The Passive Voice

Sentences can be active or passive. We usually use the active in written and
spoken language. The difference is that in an active sentence the subject
performs the action and in a passive sentence the subject receives the action.
Study the following information to learn how to form a passive sentence, how to
put an active into a passive sentence and how to form the tenses in the passive
voice.

How to form the Passive

Form of to be + past participle (3rd form) of the verb

Tense Passive form

Present tense am / is / are invited
Past tense was / were invited
Future tense will be invited
Present perfect tense have / has been invited
Past perfect tense had been invited

How to form a passive sentence

FORM OF TO ADVERB,
SUBJECT
BE + 3rd FORM ...
The room is cleaned every day.
They are sold as pets.
A lot of
are invited to a party.
guests

Put an active sentence into a passive one:

Subject Verb Object
Active: Bats eat insects.

bats
Passive: Insects are eaten b
.
Subject Verb by Agent
 Subject of the active sentence → Agent of the passive sentence
Object of the active sentence → Subject of the passive sentence

When you want to use the passive form you have to transform the active
form into a sentence in which the subject becomes a complement. It is
possible with transitive verbs only.

Example : Amy buys a car -- > A car is bought by Amy.

The verb in the passive form is used with the auxiliary verb To be and the
past participle.

Amy buys ( active form in present simple )------> A car is bought ( passive
form in present simple)

Examples: Amy will buy ---- > A car will be bought

Amy bought ------>A car was bought.

Amy has bought -----> A car has been bought.

Amy is buying -----> A car is being bought

Amy can buy---------> A car can be bought

Amy has to buy ------> A car has to be bought .

The verb in the passive form is often followed with the preposition BY
when the agent is precise.If it is not the case, don't mention the agent.

The words such as anyone, someone, somebody, anybody, nobody,

everyone, no one are not necessary.

Exercise : complete the sentences in the passive form.Mind their

meaning. Don't write the agent.

1. They have not stamped the letter .>>> The letter

.

2. The driver should not bribe the police.>>> The

police .

3. A lorry knocked him down . >>>He .

4. We warned you . >>>You .

5. We had to give the books back .>>> The books

.

6. Someone had picked my keys up in the street.>>> My keys

.

7. An earthquake destroyed the town.>>> The town

.

8. We cannot repair your clock.>>> Your clock .

9. I suppose they have sold the house .>>> I suppose

.

10. They brought their children up in France .>>> Their

children .
11. They take him for a Frenchman .>>> He .

12. He will do his exercises later .>>> His exercises

.

1. They have not stamped the letter .>>> The letter

has not been stamped -or- hasn't been stamped.

2. The driver should not bribe the police.>>> The police

should not be bribed -or- shouldn't be bribed.

3. A lorry knocked him down . >>>He was knocked down.

4. We warned you . >>>You were warned.

5. We had to give the books back .>>> The books had to be given back.

6. Someone had picked my keys up in the street.>>> My keys

had been picked up in the street -or- had been pickedup.

7. An earthquake destroyed the town.>>> The town was destroyed.

8. We cannot repair your clock.>>> Your clock cannot be repaired -or-

can't be repaired.

9. I suppose they have sold the house .>>> I suppose the house has been
sold.

10. They brought their children up in France .>>> Their children were
brought up in France.

11. They take him for a Frenchman .>>> He is taken for a Frenchman.

12. He will do his exercises later .>>> His exercises will be done later.

PASSIVE VOICE WITH TWO OBJECTS:

Passive Voice 3:
PASSIVE VOICE WITH TWO OBJECTS:
Passive voice also known as passive sentences with two objects are active
sentences that contains a direct and indirect object.
When there are two objects in an active sentence, there are two possible active
sentences and two possible passive sentences.
 Sentence 1: The professor gave the students the books.
 Sentence 2: The professor gave the books to the students.
There are two objects in each of the following sentences:
Normally the indirect object is a person, were the direct object are things.
 Object 1 = indirect object → the students
 Object 2 = direct object → the books

In case that a direct object is followed by an indirect one, we put to in front of

the indirect object.
Like in the examples
Subject Verb direct Object indirect Object with to

The professor gave the books to the students.

When rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that
one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object.
Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the
focus on.
Subject Verb Object 1 Object 2
Active: Rita wrote a letter to me.
Passive: A letter was written to me by Rita.
Passive: I was written a letter by Rita.

Note: As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does not sound very
elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.
The jury sent the rule to all participants.
1 : The rule to all participants by the jury.
2 : All participants the rule by the jury.

Amazingly, each racer bought advanced protection spells from the

sorcerer.
1 : Advanced protection spells from the sorcerer by each
racer
2 : The sorcerer advanced protection spells by each racer.

Each clan gave advice to their champions.

1 : Advice to the champions by their clans.
2 : The champions advice by their clans.

On departure line, the jury recalled the stakes to the public.

1 : The stakes to the public by the jury.
2 : The public the stakes by the jury.

Of course, the judges gave a personal GPS to all the runners.

1 : A personal GPS to all the runners by the judges.
2 : All the runners a personal GPS by the judges.

The jury sent the rule to all participants.

1 : The rule was sent to all participants by the jury.

2 : All participants were sent the rule by the jury.

Amazingly, each racer bought advanced protection spells from the

sorcerer.
1 : Advanced protection spells were bought from the sorcerer by each
racer

2 : The sorcerer was bought advanced protection spells by each racer.

Each clan gave advice to their champions.

1 : Advice was given to the champions by their clans.
 2 : The champions were given advice by their clans.

On departure line, the jury recalled the stakes to the public.

1 : The stakeswere recalled to the public by the jury.

2 : The public was recalled -or- were recalled the stakes by the jury.

Of course, the judges gave a personal GPS to all the runners.

1 : A personal GPS was given to all the runners by the judges.

2 : All the runners were given a personal GPS by the judges.

Some verbs such as: ask, give, offer, teach, tell, lend, promise, sell, throw, can
have two objects.

When there are two objects in an active sentence then there

are two possible active sentences and two possible passive sentences.

 Sentence 1: Peter gave Susan a flower

 Sentence 2: Peter gave a flower to Susan.

There are two objects in each of the following sentences:

 Object 1 = indirect object → Susan

 Object 2 = direct object → a flower

An indirect object is very often a person, a direct object a thing. When a direct
object is followed by an indirect one, we put to in front of the indirect object.

Active sentence 1

Subject Verb indirect Object direct Object

Subject Verb indirect Object direct Object

Peter gave Susan a flower.

Active sentence 2

Subject Verb direct Object indirect Object with to

Peter gave a flower to Susan.

Each of the objects (flower/Susan) in the active sentences can become subject in
the passive sentence.

Passive sentence 1

Subject Verb Object (by-agent)

Susan was given a flower. (by Peter).

Passive sentence 2

Subject Verb Object (by-agent)

A flower was given to Susan (by Peter).

The most important thing you have to remember, when it

comes to turning an Active Voice into a Passive one, is to
keep the tense and form of the original sentence ( You are
not doing Reported Speech, and tenses don't change !);
the auxiliary of the Passive Voice is BE and it must be
given the tense and form of the original Active sentence.
ex : Nobody has invited you to tea tomorrow => You
haven't been invited to tea tomorrow.

* The Active Form was negative in the present perfect ; the

two elements will be kept in the passive form.

ex : In the cartoon, will the cat finally catch the mouse

? => In the cartoon, will the mouse finally be caught (by
the cat)?

* The Active Form was an interrogative in the future, the

Passive Form will keep them.