PASSIVE VOICE

PASSIVE VOICE

In English grammar, verbs have five properties: voice, mood, tense, person, and number; here, we are concerned with voice. The two grammatical voices are active and passive.

Before we start...

Do you have any idea of what is active voice?

Active voice

Active voice means that a sentence has a subject that acts upon its verb.

Sentences in the active voice have a strong, direct, and clear tone.

Examples:

- Monkeys adore bananas.

- The cashier counted the money.

- The dog chased the squirrel.

I repeat!

Active voice is a normal sentence, in the same order:

Subject + verb + object

Can we go to passive now?

The passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences an action rather than the person or object that performs the action. In other words, the most important thing or person becomes the subject of the sentence.

Examples:

- The passive voice is used frequently.

- The house was built in 1654.

- The road is being repaired.

Sometimes we use the passive voice because we don't know or do not want to express who performed the action.

Examples:

- I noticed that a window had been left open.

- Every year thousands of people are killed on our roads.

- All the cookies have been eaten.

- My car has been stolen!

The passive voice is often used in formal texts.

Examples:

(Passive)

- A great deal of meaning is conveyed by a few well-chosen words.

(Active)

- A few well-chosen words convey a great deal of meaning.

Forming the passive voice

The passive voice in English is composed of two elements:

the appropriate form of the verb 'to be' + past participle

Examples:

- The house was built in 1973.

- The windows was opened by you.

If we want to say who or what performs the action while using the passive voice, we use the preposition by. 

Examples:

- "A Hard Day's Night" was written by the Beatles.

- The movie ET was directed by Spielberg.

Open Ended

WRITE THE PASSIVE VOICE:

"I eat bananas."

Open Ended

WRITE THE PASSIVE VOICE:

"You closed the windows."

Open Ended

WRITE THE PASSIVE VOICE:

"I wrote an essay."

Open Ended

WRITE THE PASSIVE VOICE:

"She loves apples."

Multiple Choice

They produce coffee in Veracruz.

• Coffee is produced in Veracruz by them.

• Coffee is produce in Veracruz by them

• In Veracruz they produce coffee

• In Veracruz coffee is pruduced by us

Multiple Choice

Fili and Felix clean the school.

• Fili and Felix cleaned the school.

• The school is cleaned by Fili and Felix.

• The school are cleaned by Fili and Felix.

Multiple Choice

What would be the passive voice of the following sentence?

Many people of different countries speak English.

• English is spoke by many people of different countries

• English was spoken by many people of different countries

• English is spoken by many people of different countries

• English are spoke by many people of different countries

Multiple Choice

A letter was written.

• Active voice.

• Passive voice.

Multiple Choice

Which is in passive voice?

• is going

• is being

• is done

• has been

Multiple Choice

The fire _______________ an electrical fault.

• is caused

• was caused by

• caused by

Multiple Choice

He ____ a letter two hours ago.

• was sent
• is sent
• sends
• is being sent

Multiple Choice

Cheese ____ from milk.

• makes
• make
• made
• is made

Multiple Choice

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire ______________ by J K Rowling
 

• was written
• wrote
• writes

Multiple Choice

the salary _________________ every month

• is being paid

• is paying

• is paid

• is being paying

Multiple Choice

the house ______________________yesterday

• was cleaned

• was cleaninng

• is cleaning

• is cleaned