In previous weeks, we discussed the main three aspects of past and present tense. In addition to these verb forms, we have active and passive forms of the verbs. Active verbs are the forms we have discussed so far.
Objectives
Recognize the use of passive voice
Change active to passive voice in controlled contexts
Use passive voice to add formality
What is Passive Voice?
A verb is a word that expresses an action, state, or occurrence. Often when we use a verb, we are expressing the action connected to the subject. The subject is the noun that is the doer of the verb. This is what we call active voice.
Active Voice
The subject acts upon the verb. The verb is done by the subject.
Example:
Alice singsthe song. (Alice is performing this action.)
However, in more formal speaking, we often use the passive voice. The passive expresses the action connected to the object. The object noun moves to before the verb and the verb structure changes. This changes the focus from who did the verbto the object that was "verbed."
Passive Voice
The object receivesthe verb. The focus is on the objectwhichis verbed.
Example:
The song was sungby Alice.
Think of this change of voice like moving the camera from the actor to the receiver of the verb.
Example:
Ithrewthe snowball.
Hewas hitby the snowball.
I aimedthe snowball at my boyfriend.
The snowball was aimedat my boyfriend.
The Structure
To change a verb from active to passive, you need to be sure that the verb has an object (transitive verbs). If there is only an actor with no receiver of the verb, it cannot become a passive sentence.
Welivein Russia. (Live does not have an object. It cannot be passive.)
WespeakRussian. (Speak has the language as an object. This can be passive.)
If there is an object for the verb, you can change the focus from the actor to the receiver.
Russian is spoken.
This is how you make a passive sentence:
SUBJECT + VERB + OBJECT
changes to
OBJECT + BE VERB + PAST PARTICIPLE (+ BY SUBJECT)
Look at the table to see more examples of passive voice.
Present Tense Verbs
The bird
eats
the seeds.
The seeds
are eaten
by the bird.
The man
is walking
the dog.
The dog
is being walked
by the man.
The coworkers
have signed
the card.
The card
has been signed
by the coworkers.
Present Tense Verbs
The bird
ate
the seeds.
The seeds
were eaten
by the bird.
The man
was walking
the dog.
The dog
was being walked
by the man.
The coworkers
had signed
the card.
The card
had been signed
by the coworkers.
Notice that the tense and aspect stays the same when the verb changes from active to passive, but thebe verbshows the aspect. The main verb is always in the past participle. The subject and objects switch places.
One more note on the structure: Passive voice does not always include the by subjectphrase. If it is not relevant to what the speaker is saying or is obvious, they may not include it.
The cake was baked (by the baker) this morning.
This is obvious and is unlikely to be included.
Why Use Passive Voice?
There are a few reasons why we use the passive voice in our speaking.
When we don't know the actor or don't want to point fingers
The computer was stolenthis morning.
The garbage wasn't taken outside this morning.
When the action and the object are important and the doer is distracting or unimportant
My temperature will be takenfirst.
The textbook was writtena long time ago.
In science or teamwork when the result should be the focus
The planet Uranuswas discovered in 1781.
The product has been designedto solve a specific problem.
Changing the focus by using either active or passive voice shows control over the language. This grammar form allows you to focus on what you think is most important.
As we have mentioned many times, it would be very unusual to speak only in the passive voice. You will see it mixed in with other forms of verbs.
Exercise 1: Listen for Passive
Watch this video and listen for examples of passive voice. This is also a great example of how different tenses and aspects are used together to create an interesting narrative.
(1:01) The metal structurehas been removed" Utah official said on Saturday.
(1:31) And outside of Wendover, Utah, you can find Nancy Holt's Sun Tunnels, which, like a lot of my favorite art,cannotreallybe describedor photographed effectively.
(2:33) But there is a big problem with that theory, which is that satellite photographs tell us that the obeliskwas installedsometime in 2016, and McCracken died in 2011.
Exercise 2: Listen for Passive
Watch this video and listen for examples of passive voice. There is not a transcript for this video and she speaks quickly. You may need to listen to it more than once.
(0:18) More than 20 years after Gustav Klint's famous Portrait of a Ladywas reportedly stolen, a gardener has found it hidden behind the walls of the very museum that it was taken from.
(0:58) The prosecutors say the painting is one of Klint's most famous pieces, stolen from a gallery in northern Italy more than 20 years ago, and it was discovered here.
(1:12) Behind it lay the masterpiece hidden in a plastic bag in the external wall of the very same gallery it was stolen from.
(1:46) Thirteen masterpieces were stolen from the Gardner Museum in Boston and are yet to be recovered.
(1:52) In 2016, the iconic soup can prints by Andy Warhol were lifted from the Springfield Art Museum in Missouri, still no luck on its whereabouts.
(2:02) The mystery of this heist mayhave been solved, but there are still so many questions.
Exercise 3: Active or Passive
Write 5 sentences that can be made passive (transitive verbs like tell = can have an object).
Ex. The professor tells stories to explain the main idea.
Write 5 sentences that cannot be made passive (intransitive verbs like laugh = cannot have an object).
Ex. The class laughed when I make a joke.
Mix the sentences in a random order.
Your teacher will put you in a breakout room with a partner. Read your sentences to a partner.
Your partner will say active for sentences that can only be in active voice or passive for sentences that can be in passive voice.
You and your partner will change the sentences into passive voice.
Ex. The stories are told (by the professor) to explain the main idea.
Repeat the activity with your partner's list of sentences.
Be prepared to share your passive sentences with the class.
Exercise 4: Great Inventions & Discoveries
Your teacher will assign you to a group to work with and tell you how much time you have for this activity.
As a group, choose a famous invention or discovery.
Prepare a short explanation of your choice using a combination of active and passive voice and different aspects of the past. Include some present sentences to explain the impact of that invention/discovery on the world now.
Make sure everyone in the group has the prepared explanation.
Your teacher will then put one person from each group into a new group.
Share the explanation your first group prepared with the new group.