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THE PASSIVE
VOICE
Look at the two sentences below:
The lady
wrote a letter. (active voice)
The letter was written by the lady.
(passive voice)
The first sentence is in the active voice, but the
second is in the passive.
When the sentence is in the active voice,
attention is focused on the doer of the action in the sentence. Thus while
reading the sentence, you'll come across the doer of the action before
seeing the verb or the receiver. In this case the doer of the action is on
the left-hand side of the verb. If there is any receiver, it would be on
the right-hand side of the verb.
Structure: Doer + VERB
or Doer +
Verb + Receiver
In a passive voice attention is focused on the receiver
of the action in the sentence. The receiver is mentioned first before the
verb or the subject. Thus the receiver of the action is on the left-hand
side of the verb. If the doer of the action is also mentioned, it would be
on the right-hand side of the verb.
Structure: Receiver + Verb
or
Receiver + Verb + Doer
The pen was taken by Zainab.
The house has
been painted by Sorie.
The letter has been written.
The letter was
being written when I arrived.
To construct a passive voice you must use
the verb BE (is, am, are, was, were) plus a past participle.
BE + Past
Participle
All the tenses in the passive voice are formed by combining
various forms of the verb BE and a past participle.
To change
active to passive, first find the direct object. That becomes the subject.
Next look at the verb or verb phrase. Make the main verb become the past
participle. Insert a form of the verb to be just before it. Remember to
keep the sentence in the same tense.
Present simple
My brother
rides a bicycle.
A bicycle is ridden by my brother.
Lions eat
rabbits.
Rabbits are eaten by lions.
Past Simple
Fire
destroyed the building.
The building was destroyed by
fire.
Future Simple
The police will catch the criminal.
The
criminal will be caught by the police.
The Chief Justice will swear
in the President.
The President will be sworn in by the Chief
Justice.
I will choose the red pen.
The red pen will be chosen
by me.
Present Continuous
I am painting the shop.
The shop is
being painted by me.
They are beating the drum.
The drum is
being beaten by them.
Past continuous
He was playing
music.
Music was being played by him,
Future Continuous
She
will be preparing the food.
The food will be being
prepared.
Present Perfect
He has built a house.
A house has
been built by him.
The boys have chosen a red pen.
A red pen has
been chosen by them.
Past Perfect
I had drawn a line.
A line
had been drawn by me.
Future Perfect
By this time tomorrow, I
will have taken the test.
By this time tomorrow, the test will have
been taken by me.
The active voice is more direct and more forceful
than the passive. Most writing is done in the active voice, and some books
advise writers to avoid the passive voice because it is wordy and complex.
Nevertheless, the passive is common in several types of writing, notably scientific reports and newspaper
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