The Passive Voice
When and why English prefers the passive, how to build it in every tense and with modals, and how to turn an active sentence round without losing a word.
يتكوّن الدرس من 4 أجزاء: Why and How We Use the Passive، The Passive in Every Tense، The Passive with Modals and Special Cases، Practice and Review.
Why and How We Use the Passive
Why and How We Use the Passive
1. The idea
Active and passive sentences describe the same event but put the spotlight in a different place.
| Voice | Sentence | Focus | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Active | My father painted the house. | The doer. | | Passive | The house was painted by my father. | The action and the thing affected. |
We use the passive when the action matters more than the doer.
2. When English prefers the passive
- The doer is **unknown**: *My bicycle **was stolen** last night.*
- The doer is **obvious**: *The thief **was arrested**.* (by the police, of course)
- The doer is **unimportant**: *This bridge **was built** in 1930.*
- The style is **scientific or official**: *The sample **was heated** to 80 °C.*
- The writer wants to **avoid naming** a responsible person: *Mistakes **were made**.*
This last use explains why the passive is so common in reports and in the texts of the ethics unit.
3. The three-step transformation
> Active: subject + verb + object > Passive: object + *to be* (same tense) + past participle + by + old subject
- The **object** of the active sentence becomes the **subject**.
- The verb becomes *to be* **in the same tense** + the **past participle**.
- The old subject follows **by**, or disappears.
> Active: Ahmed *eats* an apple. > Passive: An apple *is eaten* by Ahmed.
4. When to drop "by"
The agent is left out whenever it is unknown, obvious or unimportant — which is most of the time.
- The road **was repaired** last week. *(we do not know or care by whom)*
- English **is spoken** all over the world.
- Counterfeit goods **are sold** in many markets.
Keep *by* only when the agent brings information: *The theory was proposed by Einstein.*
5. Two objects, two possible passives
Verbs such as *give, send, offer, tell, show, teach* take two objects, so they allow two passive forms.
> Active: They gave the winner a prize. > Passive 1: The winner was given a prize. *(the more usual)* > Passive 2: A prize was given to the winner.
6. Practice
A. Put into the passive.
- The teacher corrects the exercises.
- Somebody broke the window.
- They will announce the results tomorrow.
- The company has recalled the product.
B. Say why the passive is preferable.
- My wallet was stolen yesterday.
- Penicillin was discovered in 1928.
- The mixture was heated for ten minutes.
C. Put into the active.
- The letter was written by Sarah.
- This house was built by my grandfather.
The Passive in Every Tense
The Passive in Every Tense
1. The complete table
The rule is always the same: *to be* takes the tense of the active verb, and the main verb becomes a past participle.
| Tense | Active | Passive | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Present simple | English people drink a lot of tea. | A lot of tea is drunk by English people. | | Present continuous | She is cooking dinner. | Dinner is being cooked. | | Past simple | The boy threw the rock. | The rock was thrown by the boy. | | Past continuous | They were cleaning the rooms. | The rooms were being cleaned. | | Present perfect | He has done his homework. | His homework has been done. | | Past perfect | The managers had made the decision. | The decision had been made. | | Future simple | They will arrest him. | He will be arrested. | | Future perfect | They will have finished it. | It will have been finished. | | Going to | They are going to build a school. | A school is going to be built. |
2. The pattern to memorise
Read down the last column and you see the whole system:
- present: **is / are** + p.p.
- past: **was / were** + p.p.
- continuous: add **being**
- perfect: add **been**
- future: **will be** + p.p.
> *is done · is being done · was done · was being done · has been done · had been done · will be done*
3. The two participles not to confuse
The passive uses the third form of the verb, not the second.
| Stem | Past simple | Past participle | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | write | wrote | written | | speak | spoke | spoken | | take | took | taken | | break | broke | broken | | drink | drank | drunk | | see | saw | seen | | do | did | done | | give | gave | given | | know | knew | known |
> *The letter was written*, not *was wrote*.
4. Tenses that avoid the passive
The future continuous and the perfect continuous are almost never used in the passive, because the form becomes too heavy. English prefers to keep such sentences active.
5. Practice
A. Put into the passive.
- The factory produces two thousand cars a month.
- They are repairing the road.
- Someone had already closed the gate.
- The committee will examine the proposal.
- Consumers have boycotted this brand.
B. Complete with the right form of the verb in brackets.
- This bridge ______ (build) in 1920.
- The results ______ (announce) next week.
- The room ______ (clean) at the moment.
- The decision ______ (already / take) when we arrived.
C. Correct the mistakes.
- The window was broke by the wind.
- The lesson is teach by Mr Ali.
- The results will announced tomorrow.
The Passive with Modals and Special Cases
The Passive with Modals and Special Cases
1. Modal + be + past participle
With a modal, the passive is built in one simple way:
> modal + be + past participle
| Active | Passive | | :--- | :--- | | Drivers must obey traffic regulations. | Traffic regulations must be obeyed by drivers. | | We can solve this problem. | This problem can be solved. | | You should send the letter today. | The letter should be sent today. | | They may cancel the match. | The match may be cancelled. | | Somebody ought to repair it. | It ought to be repaired. | | We have to finish the work. | The work has to be finished. |
2. Modal + have been + past participle
For the past, the modal keeps its form and the passive uses have been.
- The message **must have been sent** yesterday.
- The window **can't have been broken** by the wind.
- The documents **should have been checked** before signing.
3. The passive of verbs with prepositions
The preposition stays with the verb and does not move.
| Active | Passive | | :--- | :--- | | They looked after the children. | The children were looked after. | | Somebody broke into the house. | The house was broken into. | | We must deal with this problem. | This problem must be dealt with. | | Everybody laughed at him. | He was laughed at. |
Forgetting the final preposition is a very common mistake: *The children were looked after*, not *were looked*.
4. Impersonal passive: *it is said that…*
With verbs of opinion and report — *say, think, believe, know, report, expect, consider* — English has two passive forms.
> Active: People say that he is very rich. > Passive 1: It is said that he is very rich. > Passive 2: He is said to be very rich.
Other examples:
- **It is believed that** the disease started in 1990. / The disease **is believed to have started** in 1990.
- **It is reported that** two hundred people were injured.
5. Verbs with no passive
Intransitive verbs — those that take no object — have no passive: *arrive, go, come, happen, sleep, die, fall, rise, appear, belong, seem*.
You cannot say *the accident was happened*; the correct form is *the accident happened*.
6. Practice
A. Put into the passive.
- You must wear a helmet on a building site.
- Somebody should tell him the truth.
- They can repair this computer.
- People believe that he is innocent. *(give both forms)*
B. Do not forget the preposition.
- Nobody has dealt with this complaint.
- The neighbours look after our cat.
C. Which sentences cannot be put into the passive? Why?
- The train arrived late.
- They built a new bridge.
- An accident happened yesterday.
- The teacher explained the lesson.
Practice and Review
Practice and Review
1. The method, step by step
To transform an active sentence:
- Find the **object**; it becomes the subject.
- Identify the **tense** of the active verb.
- Put **to be** into that tense and agree it with the new subject.
- Add the **past participle** of the main verb.
- Add **by + old subject**, or drop it.
> *The government has introduced a new law.* > 1. object: *a new law* → 2. tense: present perfect → 3. *has been* → 4. *introduced* → 5. *by the government* (droppable). > A new law has been introduced.
2. The mistakes the exam looks for
| Wrong | Right | Why | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | The letter was wrote. | The letter was written. | Third form, not second. | | The results will announced. | The results will be announced. | *be* is compulsory after a modal. | | The room is clean at the moment. | The room is being cleaned at the moment. | Continuous needs *being*. | | The children were looked. | The children were looked after. | Keep the preposition. | | The accident was happened. | The accident happened. | *Happen* has no passive. | | He was given a prize by the winner. | The winner was given a prize. | Do not confuse the two objects. |
3. Mixed exercise
A. Put into the passive, dropping the agent where it is unnecessary.
- Someone stole my bag at the station.
- They are building a new hospital.
- The police have arrested two suspects.
- You must not touch these wires.
- They had cancelled the flight before we arrived.
- People say that counterfeiting costs millions.
B. Put into the active.
- The window was broken by the children.
- This novel was written in 1952.
- The problem must be solved immediately.
C. Complete with the right passive form.
- Rice ______ (grow) in many Asian countries.
- The bridge ______ (repair) at the moment.
- The letter ______ (send) yesterday.
- The results ______ (not publish) yet.
4. Answers to check yourself
A. 1. My bag was stolen at the station. — 2. A new hospital is being built. — 3. Two suspects have been arrested. — 4. These wires must not be touched. — 5. The flight had been cancelled before we arrived. — 6. It is said that counterfeiting costs millions. / Counterfeiting is said to cost millions.
B. 1. The children broke the window. — 2. Somebody wrote this novel in 1952. — 3. We must solve the problem immediately.
C. 1. is grown — 2. is being repaired — 3. was sent — 4. have not been published.
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