In this second lesson on passive voice, we are going to look at how to form the passive in all basic tenses and common verb forms.
If you would like to review why we use the passive, you can visit Part 1 of The Passive Voice where we look at the 6 main reasons the passive is used.
Knowing your parts of the sentence
First of all, in order to explain how to transform from active sentences to passive sentences, we need to understand the terms used to explain parts of the sentence.
SUBJECT (S): The first part of the sentence that contains a NOUN PHRASE. This is what the sentence talks about. In an active sentence, the subject performs the verb, and is therefore the AGENT (the performer of the action).
VERB (V): The action. Typically sits between the SUBJECT and the OBJECT.
OBJECT (O): The part after the VERB. This is a NOUN PHRASE and is what experiences or receives the action. An object only exists if a verb is transitive (i.e. needs an object).
EXTRA INFORMATION: This is everything else in the sentence that contains optional information including: time phrases, reasons, places, participants etc.
You can find detailed information on this in the following lesson, An Introduction to English Sentence Structure.
How to form the passive
The passive voice uses the following basic form:
BE + PAST PARTICIPLE
The 'BE' verb will change form depending on the desired tense. The following sentences show examples of the passive structure.
The man was arrested for stealing a television and a radio.
The building was burnt down at 3 in the morning.
It was invented by Guglielmo Marconi.
It is said that he is the greatest guitarist to have ever lived.
To transform any ACTIVE sentence (where the subject = agent) to passive (the agent is removed), you can follow a 5-step procedure.
Identify the SUBJECT, VERB and OBJECT
Make the OBJECT the SUBJECT
Add the BE verb and change it to the desired tense
Change the VERB to PAST PARTICIPLE
Copy and paste any extra information
Basic Passive Forms
The following table will show ACTIVE and PASSIVE forms of all the basic tenses and common verb patterns.
Important points:
The past perfect continuous, present perfect continuous and future perfect continuous are not used in the passive. Often, a paraphrase that involves a prepositional phrase is used. For example:
The local council has been building the new stadium for 16 months. (active)
The new stadium has been being built for 16 months. (passive - this sentence sounds extremely unnatural)
The new stadium has been under construction for 16 months. (passive alternative - this is much more natural)
Don't worry too much about the 'verb pattern' forms (i.e. -ing/gerund and to inf), as these can be quite difficult to construct. If you're taking an English exam, this construction would be considered Advanced.
Final Points
1. Intransitive verbs are not used in the passive
An intransitive verb is a verb that does NOT have an object. For example: take off
The plane took off in the morning. ('took off' does not have an object. 'in the morning' is extra information showing time)
Many people died in the earthquake. ('died' does not have an object. 'in the earthquake' tells us where it happened or the cause of the death)
We cannot make the passive because there is NO object to make the subject (of the passive sentence) with.
If you want to make these sentences passive (because you want to make your language sound more formal), you will need to use a transitive synonym (a verb with an object).
To use the previous example, a transitive synonym of 'to die' is 'to kill sb'. The passive version of this sentence would look like:
Many people were killed in the earthquake.
2. Verbs with two objects can have two passive forms
John gave Julie some flowers.
In this sentence, 'Julie' and 'some flowers' are both objects. To be precise, they are the 'indirect object' and 'direct object', respectively.
The indirect object can be considered the 'stationary' object (i.e. it doesn't move), and is the 'receiver' of the other object. The direct object is typically the thing that passes between the subject and the indirect object.
Option 1: It is more common to use the person (indirect object) as the subject (of the passive). This focuses the attention on the person, and less on the flowers.
Julie was given some flowers.
Option 2: We can emphasise the 'thing' by making the direct object the subject. This focuses the attention on the thing because we already know who the person in the sentence is. We can include the indirect object (i.e. the receiver) in a 'to-phrase'.
Some flowers were given to Julie.
3. Don't forget your prepositions
It's very easy to forget prepositions when transforming from the active to the passive. Many verbs in English have prepositions that follow them (also known as dependent prepositions, or phrasal verbs in other cases), and you must remember to include them in both active or passive sentences.
The verb in the following example is 'to pay for sth'. The preposition 'for' must NOT be forgotten.
Sam paid for the book. (active)
The book was paid for. (passive)
If you forget the preposition, the sentence will either change meaning completely, or will be incorrect.
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