Passive Voice

Passive Voice

GLOBAL CULTURE 1

Grammar Explanation

Passive Voice

Grammar explanation We use the passive voice to change the focus of the sentence.

a) My bike was stolen. (passive – focus on my bike) b) Someone stole my bike. (active – focus on someone)

Passive Voice

Functions of the passive voice

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.

Passive Voice

Grammar explanation We often use the passive:

• When we prefer not to mention who or what does the action. For Example:
• It's not known
• It's obvious or
• We don't want to say

• So that we can start a sentence with the most important or most logical information
• In more formal or scientific writing.

Passive Voice

How we make the passive: We make the passive using the verb be + past participle. We start the sentence with the object.

Passive Voice

It is not always necessary to add who or what did the action.

Passive Voice

Examples:

• The house was built in 1654.(we are interested in the house, not in who built it.)

• The road is being repaired. ( we are interested in the road, not in the people who are doing the repairs.)

Passive Voice

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.

Only the form of be changes to make the tense. The past participle stays the same. Here are examples of the passive in its most common tenses.

Passive Voice

Referencias

Sources

Passive Voice - British Council https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/b1-b2-grammar/passives Passive Voice - Education First https://www.ef.com/wwen/english-resources/english-grammar/passive-voice/