In English, the subject of a sentence is usually an actor that is doing an action. For example: The boy brokethe window.
In this sentence, the boy is the actor who did the action (breaking). The object of the sentence (the window) is what receives the action.The sentence is about the subject (the boy), which is more important than theobject of the verb (the window). This is an active sentence, which is also called the active voice.
The Passive Voice: "The window was broken by the boy."
In a passive sentence, the situation is the opposite. We move the object of the verb (window) to the beginning of the sentence, so it can become the subject. This is how we build a passive sentence:
Subject (The window)+ BE verb (was) + past participle (broken) [+ by actor (by the boy)]*
* the phrase by the boyis optional.
Why do we use the passive voice?There are several reasons. Here are four of them.
Reason #1: The object of the verb is more important.
(Passive Voice): A body was found in the park.
(Active voice): The police found a body in the park.
Which is more important:the police (the subject) or the body (the object)?
Answer: The body! That is the surprising information!And because the object of the sentence is the most important thing, we change the sentence to the passive voice. We movethe object of the verb to the beginning of the sentenceso it can become the subject:A body was found in the park (by the police). In this sentence, you probably don't even need to say "by the police" because that information isn't important. The most important thing is the bodyso it becomes the subjectand the first wordof a passive sentence.
Reason #2: We don't know who the actor is.
(Passive voice): John F. Kennedy was killed in 1963.
(Active voice): Someone killed John F. Kennedy in 1963.
In the aboveactive sentence, the subject 'someone'doesn't give us any useful information. We don't knowwhokilled John F. Kennedyso there isn't really areasonto make "someone" the subject. Again, like reason #1, the object of the verb (John F. Kennedy) is the most important thing.
Reason #3: The actor is obvious so you don't need to say it.
(Passive voice): English is spoken in many countries.
(Active voice): People speak English in many countries.
Does the active sentence give us any useful information? No. Why? Well, when we see the verbspeak, we know that we are talking about people. People are the only animals who would be able to speak a language like English. There can be no other subject. So, in this case, we can make a passive sentence to focus on the object (English).
Reason #4: You don't want to say who the actor is.
(Passive voice): Unfortunately, the report wasn't finished on time.
(Active voice): Unfortunately, John didn't finish the report on time.
Are you John's friend? If so, you might want touse the passive sentence. The passive sentence doesn't focus on the actor. In fact, it doesn't even mention John. By using the passive voice, we can take the attention away from the actor and just focus on the object that received the action (the report). The report wasn't finished on time. By not including the actor, the listener doesn't know who to blame.
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A good example of why we use the passive voice can be seen in this simple conversation:
A: Whenwere you born?
B: I was born in 1978.
Did you know that both the question and the answer are in the passive voice? The word 'born' is the past participle of the verb bear (bear/bore/born). We don't ask "When did your mother bear you?" nor do we answer "My mother bore me in 1978" because we want to talk aboutyou, not your mother. Your motheris not important (Rule #1). In addition, we don't use the active voice because we know that your mother bore you. The only person that can give birth to a person is his or hermother. The actor is obvious so we don't need to say it (Rule #3)
Note: You can only use the passive voice with transitive verbs. Transitive verbs, such as eat, throw,andread,are followed by a direct object.You can eat something, throw something, and read something. Intransitive verbs,such ashappen, come, anddie,are not followed by a directobject. You cannot happen something, you cannot come something, you cannot die something.Because intransitive verbs do not have a directobject, they cannot be used in the passive voice.
I hope this is helpful. I have included some exercises below if you want to practice.
- Matthew Barton / Creator of Englishcurrent.com
Passive Voice Practice Exercises
Passive VoiceExercise #1
Change the active sentences to the passive voice. (Only present simple and past simple tenses)
1. I didn't fix the problem.
2.Police protect the town.
3. John's mother raised him in a small town.
4. Someone paintedthe building last year.
5. Alexander Fleming discovered penicillin in 1928.
6. Nowadays, some studentsstudy grammar on the Internet.
Answers
- The problem wasn't fixed (by me).
- The town is protected by police.
- John was raised in a small town (by his mother).
- The building was painted last year (by someone).
- Penicillin was discovered in 1928by Alexander Fleming.
- Nowadays, grammar is studied on the Internet by some students.[
Passive Voice Exercise #2
Complete the sentences using one of the verbs in the below box. Change the verbsto the correct tense (present or past).
cause damage hold invite make show translate write
- Many accidents by dangerous driving.
- Cheese from milk.
- The roof of the building in a storm a few days ago.
- You to the wedding. Why didn't you go?
- A cinema is a place where films .
- In the United States, elections for president every 4 years.
- Originally, the book in Spanish, and a few years ago it into English.
Answers
2. is made, 3. was damaged, 4. were invited, 5. are shown, 6. are held, 7. was written, was translated
Related:
- Passive Voice Exercises
- Identifying Passive or Active Sentences in Newspaper Headlines
