Understanding Passive Voice

Tone can tell us a lot about what a person is trying to say. Louder voices often seem more dominating, whereas quieter voices can seem timid and shy. In grammatical structure, we also use tone to emphasise particular information. This can be done through the use of active and passive voice.

Active voice:

Active voice simply means that the subject of a sentence is doing the verb. This is used in most sentences, giving a clear line of action from the subject to the verb.
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Subject + Verb
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‍- The workers carried the boxes to her car.
- The storm damaged his roof.

Passive voice: ‍

In some situations, we use the passive voice. Passive voice has a weaker and more subtle tone. It means that the subject is having the verb done to it.

'to be' + the past participle
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- The boxes were carried to her car by the workers.
- His roof was damaged by the storm.

We use the passive:

1) When the action is more important than the agent:
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- Eighty-five percent of oranges are grown in Brazil.
- The ceremony will be held at the end of the competition.

2) When the agent is unknown or obvious:

- My wallet was stolen yesterday. (It's unknown who stole the wallet.)
- He was arrested for his crimes. (It's obvious police are doing the arresting.)

3) When we don't want to say who the agent is:
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- An error has been made in the paperwork.
- The application has been rejected.

4) When the agent is 'people in general':
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- Prizes are awarded in many different categories.
- The statue of Davide can be viewed at the Accedemia Gallery in Florence.

5) When we don't want to repeat the agent:
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- The school is providing online resources for teachers. They are also being offered to students and parents.
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The passive can be used with most English tenses.

Simple present: is/are + past participle
- These classrooms are reserved for music lessons.

Present continuous: is/are + verb(ing) + past participle
- T-shirts are being made for the class trip.

Present perfect: have/has been + past participle
- The criminal has been arrested.

Simple past: was/were + past participle
- Bad marks were given to students who did not participate in the lesson.

Past continuous: was/were being + past participle
- The renovations were being done while we were out of town.

Past perfect: had been + past participle
- Awards had been given before the closing ceremony.

Future: will be + past participle
- The appointment will be rescheduled for next month.

Future perfect: will have been + past participle
- The travel plans will have been finalised before the weekend.

Using modals:

Modal + be + past participle
- His contract still has to be renewed.‍

The past passive form:‍

modal + have been + past participle
- My car should have been fixed last week.

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