ACTIVE VOICE AND THE PASSIVE VOICE
BLANCA CECILIA FLOREZ COD. 201212373
LISETH VIVIANA BUITRAGO CH. COD. 201212371
Presentado a:
Lic. Miguel Rosas
Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia
Licenciatura en Educación Básica
Cread Bogotá
2015.

WHAT ARE THE ACTIVE VOICE AND THE PASSIVE
VOICE?
Voice is a grammatical
category that applies to
verbs. Voice expresses the
relationship of the subject to
the action. Voice has two
values:
ACTIVE: the subject does the
action
PASSIVE: the subject receives
the action
The active voice is the
"normal" voice - the
one that we use most
of the time. In the
active voice,
the object receives
the action of the verb:

“ACTIVE VOICE”
EXAMPLES:
SUBJECT VERB OBJECT
Cats
I
He
Eat
Write
sings
mice.
a letter
a song

“PASSIVE VOICE”
The passive voice is less
common. In the passive
voice, the subject
receives the action of the
verb:
The passive of an active tense is formed by putting the
verb to be into the same tense as the active verb
and adding the past participle of the active verb. The
subject of the active verb becomes the ‘agent’ of the
passive verb. The agent is very often not mentioned.
When it is mentioned it is preceded by by and placed
at the end of the clause.

• The door was opened by Mr Black. (Mr
Blak = agent)by with the agent to
refer to by whom the
action is being done
• The door was opened with a key. (a key =
the object that was used)
• The omelette was made with eggs,
cheese and peppers. (eggs, cheese and
peppers = the material that was used)
with to refer to the
instrument, object or
material that was used
for something to be
done.
BY OR WITH?
In the passive voice, we use:

“PASSIVE VOICE”
EXAMPLES:
SUBJECT VERB OBJECT
←
Mice
A letter
A song
are eaten
Is written
Is sung
by cats.
by me.
by him

ACTIVE TO PASSIVE
To change a sentence from the active voice to the passive
ACTIVE PASIVE
* The object of the active
voice sentence becomes
the subject of the passive
voice sentence.
Agatha Christie wrote this
book.
This book was written by
Agatha Christie.
* We change the main verb of the active voice sentence into the passive voice.
The tense remains
unchanged.
* The subject of the active voice sentence becomes the agent of the passive
sentence. It is placed after the past participle and it is preceded by the preposition
by.

DOUBLE OBJECT VERBS
 When we have verbs that take two objects like, for example, give
somebody something.
 we can convert the active sentence into a passive one in two ways:
a. by making the indirect (animate) object the subject of the passive voice
sentence, which is also the way that we usually prefer.
b. By making the direct (inanimate) object the subject of the passive voice.
Rick gave me (indirect object) this book (direct object).
I was given this book by Rick.
This book was given to me by Rick
Some of the verbs that take two objects are: give, tell, send, show, bring, write,
offer, pay, etc.

ACTIVE VOICE AND PASSIVE VOICE
ELEMENTS DEFINITION CHARACTERISTICS VERBS
TENSES
STRUCTURE EXAMPLES
ACTIVE
VOICE
In the case of the
active voice, we
want the person
responsible for
the action (the
agent).
Subject + verb +
complements (
direct, indirect
and / or
circumstantial)
 They say a sentence is in active
voice when the significance of
the verb is produced by the
grammatical person to whom it
relates are:
Pedro de Mendoza founded Buenos
Aires.
 The complement of the active
sentence becomes the subject
of the passive. As in Castilian,
the subject of active subject
can be retained as agent.
 The active voice support
brings comunication whit
students nearer to the ways
thuman communicate
Presen
t
Simple
Subject + verb +
complement.
Carlos paints the
house.
Past
Simple
Subject + Verb To
Be In Past +
Complement
Julia swept the
street.
Future
Simple
Subject + will +
verb in (present) +
complement.
My auntie will
bake cookies for
my birthday.
Presen
t
Contin
uous
Subject + is/ are +
verb in ing +
complement.
They are dancing
in the salsa disco.

ACTIVE VOICE AND PASSIVE VOICE
ELEMENTS DEFINITION CHARACTERISTICS VERBS TENSES STRUCTURE EXAMPLES
ACTIVE
VOICE
Active voice is
the voice, in
which the
subject makes,
executes or
controls the
action of the
verb, ie, it is an
acting subject,
"Peter eats
bread." The
verb is in the
active voice
eating
because
susujeto Pedro
performs the
same action.
 In the case of simple tenses
(present, past and future),
corresponding simple
conjugation is used each
time.
 In the case of perfect
tenses, the basic structure of
each is used, always using
have the appropriate time,
more active participle of
the verb (has swept, Had
swept, will Have swept).
 For the rest of the
continuous time, with the
active voice whenever the
gerund form (completed in
-ing verb is used.
 The active voice also use it
when we express an action
performed by the subject,
but without indicating its
purpose
Past Continuous Subject + was/
were+ verb in ing +
complement.
She was eating 4
hot dogs
Future II Subject + will + has/
have + verb in
participle +
Complement
Someone will have
injured the man.
Present Perfect Subject + has / have
+ verb in participle +
complement.
John has bought the
newspaper every
day.
Past Perfect Subject + had +
verb in participle +
complement.
They had built a new
hotel near my
house.

ACTIVE VOICE AND PASSIVE VOICE
ELEMENTS DEFINITION CHARACTERISTIC
S
VERBS TENSES STRUCTURE EXAMPLES
PASSIVE
VOICE
Normally, the
passive voice is
used to emphasize
the action. Who or
what performs the
action is irrelevant,
unknown or
assumed which is
known worldwide.
Object + auxiliary
verb ("to be") + past
participle+ article +
subject.
With passive
sentences is
highlighted action.
Prayer does not
focus on the person
or thing responsible
for executing the
action.
 It is said that a
sentence is in
the passive
voice when the
significance of
the verb is
received by
the
grammatical
person that
relates:
Buenos Aires was
founded by Pedro
de Mendoza.
 To transform an
active
sentence to
passive we
consider the
following
points:
Present Simple Object + verb to be
+ verb in participle
+ article + subject
The house is painted
by him.
Past Simple Object + was /
were + verb in
participle + article +
subject.
The street was
swept by Julia.
Future Simple Object + will be
+verb in participle +
article + subject.
The cookies for my
birthday will be
baked by my
auntie.
Present Continuous Object + is / are
being + verb in
participle + article +
subject.
The salsa disco is
being danced by
them.

ACTIVE VOICE AND PASSIVE VOICE
ELEMENTS DEFINITIO
N
CHARACTERISTICS VERBS TENSES STRUCTURE EXAMPLES
PASSIVE
VOICE
Prayer
does not
focus on
the
person or
thing
responsibl
e for
executing
the
action.
1. The object of the
active sentence
becomes the subject
of the passive.
2. The main verb by the
auxiliary "to be" is
replaced at the
same time along the
main verb participle.
3. The subject of the
main clause
becomes passive
complement agent.
4. If we mention in
prayer the subject
performs the action
(subject agent), this
will normally
proceeded by the
preposition "by".
Past Continuous Object + was /
were being +
verb in participle
+ article +
subject.
The 4 hot dogs
were being eaten
by her.
Future II Object + has /
have been +
verb in participle
+ article +
subject.
The man will
have been
injured by
someone.
Present Perfect Object + has /
have been +
verb in participle
+ article +
subject.
The newspaper
has been bought
by him every
day.

INFOGRAPHIC
The passive voice. ( On line) file:///C:/Users/omar/Downloads/the-passive-
voice%20(1).pdf Citado el dia 23 de septiembre de 2015.
Active and passive voice (on line) http://www.studyandexam.com/active-
passive-voice.html Citado el dia 23 de septiembre de 2015.
VOICE (On line) https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-voice.htm Citado
el dia 23 de septiembre de 2015.
Como distinguir entre la voz activa y la voz pasiva (On line)
https://www.englishclub.com/grammar/verbs-voice.htm Citado el dia 23 de
septiembre de 2015.