The passive

The passive

By Pablo Zapata

What is the passive?

The passive voice is used to show interest in the person or object that experiences the action of the verb instead of the person or object that performs the action.

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La voz pasiva se usa para mostrar interés en la persona u objeto que experimenta la acción del verbo en vez de en la persona u objeto que realiza la acción​

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Active vs Passive

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Active: The subject is the performer of the action:

Ex: Leonardo da Vinci painted the Mona Lisa

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Passive​: the subject is the receiver of the action

Ex: The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci​

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​In this case Leonardo (the person that painted) is the most important part of the sentence

​In this case The Mona Lisa (the object painted) is the most important part of the sentence

Multiple Choice

The dog chases the cat.

• the sentence is active

• the sentence is passive

Multiple Choice

The cat is chased by the dog.

• the sentence is active

• the sentence is passive

How to make the passive?

To transform the verb into the passive we need 2 things:

• ​the verb to be conjugated (la conjugación dependerá del tiempo verbal que estemos usando)

  • am, are, is, if we are using the present simple

  • was, were, if we are using the past simple

• The​ original verb in the past partciple

  • verb + ed for regular verbs: started, painted, created,...

  • ​3rd column for irregular verbs: been, left, written, found

Fill in the Blank

active: the architect designs the building

passive: the building _ designed by the architect

Fill in the Blank

Active: Colon discovered America

Passive: America _ discovered by Colon

Multiple Choice

the Harry potter books _ by J.K. Rowling

• was written

• were writed

• were written

• are written

Fill in the Blank

This phone _ (make) in China

Fill in the Blank

The Eiffel tower _ (build) in 1889 by Gustav Eiffel

Fill in the Blank

Serrano hams _ (leave) to dry for several months

Fill in the Blank

The Eiffel tower _ (build) in 1889 by Gustav Eiffel