Active Voice, Passive Voice
There are two special forms for verbs called voice:
active subject verb object
>
Cats eat fish.
The passive voice is less usual. In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb:
passive subject verb object
<
Fish are eaten by cats.
The object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb:
subject verb object
active Everybody drinks water.
passive Water is drunk by everybody.
Passive Voice
The passive voice is less usual than the active voice. The active voice is the "normal" voice. But sometimes we need the passive voice. In this lesson we look at how to construct the passive voice, when to use it and how to conjugate it.
Construction of the Passive Voice
The structure of the passive voice is very simple:
subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle)
The main verb is always in its past participle form.
Look at these examples:
subject auxiliary verb (to be) main verb (past participle)
Water is drunk by everyone.
100 people are employed by this company.
I am paid in euro.
We are not paid in dollars.
Are they paid in yen?
Use of the Passive Voice
We use the passive when:
give importance to active object (President Kennedy) President Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald.
active subject unknown My wallet has been stolen. ?
Note that we always use by to introduce the passive object (Fish are eaten by cats).
Look at this sentence:
Conjugation for the Passive Voice
We can form the passive in any tense. In fact, conjugation of verbs in the passive tense is rather easy, as the main verb is always in past participle form and the auxiliary verb is always be. To form the required tense, we conjugate the auxiliary verb. So, for example:
infinitive .............to be washed
simple
present............... It is washed.
past ...........It was washed.
future ..............It will be washed.
conditional ............It would be washed.
continuous
present ........It is being washed.
past.............. It was being washed.
future............ It will be being washed.
conditional ..............It would be being washed.
perfect simple
present................. It has been washed.
past ...........It had been washed.
future.......... It will have been washed.
conditional ...........It would have been washed.
perfect continuous
present........ It has been being washed.
past .............It had been being washed.
future ...........It will have been being washed.
conditional............ It would have been being washed.
There are two special forms for verbs called voice:
- Active voice
- Passive voice
active subject verb object
>
Cats eat fish.
The passive voice is less usual. In the passive voice, the subject receives the action of the verb:
passive subject verb object
<
Fish are eaten by cats.
The object of the active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb:
subject verb object
active Everybody drinks water.
passive Water is drunk by everybody.
Passive Voice
The passive voice is less usual than the active voice. The active voice is the "normal" voice. But sometimes we need the passive voice. In this lesson we look at how to construct the passive voice, when to use it and how to conjugate it.
Construction of the Passive Voice
The structure of the passive voice is very simple:
subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle)
The main verb is always in its past participle form.
Look at these examples:
subject auxiliary verb (to be) main verb (past participle)
Water is drunk by everyone.
100 people are employed by this company.
I am paid in euro.
We are not paid in dollars.
Are they paid in yen?
Use of the Passive Voice
We use the passive when:
- we want to make the active object more important
- we do not know the active subject
give importance to active object (President Kennedy) President Kennedy was killed by Lee Harvey Oswald.
active subject unknown My wallet has been stolen. ?
Note that we always use by to introduce the passive object (Fish are eaten by cats).
Look at this sentence:
- He was killed with a gun.
Conjugation for the Passive Voice
We can form the passive in any tense. In fact, conjugation of verbs in the passive tense is rather easy, as the main verb is always in past participle form and the auxiliary verb is always be. To form the required tense, we conjugate the auxiliary verb. So, for example:
- present simple: It is made
- present continuous: It is being made
- present perfect: It has been made
infinitive .............to be washed
simple
present............... It is washed.
past ...........It was washed.
future ..............It will be washed.
conditional ............It would be washed.
continuous
present ........It is being washed.
past.............. It was being washed.
future............ It will be being washed.
conditional ..............It would be being washed.
perfect simple
present................. It has been washed.
past ...........It had been washed.
future.......... It will have been washed.
conditional ...........It would have been washed.
perfect continuous
present........ It has been being washed.
past .............It had been being washed.
future ...........It will have been being washed.
conditional............ It would have been being washed.