we can choose is, “The mail is”.
Step 5: Add the past participle of the main verb after be. So looking back at the active sentence, the main verb is deliver, though it’s in present simple form but can you think of the past participle of deliver? Delivered, right?
Step 6: Now the last step, step six, you need to decide what to do with the subject of your active sentence. The postman. In the passive voice, you don’t have to include the thing that is doing the action. You can complete remove that former subject from your sentence and that’s helpful if you don’t know who deliver the mail or you don’t want to say who it is or you don’t care – maybe it’s not that important. But you can add it to the end of your sentence with the word by.
The mail was delivered by the postman.
Let’s look at some more examples together.
👉The house was built in 1893.
👉The car will be sold by the weekend.
👉The washing had been left out in the rain.
👉Many people’s lives were saved.
Can you see the passive form here? The be verb is always there but it tells us the tense. It helps to describe when something happened and it also conjugates with the subject.
👉People’s lives were saved.👉The house was built.
And the be verb is always followed by the past participle. We can also explain who or what did the action by adding by.
👉The house was built by her grandfather.
👉This car will be sold by the salesman.
👉The washing had been left out in the rain by her husband.
👉Many people’s lives were saved by volunteers.
We have a couple of notes here
Note1.
If the active sentence begins with 'no-one ' or 'no-body' the passive sentence will be negative:
👉No-one turned on the light.(active)->>
👉The light was not turned on.(passive)
Note2.
If there is a preposition between verb and the object,the preposition will remain after the verb:
👉They talked about the issue.(active)->>
👉The issue was talked about.(passive)
Let's move on to the passive voice of different tenses
The Passive of Different Tenses:
Tense Active Passive
Present simple: I do it. It was done.
Past simple: I did it. It was done.
Future simple: I will do it. It will be done.
Present continuous: Iam doing It.(A)->>
It is being done.(P)
Past continuous: I was doing it.(A)->>
It was being done.(P)
Future continuous: I will be doing it.(A)->>
It will be being done.(P)
Present perfect: I have done it.(A)->>
It has been done.(P)
Past perfect: I had done it.(A)->>
It had been done.(P)
Future perfect: I will have done it.(A)->>
It will have been done.(P)
Present perfect continuous:I have been doing it.(active)->> ×(not common)
Past perfect continuous:I had been doing it.(active)->> ×(not common)
Future perfect continuous:I willhave been doing it. (active)->>×(not common)
The passive voice of other structures
In instructions containing the infinitive:
do ->>> be done
👉Do your homework.(active)->>>
Your homework is to be done.(passive)
'be going to'
👉 I'm going to do it.(Active)
It is going to be done.(Passive)
'have to'
👉I have to do it.(Active)
It has to be done.(Passive)
'used to'
👉 I used to do it.(Active)
👉 It used to be done.(Passive)
Modal Verbs(Can,would, may etc)
👉I can do it.(Active)
👉It can be done.(Passive)
In expressions containing the gerunds :
doing ->>> being done
Avoid:👉 I avoid seeing her.(Active)
👉She avoids being seen.(Passive)
Don't mind: 👉I don't mind teaching her.(Active)
👉She doesn't mind being taught.(passive)
Person in Object Postion
We can also formulate passive voices with person in the object position.For example,
👉Somebody push me(A) ->>
👉 I was pushed.(P)
👉They have invited us ->>
👉We have been invited.
👉Someone was interviewed Israr ->>
👉Israr was being interviewed.
Some sentences have both an object and a person in the object position.You can choose either one to formulate the passive sentence.For example:
👉Someone handed me a note ->>
I was handed a note.
A note was handed to me.
👉They have sent us a copy->>
We have been sent a copy.
A copy has been sent.
Finally let's have a look at common mistakes usually made by English learners
There are four common mistakes;
1.Changing the tense to a similar tense:
👉Someone has reported the incidents.(active)->>
The incidents were reported.(passive)incorrect)
The incidents have been reported.(correct)
👉They are going to build a mosque(active)-->>
A mosque will be bulit.(passive)(incorrect)
A mosque is going to be built.(correct)
2.Forgetting the verb 'to be'
👉Someone has reported the incidents(active)->>
The incidents have reported.(passive)incorrect)
The incidents have been reported.(correct)
👉They are going to build a mosque.(active)->>
A mosque is going to built(passive)incorrect)
A mosque is going to be built(correct)
3.Using the present participle instead of past participle.
👉Someone has reported the incidents(active)-->
The incidents have been reporting(passive)incorrect)
The incidents have been reported.(correct)
👉They are going to build a mosque.(active)->
A mosque is going to be building(passive)incorrect)
A mosque is going to be built(correct)
4.Plural/Singular confusion:
👉Someone has reported the incidents(active)->>
The incidents has reported.(passive)incorrect)
The incidents have been reported.(correct)
👉They are going to build a mosque.(active)->>
A mosque are going to built(passive)incorrect)
A mosque is going to be built(correct)
Hopefully, you've found this lesson useful. If yes, then please share this with your friends so that they can also be able to learn english easily.
Today we're going to look at passive voice in English.First we have look at when we use passive voice and then we have a look at how to formulate passive voice sentences.
In order to have good at passive voice sentences, you need a good mastery of all English tenses.So if you have any doubts about any of the tenses, I would recommend that learn English tenses first and then return to this lesson of passive voices.
By the end of this lesson, you'll have a good understanding of when to use the passive voice and how to formulate passive voice sentences.
Right then if you're ready we can begin...
 |
| learn active and passive voice |
What is the passive voice?
A sentence generally begins with doer(performer)of the action(subject),then the verb,then the object or person that the action is performed(done) on.This is called an 'Active sentence'.For example
Subject + Verb + Object
John cleaned the room
If we begin a sentence with the object or person that action is performed on,we formulate a 'passive' sentence. For example:
Object + Verb ( + by subject)
The room was cleaned (by John).
Note: Note that not all verbs in English take an object; therefore, some sentences are complete without an object,for example:
👉John slept well.
👉John lives far away.
This type of sentences cannot be changed into passive voice.Right?Let's have a look when should we use the Passive Voice?
There are two main cases:
1#We do not know who the subject is ,or it is not important who the subject is:
👉Somebody cleaned the room.(active)
👉The room was cleaned.(passive)
2# When it is obvious to the listener or reader who the subject is because it is the person who usually does it:
👉The cleaner cleaned the room.(active)
👉The room was cleaned .
Let's have look at how to formulate a passive voice sentence.
There are six steps to formulate a passive sentence:
Step 1: Identify the subject, the verb and the object of the active sentence.
The cleaner cleaned the room
Subject verb object
Step 2: Move the object to become the new subject of our sentence.
The room
Step 3: Check the active
What is the verb tense in the active sentence? This is really important because the passive voice exists across different tenses so you must check what tense the active sentence is in to make your passive sentence correct. It’s in the present simple, “The postman delivered the mail”. Good!
Step 4: Conjugate the verb be so that it’s in the same tense as the main verb in the active sentence. We need to change our be verb to the present simple so it becomes is or are depending on the new subject and our new subject is the mail so we can choose is, “The mail is”.
Step 5: Add the past participle of the main verb after be. So looking back at the active sentence, the main verb is deliver, though it’s in present simple form but can you think of the past participle of deliver? Delivered, right?
Step 6: Now the last step, step six, you need to decide what to do with the subject of your active sentence. The postman. In the passive voice, you don’t have to include the thing that is doing the action. You can complete remove that former subject from your sentence and that’s helpful if you don’t know who deliver the mail or you don’t want to say who it is or you don’t care – maybe it’s not that important. But you can add it to the end of your sentence with the word by.
The mail was delivered by the postman.
Let’s look at some more examples together.
👉The house was built in 1893.
👉The car will be sold by the weekend.
👉The washing had been left out in the rain.
👉Many people’s lives were saved.
Can you see the passive form here? The be verb is always there but it tells us the tense. It helps to describe when something happened and it also conjugates with the subject.
👉People’s lives were saved.👉The house was built.
And the be verb is always followed by the past participle. We can also explain who or what did the action by adding by.
👉The house was built by her grandfather.
👉This car will be sold by the salesman.
👉The washing had been left out in the rain by her husband.
👉Many people’s lives were saved by volunteers.
We have a couple of notes here
Note1.
If the active sentence begins with 'no-one ' or 'no-body' the passive sentence will be negative:
👉No-one turned on the light.(active)->>
👉The light was not turned on.(passive)
Note2.
If there is a preposition between verb and the object,the preposition will remain after the verb:
👉They talked about the issue.(active)->>
👉The issue was talked about.(passive)
Let's move on to the passive voice of different tenses
The Passive of Different Tenses:
Tense Active Passive
Present simple: I do it. It was done.
Past simple: I did it. It was done.
Future simple: I will do it. It will be done.
Present continuous: Iam doing It.(A)->>
It is being done.(P)
Past continuous: I was doing it.(A)->>
It was being done.(P)
Future continuous: I will be doing it.(A)->>
It will be being done.(P)
Present perfect: I have done it.(A)->>
It has been done.(P)
Past perfect: I had done it.(A)->>
It had been done.(P)
Future perfect: I will have done it.(A)->>
It will have been done.(P)
Past perfect continuous:I had been doing it.(active)->> ×(not common)
Future perfect continuous:I willhave been doing it. (active)->>×(not common)
The passive voice of other structures
In instructions containing the infinitive:
do ->>> be done
👉Do your homework.(active)->>>
Your homework is to be done.(passive)
'be going to'
👉 I'm going to do it.(Active)
It is going to be done.(Passive)
'have to'
👉I have to do it.(Active)
It has to be done.(Passive)
'used to'
👉 I used to do it.(Active)
👉 It used to be done.(Passive)
Modal Verbs(Can,would, may etc)
👉I can do it.(Active)
👉It can be done.(Passive)
In expressions containing the gerunds :
doing ->>> being done
Avoid:👉 I avoid seeing her.(Active)
👉She avoids being seen.(Passive)
Don't mind: 👉I don't mind teaching her.(Active)
👉She doesn't mind being taught.(passive)
Person in Object Postion
We can also formulate passive voices with person in the object position.For example,
👉Somebody push me(A) ->>
👉 I was pushed.(P)
👉They have invited us ->>
👉We have been invited.
👉Someone was interviewed Israr ->>
👉Israr was being interviewed.
Some sentences have both an object and a person in the object position.You can choose either one to formulate the passive sentence.For example:
👉Someone handed me a note ->>
I was handed a note.
A note was handed to me.
👉They have sent us a copy->>
We have been sent a copy.
A copy has been sent.
Finally let's have a look at common mistakes usually made by English learners
Common Mistakes
There are four common mistakes;
1.Changing the tense to a similar tense:
👉Someone has reported the incidents.(active)->>
The incidents were reported.(passive)incorrect)
The incidents have been reported.(correct)
👉They are going to build a mosque(active)-->>
A mosque will be bulit.(passive)(incorrect)
A mosque is going to be built.(correct)
2.Forgetting the verb 'to be'
👉Someone has reported the incidents(active)->>
The incidents have reported.(passive)incorrect)
The incidents have been reported.(correct)
👉They are going to build a mosque.(active)->>
A mosque is going to built(passive)incorrect)
A mosque is going to be built(correct)
3.Using the present participle instead of past participle.
👉Someone has reported the incidents(active)-->
The incidents have been reporting(passive)incorrect)
The incidents have been reported.(correct)
👉They are going to build a mosque.(active)->
A mosque is going to be building(passive)incorrect)
A mosque is going to be built(correct)
4.Plural/Singular confusion:
👉Someone has reported the incidents(active)->>
The incidents has reported.(passive)incorrect)
The incidents have been reported.(correct)
👉They are going to build a mosque.(active)->>
A mosque are going to built(passive)incorrect)
A mosque is going to be built(correct)
Hopefully, you've found this lesson useful. If yes, then please share this with your friends so that they can also be able to learn english easily.
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