1. PASSIVE VOICE

2. WHY SHOULD WE USE PASSIVE VOICE?
We don’t know the subject of the action (doer)
That house was burnt down
We know the subject of the action but do not want to mention it, for whatever the reason
The Ming vase was badly broken, I’m sorry mum.
We are more interested in the action itself than in the doer.
Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming

3. New styles of music were tried by The Beatles in the 60s
WHY SHOULD WE USE PASSIVE VOICE?
In The Active Voice, we give importance to the agent of the action (Active Subject)
The Beatles tried new styles of music in the 60s
In the Passive Voice, we give importance to the result of the action (Passive Subject) or the action itself.
New styles of music were tried by The Beatles in the 60s

4. HOW DO WE NORMALLY CHANGE VERBS FROM ACTIVE TO PASSIVE VOICE?
We normally need the auxiliary verb “to be”, which we use in the same tense as the main verb in the active verb, followed by the main verb in past participle.
E.g. :
The woman bought a new car.
S V CD
WAS/WERE BOUGHT
Remember: only transitive verbs can be used in passive voice

5. SIMPLE TENSES: ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE I DO IT IT IS DONE I DID IT
IT WAS DONE
I WILL DO IT
IT WILL BE DONE
I WOULD DO IT
IT WOULD BE DONE
I HAVE DONE IT
IT HAS BEEN DONE
I HAD DONE IT
IT HAD BEEN DONE
I WILL HAVE DONE IT
IT WILL HAVE BEEN DONE
I WOULD HAVE DONE IT
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DONE
Notice that if we count verbs, in passive voice there is always one more verb than in active voice (the auxiliary “to be”), that is a wonderful trick to know if we are using the verb correctly, by counting verbs ☺

6. CONTINUOUS TENSES: ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE I AM DOING IT
IT IS BEING DONE
I WAS DOING IT
IT WAS BEING DONE
I WILL BE DOING IT
IT WILL BE BEING DONE
I WOULD BE DOING IT
IT WOULD BE BEING DONE
I HAVE BEEN DOING IT
IT HAS BEEN BEING DONE
I HAD BEEN DOING IT
IT HAD BEEN BEING DONE
I WILL HAVE BEEN DOING IT
IT WILL HAVE BEEN BEING DONE
I WOULD HAVE BEEN DOING IT
IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BEING DONE
*I AM GOING TO DO IT
IT IS GOING TO BE DONE

7. WITH MODAL VERBS: ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE I CAN DO IT
IT CAN BE DONE
I COULD DO IT
IT COULD BE DONE
I MUST DO IT
IT MUST BE DONE
I MAY DO IT
IT MAY BE DONE
I MIGHT DO IT
IT MIGHT BE DONE
I HAVE TO DO IT
IT HAS TO BE DONE
I SHALL DO IT
IT SHALL BE DONE
I SHOULD DO IT
IT SHOULD BE DONE
I OUGHT TO DO IT
IT OUGHT TO BE DONE

8. LEAVING OUT THE AGENT We normally leave out the agent when:
We don’t know it:
Someone stole our garden furniture last summer
Our garden furniture was stolen last summer
It is not important or it is obvious.
The builders built our house in two years.
Our house was built in two years
A translation of our “Pasiva Refleja” or “Impersonal
Cars are rented (Se alquilan coches)

9. TYPES OF PASSIVE VOICE:
DIRECT OBJECT
INDIRECT OBJECT
CAUSATIVE HAVE/GET
IMPERSONAL
PERSONAL
HAVE SOMEONE DO
GET SOMEONE TO DO

10. DIRECT OBJECT
For this passive voice we need a transitive verb, therefore we’ll also need a direct object that becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
My mother buys all the weekly supplies
S V CD
All the weekly supplies are bought by my mother
S V AGENT
The agent is introduced by the preposition by

11. INDIRECT OBJECT
For this passive voice we only need a verb and an indirect object that becomes the subject in the passive voice
My brother has talked to my sister for hours
S V CI CC
My sister has been talked for hours by my brother
S V CC AGENT

12. WHAT HAPPENS IF THERE ARE BOTH OBJECTS IN THE SAME SENTENCE?
If you find a sentence with both direct and indirect objects, then you can do both types of passive voice, depending on what you want to emphasize:
My brother has bought my sister a new toy
S V CI CD
A new toy has been bought for my sister by my brother
S V CI AGENT
My sister has been bought a new toy by my brother
S V CD AGENT

13. *NOTE:
In any of these types of passive voice if the subject in the active is: “people”, “somebody”, a personal pronoun (he, she, I, they, etc) we tend to omit the agent of the sentence, that is the “doer” of the action.
When the direct object becomes the subject, the indirect object is preceded by a preposition in the sentence (to, for)
Examples of verbs that take two objects:
tell, show, send, lend, pay

14. They will bring me the newspaper
CAUSATIVE HAVE/GET
We use the causative when we refer to an action that is done for us by somebody else.
For this passive voice, we change the auxiliary verb, which can be either “have” or “get” (UK or US English), that is, in this case, those auxiliaries will be the ones we use in the same tense as the verb in the active voice. There is no difference between have or get, but get is more informal.
They will bring me the newspaper
will have/ get

15. They will bring me the newspaper
To transform a sentence using the causative, we need both a direct and an indirect object:
They will bring me the newspaper
S V CI CD
I will have/ get the newspaper brought
Note: we don’t normally use agent here.
CI+have/get+CD+V (past participle)

16. Note: We don’t use agent here. They will cut my dog’s hair for me.
EXAMPLES:
Note: We don’t use agent here.
They will cut my dog’s hair for me.
I will have /get my dog’s hair cut
The hairdresser has washed her hair
She has had/got her hair washed
The mechanic repaired his car
He had/got his car repaired

17. IMPERSONAL PASSIVE VOICE
For this passive voice we need to have two sentences joined by “that”. The first sentence needs a “mental verb”: say, think, believe, understand.
People think (that) she is very pretty
S1 S2
Since this passive voice is “impersonal”, we need an impersonal subject: IT, and then, we will use the first verb in passive voice, that is the “mental verb, without changing anything from the second sentence:
It is thought that she is very pretty.

18. Note: We don’t use agent here. Mary believed that I was American
EXAMPLES:
Note: We don’t use agent here.
Mary believed that I was American
It was believed that I was American
People have understood that he is silly
It has been understood that he is silly
They say that we are a couple
It is said that we are a couple

19. PERSONAL PASSIVE VOICE
For this passive voice we need to have two sentences joined by “that”. The first sentence needs a “mental verb”: say, think, believe, understand.
People think (that) Mary knows French
S V S V CS
Mary is thought to know French
Note: We don’t use agent here.

20. Note: We don’t use agent here. Mary believed that I was American
EXAMPLES:
Note: We don’t use agent here.
Mary believed that I was American
I was believed to have been American
People have understood that he is silly
He has been understood to be silly
They say that we are a couple
We are said to be a couple
We think you won’t arrive on time
You are thought not to arrive on time

21. HAVE SOMEONE DO SOMETHING
To transform a sentence using this passive voice, we need both a direct and an indirect object.
For this passive voice, we use “HAVE” as auxiliary verb, which will be used in the same tense as the verb in the active voice.
They will bring me the newspaper
S V CI CD
I will have them bring me the newspaper
CI+have+S+V (infinitive without “to)+CI+ CD

22. GET SOMEONE TO DO SOMETHING
To transform a sentence using this passive voice, we need both a direct and an indirect object.
For this passive voice, we use “GET” as auxiliary verb, which will be used in the same tense as the verb in the active voice.
They will bring me the newspaper
S V CI CD
I will get them to bring me the newspaper
CI+get+S+V (infinitive with “to)+CI+ CD