Passive Voice is used when the focus is on the action. e.g. My bike was stolen
Purposes of Passive Voice • The agent is unknown. e.g La Voz was founded in 1920. • The agent is clear from the context e.g.La Voz is sold at newsstands
• You want to avoid mentioning the agent e.g.Lots of mistakes were made in the article • The agent is mentioned only if it conveys information. e.g.The book was written by Cervantes
Structure of Passive Voice • Object (D/I) • Active verb
Subject Passive Verb
(BE in the same tense as Active verb + Past Participle of active verb) e.g. They eat apples e.g. Apples are eaten
Passive Voice in Tenses subject
tense Simple present
Past progressive Present perfect
object
active
Mary
writes
books
passive
books
are written
by Mary
Mary
Is writing
books
passive
books
are being written
by Mary
active
Mary
wrote
books
passive
books
were written
by Mary
active
Mary
was writing
books
passive
books
were being written by Mary
active
Mary
has written
books
passive
books
have been written
by Mary
Present progress active Simple past
verb
Passives with two objects •
They gave her a nice present I D
1. She was given a nice present 2. A nice present was given to her
Watch this video