There are times when it is not the subject that is important, but the action itself. In such situations they will help out (passive voice). Listen to the news, read newspapers, and you will see that the passive voice is used quite often, both at home and in the offices of serious companies. And this applies to any language.
English sentences in passive voice
What do you need to know to formulate? It's simple, you just need to remember a simple diagram:
If you need to indicate the person who performed this or that action, the preposition is used by.
For example:
This castle was built by my parents. – This castle was built by my parents.
For education interrogative sentence it is enough to take out the appropriate form of the verb to be in front of the object/subject on which the action was performed.
For example:
Was this castle built by your parents? – Was this castle built by your parents?
To formulate a negation, it is enough to add not to our verb to be.
For example:
This castle wasn't built by my parents. – This castle was not built by my parents.
English sentences in passive voice
Let's move on to practice! Below are English sentences in passive voice.
|
time |
offer |
translation |
|
This exercise is done by Mike. |
This exercise is done by Mike |
|
|
This exercise was done by Mike yesterday. |
This exercise was done by Mike yesterday. |
|
|
This exercise will be done by Mike. |
This exercise will be completed by Mike. |
|
|
This exercise has already been done by Mike. |
This exercise has already been completed by Mike. |
|
|
This exercise had been done by Mike before I asked him. |
This exercise was done by Mike before I asked him to. |
|
The passive voice is used to express interest in the person or object who is experiencing the action, rather than in the action that the person or object produces. In other words, the object of interest or the person we are interested in becomes the subject of the proposition.
Examples
- The passive voice is used frequently. (= we are interested in the passive voice, not the person who uses it.)
- The house was built in 1654. (= we are interested in the house itself, not in who built it.)
- The road is being repaired. (= we are interested in the road, not those who repair it.)
Sometimes we use the passive voice because we don't know or don't care who did the action.
Examples
- I noticed that a window had been left open.
- Every year thousands of people are killed on our roads.
- All the cookies have been eaten.
- My car has been stolen!
The passive voice is often used in formal texts. Changing the passive voice to active will immediately make your speech clearer and more accessible in writing.
If we want to say that an action is performed by someone or something and use the passive voice, we add a preposition by. When we know who performed the action and are interested in that person, it is always better to use the active voice instead of the passive voice.
What's better? Be proactive and useActive Voice in English, or get away with Passive? Both collaterals are good in their own ways.
What is it pledgein English?Before you start answering this question, you need to understand some terms. Sometimes to understand foreign language, there is no escape from this.
Today, under the prism of our attention will be the following concepts:
- Verb
- Subject of action
- Action Object
- Addition
- Transitive and intransitive verbs
Verb
What is a sense of life?
Most likely, you did not expect such a question in an article about the English language. But think about it, what meanings and goals do people have?
-
To plant a tree
- Build a house
- Defend your PhD thesis
- Pay off the mortgage
- Be happy
- Become better
We noticed that at the beginning there is alwaysverb? Plant, pay, be - these are all verbs.
They are simply filled with meaning. Therefore, few things in a sentence compare in importance to verbs. These are words that express an action or state.
Subject of action
If the verb is, roughly speaking, the action itself, then the subject is the one who performs it. Most often in a sentence, the subject is the subject. In the examples below, subjects are shown in bold.
The frog
croaks in the water.
The frog croaks in the water.
I
've planted a tree.
I
planted a tree.
My mother's friend's son
has defended a Candidate's thesis.
The son of my mother’s friend defended his Ph.D. thesis.
The subject can also be an inanimate object. Of course, objects, things and abstract phenomena do not have will, but whether they want it or not, sometimes they also perform actions.
It
's raining cats and dogs.
Rain
waters like a bucket.
The financial crisis
has led to the unemployment.
Financial crisis
led to unemployment.
The car
turned over.
Car
turned over.
The subject, or, as it is also called,action agent- this is a very important element of the sentence, although, as we will find out later, it is not always mandatory.
Action Object
Subject, verb + object. This is precisely the simplest and most typical scheme of an English sentence. The object answers the question "who, what? From this threean objectis the most vulnerable link. Some actions are constantly being performed on him. A tree is planted without asking its permission, the candidate’s thesis is defended, and some unfortunate hare may even be shot.
Understand correctly, the object is not always the suffering element (although the passive voice, which we will talk about later, is not called that for nothing).
It happens in different ways, for example, sometimes a bride is married off after consulting with the bride herself. But anyway, in a sentence
Tom marriedMary (Tom married Mary)
Mary is an object.
It's good that on the same day
Mary marriedTom (Mary married Tom).
And justice was restored, because both newlyweds managed to be both object and subject at their wedding.
Exercise:
Can you find the objects in the sentences below? What about the subjects? Well, will you definitely notice the verbs?
I waste my time. (I'm wasting my time)
Everyone's saying different things. (Everyone says different things).
The internet units people. (The Internet brings people together).
Addition
If we want to go a little deeper into the details, we add to our suggestions. A part of speech arises, which is called -addition.
If a mother asks her son:
Where have you been? (Where have you been?)
And he answers -
I was just hanging out. (Just walking).
This will be a proposal without addition, that is, without details. But mom needs details, and she asks:
WITH who were you walking with? Where were you walking? How long?
The answers to such questions (indirect cases) will be additions.
I was hanging outwith Jack
.
I was hanging out with Jack.
I've bought thisfor you.
I bought this for you.
Transitivity and intransitivity of verbs
If the reader is one of those who is proactive and comes up with his own examples, then he will certainly ask himself:
Where is the object of action in sentences?
«
I walk",
“I slept until lunch today”
"Ocean is shaking"?
The fact is that some verbs that are calledtransitional, exist in conjunction with other words, to which they seem to transfer their effect. These other words are called direct objects because they answer the question:What? or whom?
I love you (I love you)
I love whom? - You.
To put it simply"I love", then in the eyes of those listening there will be a silent question - who, who do you love?To love (to love)- transitive verb.
You can't just go ahead and say:
I take. (I accept).
You make. (You are doing).
The delivery boy brings. (The courier boy brings it).
To verbs take, make, bringyou definitely need an object:
I take this challenge. (I accept this challenge).
You make the world a better place. (You make this world a better place).
The delivery boy brings food to your place. (The courier boy brings food to your home).
Is there intransitiveverbs, it is impossible to place an object after them.
Little children sleep. (Little children are sleeping).
I sit. (I am sitting).
You can't ask "who/what are you sitting ?», « who/what are they sleeping with ?». Sleep And sit- verbs are intransitive.
But it would be naive to believe that all verbs are either only transitive or only intransitive.
It all depends on the final meaning of the sentence. Even the most intransitive verb tomorrow it may suddenly transfer its action to some unwary object and become transitional.
Compare:
I run in the park every day.
I run in the park every day.
Verb run- transitional? No, because you can’t ask a question to this sentence “running who/what? ».
But, you were jogging, running around the park, and decided to run a marathon. Well, or at least twenty-one kilometers to begin with.
In new circumstancesrunacquires transitivity.
I ran a half marathon.
I ran a half marathon.
I will run a marathon next year.
I'll run a marathon next year.
(Run what? - Half marathon. Run what? - Marathon).
At the same time, transitive verbs can be modified in such a way that they change the meaning and their transitive features.
For example, verbtake, adding a pieceoff,becomes completely intransitive and changes the meaning from “take" on " get off the ground ».
The plane takes off. (The plane takes off.)
Pledge
Pledge in Englishmeans a lot. When it is active, the most natural, easy-to-understand sentences are produced.
In it, the subject is, as it were, illuminated by spotlights, he is in a visible place. That is, we understand who is performing the action.
Vano kidnapped the bride.
Vano kidnapped the bride.
Under the spotlight, we have in our sentence the guy Vano, who stole the bride. Everything is crystal clear. (Aren't you ashamed, Vano?)
Now let's regroup the proposal:
The bride was kidnapped by Vano.
The bride was kidnapped by Vano.
This is what it looks like inpassive voice. This pledge is called differentlypassive, since the bride loves another and certainly suffers. However, even if she loves Vano and longed to be kidnapped by him, the voice is still called passive.
As you can see, in the passive voice the object and subject change places. By the way, you don’t have to name the subject, and then you’ll also get a completely meaningful sentence:
The bride was kidnapped.
The bride was kidnapped.
The subject is not named in cases where:
- We don't know who did the action.
- It doesn't matter who did it.
- The subject of the action is obvious to everyone.
The bride was kidnapped.
(Of course, she was, Vano had been planning it for a long time).
The bride was kidnapped.
(Of course, because Vano had been planning this for a long time).
Classic examples of obvious subjects are the police, doctors, firefighters, in general, those who do a unique job that no one else can do.
The killer was caught and given a life sentence.
The killer was caught and sentenced to life imprisonment.
(It is clear that only the police and the court could act as agents of action).
He was taken to the hospital where he underwent surgery and his life was saved.
He was taken to hospital where he underwent surgery and his life was saved.
(From the context it is clear that the patient’s life was saved by doctors, additionby doctorsnot necessary, it is implied).
Formation
Active voice in English is built according to the formula
Subject + verb + object.
In a passive construction, in the place of the subject there is an object - the one (that) who (what) is affected. So the carrot from the example above, which the rabbit eats, becomes, as it were, the main character.
The formula changes as follows:
Subject (former object) +to be + past participle + actor (optional).
An important point: exactlytransitionalverbs can be used in the passive voice.
Let's consider the formation of Passive Voice in different grammatical tenses
Voices in English: tablefor Present Simple
In the present simple tense, the passive voice is formed using the present tense forms of the verbto be (am, is, are)and past participles. ( Past Participle, by the way, is used in all tenses in the passive).
Present Continuous
Here to am/is/arean “ing” form is addedto be, expressing the duration of the action - being.
Present Perfect
Auxiliary words for the present perfect tense -has been (for third person singular) andhave been (for all other persons and numbers).
Past Simple
Past simple. Of course, we add herewas for singular andwere for plural.
By the way, we wrote about Past Simple Passive
Past Continuous
The auxiliary verbs will be:was/were , as for past simple tense, plusbeing , as an expression of a long aspect.
Past Perfect
A construction that is constantly found in the passive ishad been.We discussed this in detail :
Future Simple
This future is simple, respectively, and the formation of the passive form is simple - to will is added be . Well, of course, let’s not forget Past Participle.
Future Perfect
Any perfect always includes a verbhave . So in the future perfect tense it became part of the structure:will have been . The article where we tell you how simple it all is is .
Attention! Next times:
- Present Perfect Continuous,
- Past Perfect Continuous,
- Future Perfect Continuous,
- Future Continuous,
are used only in the active form. Otherwise, you end up with very cumbersome structures, like this:
The carrot has been eaten by the rabbit.
This is already too much, you agree.
Active voice in English- the best choice?
If you are a novice writer (what if?), then only the lazy one would not advise you to build sentences exclusively in the active voice. Like, this way the text turns out more lively and intelligible.
This is true. Passive Voice should never be used. (The passive voice should never be used.)
In fact, this is a joke (if you understand what it is, you are just super smart). Each pledge is good in its time and place.
Cases when the passive voice is very helpful
- Reports of crimes committed or incidents whose perpetrators are unknown.
Her diamond ring was stolen yesterday.
Here the use of passive voice emphasizesWhat exactlythe act of theft itself was stolen.
Even if we are not talking about crimes and emergencies, but about something good, sometimes the person performing the action is not mentioned or is mentioned in passing, as an addition. Examples with charity are indicative in this sense, since patrons often prefer to remain in the shadows:
Over four million dollars were donated to educational institutions last year.
More than four million dollars were donated to educational organizations last year.
$410 billion was given to charity in 2017.
$410 billion was donated to charity in 2017.
- Scientific context.
The chemical reaction was not observed at that time.
No chemical reaction was observed at that time.
The experiment was being held from May 2008 until August 2010.
The experiment was carried out from May 2008 to August 2010.
Who conducts the experiments, observes chemical reactions? Of course, scientists. This is obvious and not particularly valuable information. What is really important is the research itself, reactions and other results, which are put first in the proposal.
- When the person who committed the action is not comparable in scale to the action itself.
Napoleon’s life is spoken about a lot.
Much is said about the life of Napoleon.
- When you need to avoid criticism and accusations.
« Mistakes were made"- mistakes were made. Who made them? Who will take responsibility? Is there any solution? Passive voice allows you to bypass all these issues. So, if suddenly something doesn’t go as you planned, keep in mind that there is such an elegant way to hush up your guilt.
The conflict had been started.
The conflict had begun.
The decision wasn’t made in time.
The decision was not made on time.
The money was spent.
The money was spent.
- In literature, to create a comic or other effect at the discretion of the author.
Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice has an overabundance of passive voice. But, on the other hand, how else to convey the relationships within this prim English little world?
He looked at with great admiration for about half the evening.
For almost half the evening they looked at him with incredible admiration.
(This is about Mr. Darcy, and the admiration was caused, for the most part, by rumors about his decent fortune).
Elizabeth listened in silence but was not convinced.
Elizabeth listened in silence, but was not convinced.
Miss Bennet was therefore established as a sweet girl.
Miss Bennet has since been declared the sweetest girl.
The visit was soon returned in due form.
The visit was duly returned.
Writers of the nineteenth century generally often avoided directly naming the subjects of action. Here, for example, are characteristic passages from Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace”:
The Viscount was presented to society in the most elegant and favorable light.
He was reported to the sovereign, and, unlike others, he was transferred to the Semenovsky Guard Regiment as an ensign.
Literary works that are replete with the use of the passive voice are, of course, not so easy to read, but, having learned to grasp the meaning behind passive constructions, you can get a lot of pleasure from the delicacy and subtle humor of the writers of that era.
So, today you have learned a lot about the structure of English sentences, and, of course, about voices - how and where they are used.
Even if you forget how Passive and Active Voice - table , where all tenses are considered, will help you. By the way, don't forget to bookmark this page!
IN active voice the subject denotes the performer of the action, the person or thing performing the described action, and the one to whom the action is directed, the so-called. The "receiver of the action" in the sentence is the object.
Most sentences have an active voice.
Offers active voice in English
performer of the action + I form of the verb + recipient of the action
For example:
The professor teaches the students.
The professor teaches to the students.
John washes the dishes.
John is washing the dishes.
Passive Voice
IN passive voice the subject is the person or thing being affected by another person or thing. In other words, the doer and recipient of the action are swapped, although the doer of the action may not be specified.
Offers passive voice in English are formed as follows:
action recipient + be + past participle
For example:
The students are taught.
Students are taught.
The dishes are washed.
The dishes are washed.
The passive voice is used:
1. Mainly in cases where the performer of the action is not mentioned in the sentence; it is either unknown, or the speaker does not consider it necessary to report it.
For example:
Is English spoken in many countries?
Is English spoken in many countries?
That book was written a few years ago.
This book was written several years ago.
2. When the performer of the action, although mentioned in the sentence, is not in the center of the speaker’s attention; a noun or pronoun expressing the given performer of the action is introduced by a preposition by. Please note that in the active voice the performer of the action was the subject, while in the passive voice he becomes the object.
For example:
The students are taught by the professor
A professor teaches students.
The dishes are washed by John.
John washes the dishes.
Also, in a passive voice sentence, another object can be used, attached by a preposition with, and describing how the action is performed, for example:
The dishes are washed with a bar of soap.
Dishes are washed with a bar of soap.
In English, the scope of use of verbs in the passive voice is much wider than in Russian. Thus, any verb that takes a direct or indirect object can be used in the passive voice.
For example:
I gave him a book. (I gave him the book.)
A book was given to him. (The book was given to him.) = He was given a book. (He was given a book.)
They showed me a beautiful picture. (They showed me a beautiful picture.)
A beautiful picture was shown to me. ( Beautiful picture was shown to me.) = I was shown a beautiful picture. (I was shown a beautiful picture.)
In English, verbs that take a prepositional object can be used in the passive voice (for example: to attend to, to send for, and etc.). The proposed object is used as the subject of the passive phrase, and the preposition comes immediately after the verb.
For example:
She went after him. – He was gone after.
She followed him. - Let's go get him.
Ways to translate the passive voice into Russian
There are three ways to translate the passive voice into Russian:
1. Using the verb “ be» + short form of participle, for example:
Were his books translated into Russian?
Were are his books translated into Russian?
2. Verbs ending in –xia, For example:
Letters are delivered by mailmen.
Letters are delivered postmen.
3. Indefinite personal circulation (this method of transfer is possible in cases where English sentence the performer of the action is not mentioned), for example:
They were taught French last year.
Their taught French last year.
Examples of active and passive voice
The table below shows examples of active and passive voice in all possible tenses. Please note that the passive voice is not used in tenses Present Perfect Continuous, Past Perfect Continuous, Future Perfect Continuous and Future Continuous.
| Active voice | Passive voice | |
| Present Simple | Once a week, Tom cleans the house. | Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom. |
| Present Continuous | Right now, Sarah is writing the letter. | Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah |
| Past Simple | Sam repaired the car. | The car was repaired by Sam. |
| Past Continuous | The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store. | The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store. |
| Present Perfect | Many tourists have visited that castle. | That castle has been visited by many tourists. |
| Present Perfect Continuous | Recently, John has been doing the work. | |
| Past Perfect | George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic’s license. | Many cars had been repaired by George before he received his mechanic’s license. |
| Past Perfect Continuous | Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant’s fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to Paris. | |
| Future Simple will | Someone will finish the work at 5:00 PM. | The work will be finished by 5:00 PM. |
| Future Simple be going to | Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight. | A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Sally tonight. |
| Future Continuous | At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes. | |
| Future Perfect | They will have completed the project before the deadline. | The project will have been completed before the deadline. |
| Future Perfect Continuous | The famous artist will have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished. | |
| Used To | Jerry used to pay the bills. | The bills used to be paid by Jerry. |
| Would Always | My mother would always make the pies. | The pies would always be made by my mother. |
| Future in the Past | I knew John would finish the work at 5:00 PM. | I knew the work would be finished by 5:00 PM. |
Our speech in Russian is quite diverse. We use different designs: simple and complex, active and passive. And we don’t even think about it. If you want to raise your English speaking to the same "intuitive level", then you should definitely use our Passive Voice table.
When you started studying tenses, you probably came across such a grammatical phenomenon as active and passive voice. Let's remember what their difference is. Most time periods can be used in two cases. If the subject of the sentence itself performs the action (I’m walking, he’s drawing, we bought, they’ll fly), then we need an active form. If something is done to the subject, he is subjected to influence (trees are planted, water is poured, I was invited, we will be taken), then we use the passive construction. That's the last one we'll talk about.
Education
Each tense uses different auxiliary verbs and predicate forms. The Passive Voice table will tell us about this.
Present |
Past |
Future |
|
Formula Simple |
is/am/are + V ed (V 3) | was/were + V ed (V 3) | will/shall + be + V ed (V 3) |
| Letters are sent every day. — Letters are sent every day. | Letters were sent yesterday. — The letters were sent yesterday. | Letters will be sent tomorrow. — The letters will be sent tomorrow. | |
Formula Continuous |
is/am/are + being + V ed (V 3) | was/were + being + V ed (V 3) | ————————— |
| Letters are being sent now. — Letters are being sent now. | Letters were being sent at 5 yesterday. — Letters were sent at 5 o’clock yesterday. | ————————— | |
Formula Perfect |
has/have + been + V ed (V 3) | had + been + V ed (V 3) | will/shall + have/has+ been +V ed (V 3) |
| Letters have already been sent. - The letters have already been sent. | Letters had been sent before he phoned. — The letters were sent before he called. | Letters will have been sent by 5 tomorrow. — Letters will be sent tomorrow before 5 o’clock. | |
| Perfect Continuous | ———————————— | ———————————- | ————————— |
Note that the Perfect Continuous is not used at all in the passive voice. A Continuous time has no future segment. The interrogative and negative forms are identical in all tenses.
? - Recall. verb + mean + predicate
- Subject + auxiliary. verb + not + predicate
Were you invited to the party yesterday? — Were you invited to a party yesterday?
I wasn’t invited to the party yesterday. — I wasn’t invited to the party yesterday.
Are the flowers being planted now? —Are they planting flowers now?
The trees are not being planted now. — Trees are not being planted now.
Let's compare Active and Passive
The use of different tenses fully corresponds to their counterparts in the active voice. That is why it is recommended to study all the elements of this group, and then look in detail at. Let's look at a few examples to make it easier for you to understand everything and remember it at the right time.
Active |
Passive |
|
Present Simple |
She writes a new play for the theater every year. — She writes a new play for the theater every year. | A new play for the theater is written by her every year. — She writes a new play for the theater every year. |
Past Simple |
He stole food from the shop. — He stole food from the store. | Food was stolen from the shop by him. — The food was stolen from the store. |
Future Simple |
They will show a new musical on TV next month. — They will show a new musical on television next month. | A new musical will be shown on TV next month. — The new musical will be shown on television next month. |
Present Continuous |
My dad is repairing the car now. — My dad is repairing the car now. | The car is being repaired by my dad now. — The car is now being repaired by dad. |
Past Continuous |
At 9 my brother was loading the truck. — At 9 o’clock my brother was unloading the truck. | At 9 o’clock the truck was being loaded by my brother. — At 9 o’clock the truck was unloaded by my brother. |
Present Perfect |
My daughter has already translated the whole text. — My daughter has already translated the entire text. | The whole text has already been translated by my daughter. — The entire text has already been translated by my daughter. |
Past Perfect |
When we came to the kitchen, he had eaten the pie. — When we entered the kitchen, he had already eaten the pie. | When we came to the kitchen, the pie had been eaten. — When we entered the kitchen, the pie had already been eaten. |
Future Perfect |
We will have finished the work by 6 tomorrow. — Tomorrow we will finish work by six. | The work will have been finished by 6 tomorrow. — The work will be finished by six tomorrow. |
As you can see, there is nothing complicated in this element of the language. First of all, determine the role of the subject: it acts or on him. Then determine the time (you can use hint words). If you need to use the passive construction, then our passive voice table is at your service. Choose the time auxiliary, the ending of the predicate, and you're done. It is better to consolidate all this in exercises that can be completed online on our website.
