1. Muranova Tatyana Gymnasium 261 St Petersburg
Passive Voice
Muranova Tatyana Gymnasium 261 St Petersburg

2. Passive voice
video

3. St. Petersburg was built by Peter the Great. Peter the Great built St
St. Petersburg was built by Peter the Great. Peter the Great built St.Petersburg.

7. In the active voice, the subject of the sentence DOES the action:
Jake wrote a letter.
subject / verb / object
In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence is acted upon:
A letter was written (by Jake).
subject / verb
Passive vs Active

8. Last (year/month/day)
Present Simple
Past Simple
Statement is
am V3
are
was V3
were
Negative
am not V3
not V3
Question Is
Am ____ V3?
Are
Was
____ V3?
Were
Every day
Usually
Never
Often
Sometimes
Yesterday
Last (year/month/day)
Ago
In 1987
On Monday

9. When can we use the passive voice?
1. When we don't know who did the action
A laptop was stolen from the classroom.
2. When the person who does the action is "people in general"
Tino's is considered the city's best pizzeria. ( все так считают)
3. When the person who does the action is obvious or unimportant
Bill Clinton was elected president in (by the country's population, obviously)
4. When we want to give MORE emphasis to the receiver of the action than to the doer
Sometimes we do want to mention who did the action, because it is interesting or important in some way... but we still want to keep the primary focus of attention on the object of the action:
The Taj Mahal was built by the emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his wife.
(we are learning primarily about the Taj Mahal, so we keep the attention on it)

10. How can we say who did the action?
1. We use the preposition by:
This book was written by Jack London.
2. We do not include "by..." when:
a. The doer of the action is unknown:
The money was stolen.
b. The doer of the action is "people in general":
Black cats are believed to bring bad luck.
b. The doer of the action is completely unimportant:
This bridge was built in (probably by a construction company)
!!! We use of to speak about material and with to speak about instruments.
That plate is made of glass.
The picture is drawn with the pencil.

11. The End.