The Passive Voice

• The Passive is used:

• When you want to replace more focus on the action than on who is doing the action.(e.g. Our house is being  painted again).

• when the agent (the doer) of the action is unknown , obvious, or unimportant.(e.g. My car was stolen last night.)

• The passive is formed as follows :

• Auxiliary “be” in the same  tense as the verb of the active + past participle of the verb.

              e.g. Millions of people are watching this programme .( active voice)

            This programme is being watched by millions of people .(passive voice)

• With modals ( must , have to, may , can , etc.) the passive is formed in this way:

Modal + be + past participle of the verb

e.g.  You must send your application to the following address. ( active voice)

        Your application must be sent to the following address. ( passive voice)

• When the agent  is important , it is necessary to add the “by” phrase.

e.g. This film has been produced by Coppola.

• When an active voice with two objects is turned into the passive , one of the objects becomes the subject and the one remains an object

e.g. He offered me a beautiful necklace for my wedding. (active)

       I was offered a beautiful necklace for my wedding.(passive)

       a beautiful necklace was offered to me  for my wedding.(passive)

• With verbs such  as “ say , think, believe , know , perceive, assume, show, consider , expect, report ,etc.” the passive is formed as follows:

       e.g. People say that mobile phones are harmful to children’s health. (active)

            It is said that mobile phones are harmful to children’s health.

            Mobile phones are said to be harmful to children’s health.

         When the information in the past , we use the passive + past participle

          e.g.  He is reported to have won a huge sum of money in the lottery.

Exercise