THE PASSIVE VOICE Slides 1 – 6 taken from learningcenter.fiu.edu

What is Active Voice? In the Active voice, the subject performs the action. For example: Joseph draws a picture.  Joseph is the subject and he is doing something (drawing).

What is passive voice? In passive voice the subject is acted upon. For example: The picture was drawn by Joseph. In this case, the drawing is the subject and it is being acted upon by Joseph.

When to use passive voice Use passive voice when you do not wish to emphasize the subject of the sentence. Example:  Smoking is prohibited. (passive)  The management prohibits smoking. (active) The passive sentence takes attention away from management, so they do not have to be in the role of the “bad guys.”

Passive Voice (con’d) Also use passive voice when you wish to emphasize what happened and the person or thing acting is unknown or unimportant. Example  Poisonous gases were found in six factories. The use of passive emphasizes the finding of gases, not who found them. Note: Because passive voice often leads to awkward or wordy constructions, use passive voice sparingly and with good reason.

When to use active voice  Use active voice unless you are required or have very specific reasons for doing otherwise.  Active voice generally leads to more concise writing.  It clarifies who is performing the action. Remember: Staying active is a healthy practice, especially in your writing!

Hands on Let’s use the following words as the base for our sentence: Police / question / suspect To make the passive use the verb ‘to BE’ in the same tense as the original sentence. To make the passive, use the 3rd form or past participle of the main verb. If you need to mention who is doing the action, use ‘by’ to introduce it.

Present simple To make the passive use the verb ‘to BE’ in the same tense as the original sentence – here it is the present simple tense To make the passive, use the 3 rd form or past participle of the main verb. If you need to mention who is doing the action, use ‘by’ to introduce it. ACTIVE VOICE: PASSIVE VOICE The police question the suspect. Police / question / suspect The suspect is questioned by the police.

Present continuous To make the passive use the verb ‘to BE’ in the same tense as the original sentence – here it is the present continuous To make the passive, use the 3 rd form or past participle of the main verb. If you need to mention who is doing the action, use ‘by’ to introduce it. ACTIVE VOICE: PASSIVE VOICE The police are questioning the suspect. Police / question / suspect The suspect is being questioned by the police.

Past simple To make the passive use the verb ‘to BE’ in the same tense as the original sentence – here it is the past simple tense To make the passive, use the 3 rd form or past participle of the main verb. If you need to mention who is doing the action, use ‘by’ to introduce it. ACTIVE VOICE: PASSIVE VOICE The police questioned the suspect. Police / question / suspect The suspect was questioned by the police.

Past continuous To make the passive use the verb ‘to BE’ in the same tense as the original sentence – here it is the past continuous ACTIVE VOICE: PASSIVE VOICE The police were questioning the suspect. Police / question / suspect The suspect was being questioned by the police.

Future Simple To make the passive use the verb ‘to BE’ in the same tense as the original sentence – here it is the past continuous ACTIVE VOICE: PASSIVE VOICE The police will question the suspect. Police / question / suspect The suspect will be questioned by the police.

Future Perfect To make the passive use the verb ‘to BE’ in the same tense as the original sentence – here it is the past continuous ACTIVE VOICE: PASSIVE VOICE The police will have questioned the suspect. Police / question / suspect The suspect will have been questioned by the police.

Present Perfect To make the passive use the verb ‘to BE’ in the same tense as the original sentence – here it is the past continuous ACTIVE VOICE: PASSIVE VOICE The police have questioned the suspect. Police / question / suspect The suspect has been questioned by the police.

Past Perfect Simple To make the passive use the verb ‘to BE’ in the same tense as the original sentence – here it is the past continuous ACTIVE VOICE: PASSIVE VOICE The police had questioned the suspect. Police / question / suspect The suspect had been questioned by the police.

Modals Present (e.g.must, can) To make the passive use the verb ‘to BE’ in the same tense as the original sentence – here it is the past continuous ACTIVE VOICE: PASSIVE VOICE The police must question the suspect. Police / question / suspect The suspect must be questioned by the police.

Modals Past (e.g.must have) To make the passive use the verb ‘to BE’ in the same tense as the original sentence – here it is the past continuous ACTIVE VOICE: PASSIVE VOICE The police must have questioned the suspect. Police / question / suspect The suspect must have been questioned by the police.