1. Active and Passive Voice
Государственное бюджетное общеобразовательное учреждение
средняя общеобразовательная школа № 80
с углубленным изучением английского языка
Active and Passive Voice
© Автор:
Расулова Н.Т., учитель английского языка
июнь, 2013 1

2. The usage
Sentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have "active forms" and "passive forms''
Active Form
In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active.
[Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action] 2

3. The usage Passive Form to be + past participle
How to form a passive sentence when an active sentence is given:
- object of the "active" sentence becomes subject in the "passive" sentence
- subject of the "active" sentence becomes "object" in the "passive" sentence" (or is left out) 3

4. The Green Mile was written by Stephen King in 1996.
The usage
Active costructions are used more often in English than passive constructions.
Generally, you need the passive voice in the following cases:
Case 1: When it is not known or not necessary to mention who performs the action.
His book hasn't been published yet.
His house was built a year ago
The film will be released in a month.
Case 2: When it is necessary to draw more attention to the receiver of the action.
The Green Mile was written by Stephen King in 1996.
A phrase with the preposition "by" is used if it is necessary to show by whom the action is performed. 4

5. NOTE:
DO NOT use passive constructions unnecessarily. In many cases it is better to use active constructions if you know who performs the action.
Normal: I've already bought a new computer.
Strange: A new computer has been bought by me already. 5

6. Exercises
Exercise № 1.Change the sentences below to the passive voice.
Children cannot open these bottles easily.
The government built a road right outside her front door.
When she arrived, the changes amazed her.
The construction workers are making street repairs all month long.
My son ate all the homemade cookies.
Some children were visiting the old homestead while I was there.
Exercise № 2. Change the sentences below to the active voice.
The statue is being visited by hundreds of tourists every year.
My books were stolen by someone yesterday.
These books had been left in the classroom by a careless student.
The streets around the fire had been blocked off by the police.
Have you seen the new movie that was directed by Ron Howard?
A great deal of our oil will have been exported to other countries by our government. 6