The passive voice, or as it is also called the passive voice, always strikes awe in English language learners. But in reality, it's not all that scary. Let's find out!
What is passive voice?
We use the passive voice when we talk about an object on which some action is performed, and also when the sentence does not indicate who performs the action. For example,
Those pancakes were baked by my granny.
Those pancakes were baked by grandma.
In this sentence, the performer of the action is the grandmother, but the emphasis is on the subject.
Her book is stolen.
Her book has been stolen.
And in the second example, the object that performed the action is unknown.
How the passive voice is constructed depending on tenses
In this section we will show you how the passive voice will be constructed in different times English language.
Let's start with the fact that the construction is based on the to be + 3 form of the verb, and depending on the tense it is used in different variations.
Present Simple- to be + 3rd form of the verb
Active Voice(active voice): They usually visit their granny.
They usually visit their granny.
Passive Voice: Their granny is usually visit ed.
Their grandmother is often visited.
Present Continuous- to be + being + 3rd form of the verb
Active Voice: They are visiting their granny now.
Now they are visiting their grandmother.
Passive Voice: Their granny is being visit ed now.
Their grandmother is now being visited.
Present Perfect- have/has + been + 3rd form of the verb
Active Voice: They have just visited their granny
They just visited their grandmother.
Passive Voice: Their granny has just been visit ed.
Their granny just got a visit.
to be going to- to be going to +be + 3rd form of the verb
Active Voice: They are going to visit their granny.
They are going to visit their grandmother.
Passive Voice: Their granny is going to be visit ed.
They are going to visit their grandmother.
Past Simple- was/were + 3rd form of the verb
Active Voice: They visited their granny yesterday.
They visited their grandmother yesterday.
Passive Voice: Their granny was visit ed yesterday.
Their grandmother was visited yesterday.
Past Continuous- was/were + being + 3rd form of the verb
Active Voice: They were visiting their granny from 5 to 8 yesterday.
They visited their grandmother yesterday from 5 to 8.
Passive Voice: Their granny was be ing visit ed from 5 to 8 yesterday.
Yesterday they visited grandma from 5 to 8.
Past Pefect- had + been + 3rd form of the verb
Active Voice: They had visited their granny before I came.
They visited their granny before I arrived.
Passive Voice: Their granny had been visit ed before I came.
Their grandmother was visited before I arrived.
Used to- used to + be + 3rd form of the verb
Active Voice: They used to visit their granny every week.
They used to visit grandma every week.
Passive Voice: Their granny used to be visit ed every week.
Their grandmother used to be visited every week.
Future Simple- will/shall + be + 3rd form of the verb
Active Voice: They will probably visit their granny next week.
They'll probably visit their granny next week.
Passive Voice: Their granny will be visit ed next week.
Their granny will probably be visited next week.
Modal verbs- can/should/may/must/might/ have to/ ought to + be + 3rd form of the verb
Active Voice: They should visit their granny more often.
They should visit their granny more often.
Passive Voice: Their granny should be visit ed more often.
Their grandmother should be visited more often.
Prepositions in the passive voice
If you still need to indicate who performed the action, or how it was performed, then do not forget to use the necessary prepositions: by and with, where by indicates the performer, and with indicates the subject of the action.
Their granny was visited by my parents.
My parents visited their grandmother.
This cut was done with scissors.
This cut was made with scissors.
Our speech in Russian is quite diverse. We use different designs: simple and complex, active and passive. And we don’t even think about it. If you want to raise your English speech to the same “intuitive level”, then you should definitely use our Passive Voice table.
When you started studying tenses, you probably came across such a grammatical phenomenon as active and passive voice. Let's remember what their difference is. Most time periods can be used in two cases. If the subject of the sentence itself performs the action (I’m walking, he’s drawing, we bought, they’ll fly), then we need an active form. If something is done to the subject, he is subjected to influence (trees are planted, water is poured, I was invited, we will be taken), then we use the passive construction. That's the last one we'll talk about.
Education
Each tense uses different auxiliary verbs and predicate forms. The Passive Voice table will tell us about this.
Present |
Past |
Future |
|
Formula Simple |
is/am/are + V ed (V 3) | was/were + V ed (V 3) | will/shall + be + V ed (V 3) |
| Letters are sent every day. — Letters are sent every day. | Letters were sent yesterday. — The letters were sent yesterday. | Letters will be sent tomorrow. — The letters will be sent tomorrow. | |
Formula Continuous |
is/am/are + being + V ed (V 3) | was/were + being + V ed (V 3) | ————————— |
| Letters are being sent now. — Letters are being sent now. | Letters were being sent at 5 yesterday. — Letters were sent at 5 o’clock yesterday. | ————————— | |
Formula Perfect |
has/have + been + V ed (V 3) | had + been + V ed (V 3) | will/shall + have/has+ been +V ed (V 3) |
| Letters have already been sent. - The letters have already been sent. | Letters had been sent before he phoned. — The letters were sent before he called. | Letters will have been sent by 5 tomorrow. — Letters will be sent tomorrow before 5 o’clock. | |
| Perfect Continuous | ———————————— | ———————————- | ————————— |
Note that the Perfect Continuous is not used at all in the passive voice. A Continuous time has no future segment. The interrogative and negative forms are identical in all tenses.
? - Recall. verb + mean + predicate
- Subject + auxiliary. verb + not + predicate
Were you invited to the party yesterday? — Were you invited to a party yesterday?
I wasn’t invited to the party yesterday. — I wasn’t invited to the party yesterday.
Are the flowers being planted now? —Are they planting flowers now?
The trees are not being planted now. — Trees are not being planted now.
Let's compare Active and Passive
The use of different tenses fully corresponds to their counterparts in the active voice. That is why it is recommended to study all the elements of this group, and then look in detail at. Let's look at a few examples to make it easier for you to understand everything and remember it at the right time.
Active |
Passive |
|
Present Simple |
She writes a new play for the theater every year. — She writes a new play for the theater every year. | A new play for the theater is written by her every year. — She writes a new play for the theater every year. |
Past Simple |
He stole food from the shop. — He stole food from the store. | Food was stolen from the shop by him. — The food was stolen from the store. |
Future Simple |
They will show a new musical on TV next month. — They will show a new musical on television next month. | A new musical will be shown on TV next month. — The new musical will be shown on television next month. |
Present Continuous |
My dad is repairing the car now. — My dad is repairing the car now. | The car is being repaired by my dad now. — The car is now being repaired by dad. |
Past Continuous |
At 9 my brother was loading the truck. — At 9 o’clock my brother was unloading the truck. | At 9 o’clock the truck was being loaded by my brother. — At 9 o’clock the truck was unloaded by my brother. |
Present Perfect |
My daughter has already translated the whole text. — My daughter has already translated the entire text. | The whole text has already been translated by my daughter. — The entire text has already been translated by my daughter. |
Past Perfect |
When we came to the kitchen, he had eaten the pie. — When we entered the kitchen, he had already eaten the pie. | When we came to the kitchen, the pie had been eaten. — When we entered the kitchen, the pie had already been eaten. |
Future Perfect |
We will have finished the work by 6 tomorrow. — Tomorrow we will finish work by six. | The work will have been finished by 6 tomorrow. — The work will be finished by six tomorrow. |
As you can see, there is nothing complicated in this element of the language. First of all, determine the role of the subject: it acts or on him. Then determine the time (you can use hint words). If you need to use a passive construction, then our table passive voice at your service. Choose the tense, auxiliary verb, predicate ending, and you're done. It is better to consolidate all this in exercises that can be completed online on our website.
Good afternoon dear friends! Today I will tell you about the active voice in British speech.
Of course, it is easiest for us to perceive any information about foreign language in comparison with our native Russian.
Active voice in English And simple rules It is very easy to remember how to write a sentence using this comparison.
Only in order
The English language has a huge number of dialects and variations and it is difficult to imagine that the birthplace of a language spoken by one and a half billion people is a small European country with an area of just over 240 thousand square kilometers.
And, despite such a huge distribution of British and its varieties in each of them, the rules for constructing a sentence and using the 12 tenses of the active voice remain unchanged.
It is to this scheme that you need to bring your speech to form the active voice.
It's not difficult at all, is it? Well, let's move on. Read about how to form passive voice.
I went to London - three ways
Statements with direct word order in English can be in 12 tenses, just like in Russian, time is expressed by a verb - the predicate.
At first glance, it may seem that 12 times is a lot, but it is very simple to understand them.
A table of active voice tenses can help us with this:
On the left you see exactly the same groups of tenses as in Russian: , and (from top to bottom). Everything is very clear here.
At the top are groups of tenses that are not similar to Russian ones: simple, continuous, perfect and completely continuous.
In order to easily remember these groups and the rules for their use, it is enough to compare the example sentences given in the table.
IN general outline we can draw the following conclusion:
- Indefinite (or Simple) - simple, we use it when we talk about something that happens sometime in the past or future, or in the present with some frequency (often, always, sometimes). Pay attention to the rules for forming sentences in this tense - they are very simple: V is initial form verb, Vs – initial form + s.
- Continuous - or long-term. From the name it is clear that it lasts now, in the past or future at a certain time. It is also formed simply: the predicate will always have the ending ing, and the predicate will be preceded by to be in the required time and number.
- Perfect – perfect or . We use it when we talk about an action that took place in the past or future, BUT completed at the time of speech (in the present), at an exact time in the past or future. They say that the result of an action must be visible by a certain time. We form it using the auxiliary verb have/has and the main verb in the third form.
- Perfect Continuous is a mixture of the second and third, both in essence, in name, and even in formation. The action has already lasted for some time and continues to last at a certain point in time. It is formed: have + been + predicate with the ending ing. Where been is to be in the third form.
The simplest and effective way memorizing and correctly using all tenses in speech is an exercise.
Read how to prepare for international exams and which type to choose.
Regular training on unique ones will give you the opportunity to pass any test for active voice tenses with the highest score. New technology memorization foreign words will help you quickly increase your vocabulary and easily apply new words in speech. You will learn how to memorize 100 foreign words in an hour.
Don’t forget to subscribe to new useful materials on my blog, and you will also receive as a gift a phrasebook in three languages, English, German and French. Its main advantage is that there is Russian transcription, so even without knowing the language, you can easily master colloquial phrases.
I was with you, Natalya Glukhova, I wish you a good day!
We would like to start this article by telling you that the Passive Voice in English is not as difficult to understand as you think. We actually sympathize with this poor passive structure, since many people hate it.
All you need is a good command and knowledge of the past participle to construct a beautiful sentence using Passive voice in English.
In this article, you can independently study the passive voice in English. You will also learn how the passive voice is formed in English and how to use it. Understand the difference between active and passive voice. Let's look at the table to compare the active voice and the passive voice, using the appropriate tense.
Active voice in English
Let's first find out what is pledge in English?
Pledge is a verb form that shows whether the subject performs an action (= active voice) or is influenced by it (= passive voice).
The active voice is the most commonly used voice in English. And if you think about it, it is usually much simpler than passive sentences.
We must see the characteristics of this form.
Active voice:
- The active subject is at the beginning of the sentence.
- After the subject comes , verb and object.
- We can say that the verb is active.
- Active voice clearly tells us who performed the action.
active voice sentence structure:
Subject+ Verb+ Object
Example with explanation:
- My daughter has won the prize - My daughter won the prize.
In the above sentence we have subject(my daughter) verb(has won) addition(prize).
Which sentence would you use in everyday speech?
- I ate breakfast / the breakfast was eaten by me - I ate breakfast / breakfast was eaten by me.
- They will buy a yacht/ the yacht will be bought - They will buy a yacht / the yacht will be bought.
The answer is obvious. However, in some cases it is better to use passive voice. A little later you will learn in what cases to use the passive voice in English.
What is the passive voice in English?
The passive voice in English is used when the person or thing taking the action is more important than the person or thing doing the action.
Simply put, when we say what a person or thing does, we use Active verb forms. When we say what happened to a person or thing, we often use Passive verb forms.
Let's start with how the passive voice is formed.
Formation of the passive voice
The passive voice is formed with the verb in the correct tense to be + past participle(past participle or regular verb With ending -ed). Let's look again at how the passive voice is formed.
Passive voice formula in English:
Passive voice - Table
The table shows the active and passive voice in English. Compare the two examples, paying attention to the highlighted words.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice | |
| Present Simple | They take the photos in Belarus. | The photos are taken in Belarus. |
| Present Continuous | They are taking the photos in Belarus. | The photos are being taken in Belarus. |
| Past Simple | They took the photos in Belarus. | The photos were taken in Belarus. |
| Past continuous | They were taking the photos in Belarus. | The photos were being taken in Belarus. |
| Future Simple | They will take the photos in Belarus. | The photos will be taken in Belarus. |
| Present Perfect | They have taken the photos in Belarus. | The photos have been taken in Belarus. |
| Past Perfect | They had taken the photos in Belarus. | The photos were taken in Belarus. |
| Future Perfect | They will have taken the photos in Belarus. | The photos will have been taken in Belarus. |
| Infinitive + to | They used to take the photos in Belarus. | The photos used to be taken in Belarus. |
| Perfect Infinitive | They should have taken the photos in Belarus. | The photos should have been taken in Belarus. |
| -ing form | They talked about taking the photos in Belarus. | They talked about photos being taken in Belarus. |
| Modals + be +p.p | You must take the photos in Belarus. | The photos must be taken in Belarus. |
The windows have been broken Not(the windows have broken).
- 3. Use Present Participle instead of Past Participle
— Someone has broken the windows —>
— The windows have been broken NOT (the windows has been breaking).
- 4. Confuse plural and singular.
Someone– units h so the verb comes after it has reported.
The windows – plural so we have to say have been broken Not(the windows has been...).
Verbs that cannot be used in the passive
Not all verbs are used in the passive voice. Passive structures are not possible with , such as die, cry, arrive which do not have an addition (object).
- She died last year - She died last year.
- My baby cried - My baby cried.
Some are also rarely used in the passive. Most of these verbs express a state, not an action.
Examples: have, resemble, lack, etc.:
- I have a flat in the countryside - I have an apartment in the village. ( Not A flat is had by me).
- My jacket doesn’t fit me - My jacket doesn’t suit me. ( Not I’m not fitted by my jacket).
Some prepositional verbs are more often used in the active.
Examples: agree with and walk into:
— I walked into the room ( Not The room was walked into by me).
— He agreed with his mother ( Not He agreed with his mother).
When not to use Passive voice in English?
Many who study the passive voice begin to 'abuse' the passive. Here's an important point:
Don't use the passive voice unless you have a reason to.
For example, if you use passive, especially when writing, think about why you would use passive. Do you need to use it to highlight the beginning of a sentence? Or sound polite and formal? Do you want to highlight an action, but no one has done it? If not, then don't use Passive Voice.
By using the passive, your sentences will be long and complex.
Watch the passive voice video and listen to how the passive voice is used in TV series.
We have looked at what the active and passive voice is in English and when exactly to use it in speech. As you understand, active and passive voice in English have their own characteristics.
Of course, active voice is more common, but having learned the rules of the passive voice, now you can easily understand any text. Learning the passive voice will be difficult if you leave it aside for for a long time. But if you repeat the table and usage from time to time and also use this rule in speech, then the rule will have no choice but to obey you and stay with you forever!
Passive voice exercises
Do passive voice exercises. Your task will be to open the brackets in the passive voice; if you have difficulty answering, do not hesitate to look at the table.
P.S.
Since many people may forget to put points in the test, we did not use them, so they do not need to be put. If you put a period, the point will not be counted.
If the subject denotes a person or thing performing an action, then the predicate verb is used in the form active voice.
If the subject denotes a person or thing being acted upon by another person or thing, then the predicate verb is used in the form passive voice.
Formation of the passive voice
The passive voice is formed using the auxiliary verb to be at the required time And past participles semantic verb.
| Time | Active voice | Passive voice |
|
am/is/are + past participle |
My favorite author writes these humorous books - My favorite author writes these funny books. | These humorous books are written by my favorite author – These funny books are written by my favorite author. |
|
Present Continuous am/is/are being + past participle |
I am looking into it now - This is exactly what I’m doing now. | This matter is being looked into – This issue is being dealt with now. |
|
have/has been + past participle |
They have painted the fence recently - They recently painted the fence. | The fence has been painted recently - The fence was painted recently. |
| Present Perfect Continuous | – | – |
|
was/were + past participle |
They closed this store long time ago - They closed this store a long time ago. | This store was closed long time ago - This store was closed a long time ago. |
|
was/were being + past participle |
I knew they were talking about me - I knew that they were talking about me. | I knew I was being talked about - I knew that they were talking about me. |
|
had been + past participle |
They had introduced them to each other before I arrived - They introduced them to each other before I arrived. | They had been introduced to each other before I arrived - They were introduced to each other before I arrived. |
| Past Perfect Continuous | – | – |
|
will be + past participle |
Next week they will take the whole class to the museum – Next week they will take the whole class to the museum. | Next week the whole class will be taken to the museum - Next week the whole class will be taken to the museum. |
| Future Continuous | – | – |
|
will have been + past participle |
By next summer I will have finished this course - By next summer I will finish this course. | By next summer this course will have been finished - By next summer this course will be completed. |
| Future Perfect Continuous | – | – |
The table shows that the passive voice not used in such tenses as Present Perfect Continuous, Past Perfect Continuous, Future Continuous and Future Perfect Continuous. In such cases you can use:
1. Active voice
Tomorrow at this time I will be discussing this project with my colleague - Tomorrow at this time I will discuss this project with my colleague.
2. Passive voice. But it should be remembered that in this case it is necessary to replace tenses that are not used in the passive voice with those that are used in the passive voice.
- Future Continuous -> Future Simple
Tomorrow at 10 o"clock they will be holding a meeting - Tomorrow at 10 o'clock they will hold a meeting.
The meeting will be held tomorrow at 10 o"clock - The meeting will be held tomorrow at 10 o'clock. - Present Perfect Continuous -> Present Perfect
She has been cleaning her flat since morning - She cleans her apartment in the morning.
The flat has been cleaned since morning - The apartment is cleaned in the morning. - Past Perfect Continuous -> Past Perfect
They had been selling furniture for over 20 years before they closed down their shop - They were selling furniture for more than 20 years before they closed their store.
Their furniture had been sold for over 20 years before their shop was closed down – Their furniture was sold for more than 20 years before their store was closed. - Future Perfect Continuous -> Future Perfect
Next week I will have been painting this portrait for 3 months – Next week it will be 3 months since I painted this portrait.
Next week this portrait will have been painted for 3 months – Next week it will be 3 months since this portrait has been painted.
Using the Passive Voice
| Cases of use | Examples |
| 1. Passive voice is used when the speaker is more interested in the action itself, and not in who (or what) it was performed. | This building is very old. It was built many years ago – This building is very old. It was built many years ago. (the speaker is interested in the building itself, and not who built it) |
| 2. The passive voice is used in sentences that begin with an already known fact and end with some kind of “news”, a new additional fact. |
What a lovely book! What a wonderful book! |
| 3. Passive voice is used when talking about the same person or thing. | Yesterday my son spent the whole day at his granny"s. He was taken to the park for a walk. After that he had his lunch. At the end of the day he was given a portion of chocolate ice cream - Yesterday my son spent he spent the whole day with his grandmother. He went for a walk in the park. Then he had lunch. And at the end of the day he was given a portion of chocolate ice cream. (we are talking about the same person, the passive voice in this situation helps to avoid the use of the same constructions, making the speech varied) |
| 4. Long explanations are best placed at the end of the sentence. In some cases, this requires using the passive voice. | I will be seen by the same doctor who treated my father last week - I will be examined by the same doctor who treated my father last week. (a long explanation about the doctor is better placed at the end of the sentence, so for this sentence the passive voice is a better construction) |
| 5. Certain verbs that are much more common to use in the passive voice, despite their “active” meaning. |
|
Some features of the use of the passive voice
| Features of use | Examples |
| 1. Passive voice not used with intransitive verbs*. | I am arriving at 3 o"clock tomorrow - I arrive at 3 o'clock tomorrow. (arrive - not transitive verb, and therefore it is impossible to compose a sentence with this verb in the passive voice) |
| 2. Past participles are used in both passive voice and active voice. Try not to confuse them! |
I have signed the paper - I signed the document. (active voice, Present Perfect Tense) The paper was signed - The document was signed. (passive voice, Past Simple Tense) |
| 3. In sentences with passive voice, the person performing the action is joined by a preposition by, and the instrument with which the action is performed is attached by a preposition with. |
The Pyramids were built by Egyptians – The pyramids were built by the Egyptians. (person who performed the action) The letter was written with a pencil - The letter was written in pencil. (the instrument with which the action was performed) |
|
4. In passive voice, phrasal verbs retain the preposition used with them. This preposition is put at the end of a sentence. |
The tickets have already been paid for – The tickets have already been paid for. (The preposition for belongs to the noun tickets, but is at the end of the sentence) |
*Intransitive verbs- these are the verbs with which it is impossible to use direct object(translated into Russian as an addition to accusative case without pretext).
Finally, they arrived - Finally, they arrived. (Arrive is an intransitive verb; it cannot be followed by a direct object)
Transitive verbs denote an action that, in its meaning, transfers to a certain object that can be expressed by a direct object. For example, you can only “wash” something: a window, dishes, a car. The very meaning of the verb implies the presence of an object.
I invited Sally and Sharon – I invited Sally and Sharon. (Invite is a transitive verb, Sally and Sharon is a direct object)
Many verbs in English can be both transitive and intransitive. Compare these offers:
The door opened - The door opened.
She opened the door - She opened the door.
