Passive Voice

1. TECNOLÓGICO NACIONAL DE MÉXICO TecNM
Inglés VIII
PASSIVE VOICE
 Passive Voice I Simple Tenses
 Passive Voice II Continuous Tenses
 Special Verbs used in Passive Voice

2. Passive Voice I
Use
We use the Passive Voice to emphasise an action rather than who or what is responsible for it.
Formation
The Passive Voice is formed with the verb be + the past participle of the main verb.
Present Simple
I am called
Are you called?
They aren´t called
Past Simple
I was called
Were you called
They weren’t called
Present Perfect Simple
I’ve been called
Have you been called?
You haven’t been called
Past Perfect Simple
I’d been called
Had you been called?
They hadn’t been called
Future Will
I’ll be called
Will you be called?
They won’t be called
Modal Verbs
I can be called
Should you be called?
They mustn’t be called

3. Passive Voice Form
• In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing doing the
action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that
the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also use the passive
form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the action.
BE PAST PARTICIPLE BY /
[Thing receiving action] [thing doing action]
ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE
Once a week, Tom cleans the house. Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom.
Sam repaired the car. The car was repaired by Sam.
Many tourists have visited that castle. That castle has been visited by many tourists.
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.
Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight. A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Sally tonight.
Someone will finish the work by 5:00 PM. The work will be finished by 5:00 PM.

4. Passive Voice II
We form the Progressive tenses in the Passive Voice with the appropriate form of the verb be + being + the past
participle of the main verb.
BE BEING THE PAST PARTICIPLE /
Present Progressive
I am being called
Are you being called?
They aren’t being called
Past Progressive
I was being called
Were you being called?
They weren’t being called
ACTIVE VOICE PASSIVE VOICE
Right now, Sarah is writing the letter. Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah.
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.
Recently, John has been doing the work. Recently, the work has been being done by John.
Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant's fantastic
dinners for two years before he moved to Paris.
The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been being prepared by
Chef Jones for two years before he moved to Paris.
At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be washing the dishes. At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being washed by
John.
The famous artist will have been painting the mural for over six
months by the time it is finished.
The mural will have been being painted by the famous artist for
over six months by the time it is finished.

5. Special Verbs used with Passive Voice
• Verbs such as know, believe, say, think, etc. are often followed by a that clause in the Active Voice and
can be used to make general statements.
People believe that he is very rich.
The Passive Voice can be formed in two ways:
• It + passive form of verb + that clause
It is believed that he is very rich.
• subject + passive form of the verb + to + base form
He is believed to be very rich.
• When a verb (give, offer, send, etc.) takes two objects in the Active Voice, there are two ways of
forming the Passive Voice.
Active Voice: They gave William a present.
Passive Voice: William was given a present.
A present was given to William.

6. Here you have an exercise to practice passive voice in a context

7. La voz pasiva es usada principalmente en periódicos, revistas y noticias en la televisión,
este tema como pudiste ver consiste en un cambio de sujeto, es decir una oración en
donde el objeto directo se vuelve el sujeto principal y el sujeto principal o al que
llamamos hacedor de la acción se convierto en lo menos importante o en ocasiones
desaparece, si se quiere conservar porque sea importante mencionarlo siempre será
introducido en la oración con la preposición by, el objetivo de la voz pasiva es resaltar
información, enfatizar algo o alguna información que de mayor impacto en las personas
que lo escuchan o lo leen.
Sabemos que quizá sea un poco confuso pero es importante identificar esta estructura
pues el periódico o las noticias es algo que esta en nuestro día a día y es importante
identificar la estructura para que si recordemos lo relevante del momento y las cosas nos
hagan un poco más de sentido, para practicar encontraras algunos ejercicios a realizar
asignados como tareas y una lectura donde podrás ver la voz pasiva aplicada. Recuerda
que si por alguna circunstancia tuvieras alguna duda o no haya quedado claro el tema
podrás recurrir a tu profesor a cargo del grupo quien con gusto te apoyara
Suerte en tu próxima lección !!
Aquí te dejamos las respuestas al ejercicio de practica para que puedas autoevaluarte
1. are considered 2. have been used 3. are called 4. can be seen 5. will find 6. carry 7. show 8. include

8. TECNOLÓGICO DE ESTUDIOS SUPERIORES DE
CUAUTITLAN IZCALLI (TESCI)