2. Passive Voice
- Active Voice: Subject + Verb + Direct Object
Mary has written six e-mails.
- Passive Voice: Subject + Verb to be + Past Participle
Six e-mails have been written.
Typical ELL Errors
- Thousands of people went to California in the 1840s because
gold discovered there.
- Where were you when the accident was happened?
- More than one hundred people killed in that plane crash.
- The Japanese language can write from left to right or form top
to bottom.
- If you find a wallet, it should be returning to the owner
immediately.
3. Passive Voice
- BE + PAST PARTICIPLE
1) correct verb tense
2) correct form
be + PAST PARTICIPLE
The residence of the president of is called the White
the United States House.
The current White House was built in 1818.
By 1815, the original White had been in a fire.
House destroyed
4. Active Voice X Passive Voice
- Active Voice
1) Common sentence pattern: Subject + Verb + Direct Object.
2) Most important topic: The person or thing doing the
action.
3) The subject is the agent of the action.
4) Examples:
a) The people of France gave the Statue of Liberty to the United
States.
b) Leonardo da Vinci painted the famous Mona Lisa.
c) We will make a decision about our trip soon.
d) The people reelected George Washington for a second term in
1792.
5. Active Voice X Passive Voice
- Passive Voice
1) Common sentence pattern: Subject + Verb to be + Past
Participle.
2) Most important topic: The person or thing receiving the
action.
3) The subject is the receiver of the action.
4) Examples:
a) The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States by the
people of France .
b) The famous Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.
c) A decision about our trip will be made soon.
d) George Washington was reelected for a second term in 1792.
6. Passive Voice – Verb Tenses
Verb
Active Passive
Tenses
Present People buy candies at the Candies are bought at the
Simple supermarket. supermarket.
Present People are buying candies at Candies are being bought at
Cont. the supermarket. the supermarket.
Present People have bought candies Candies have been bought at
Perfect at the supermarket. the supermarket.
Past People bought candies at the Candies were bought at the
Simple supermarket. supermarket.
Past People were buying candies Candies were being bought at
Cont. at the supermarket. the supermarket.
Past People had bought candies at Candies had been bought at
Perfect the supermarket. the supermarket.
7. Passive Voice – Verb Tenses
Verb
Active Passive
Tenses
Future People will buy candies at the Candies will be bought at the
supermarket. supermarket.
People are going to buy Candies are going to be bought
candies at the supermarket. at the supermarket.
Modal People could buy candies at Candies could be bought at the
Verbs the supermarket. supermarket.
People should buy candies at Candies should be bought at
the supermarket. the supermarket.
• Intransitive Verbs are never used in the passive voice,
for they are never followed by a direct object.
• happen/die/arrive/depart
8. Passive Voice
- When is the passive voice used?
Generally when the agent of the action is not the most
important thing.
Even though, if you want to name the agent of the passive,
you can use the by + agent phrase.
However, it can sometimes be strange to name it.
a) The Statue of Liberty was given to the United States by the
people of France .
b) The famous Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.
c) A decision about our trip will be made by us soon.
d) George Washington was reelected for a second term by the
people in 1792.
- We should not name the agent if it is not new information
or if it is not important.
9. Passive Voice with GET
- get + past participle
It indicates sudden change, while the passive voice with be
indicates a result.
Examples:
a) We were lost. (It describes our situation at a certain point.)
b) We got lost. (It indicates that we were traveling and suddenly
did not know our location.)
- The passive voice with get is considered informal.
10. Passive Voice used as Adjectives
- In some situations, it is possible to use a passive verb form
as an adjective to describe a condition or state instead of
an action.
Sentence Notes
The window is closed. This sentence describes the
condition of the window now.
All of the checks are gone. This sentence describes the
condition of the checks now.
11. Past Participles x Present Participles
- Both past participles and present participles can function
as an adjective.
Participial Form Example
Past Participle When I heard the news yesterday. I was
suprised.
Present Participle The news was surprising.
- ELLs have a particularly difficult time figuring out when
to use the past participle and the present participle
forms as adjectives.
- Present Participles: The person or thing causes the action.
- Past Participles: The person or thing suffers the action.
12. Past Participle + Preposition
- past participles in passive voice
They were married by an old minister.
- past participles used as adjectives
I am interested in something.
be accustomed to be divorced from be married to
be acquainted with be done with be opposed to
be ashamed of be dressed in be related to
be bored with / by be excited about be satisfied with
be commited to be exhausted from be scared of
be composed of be finished with be surprised at/by
be confused about be fed up with be terrified of
be convinced of be impressed by/with be tired of/from
be dedicated to be interested in be used to
be devoted to be known for be worried about
be disappointed with be made of/from
