Passive Voice The passive voice is less usual than the active voice. The active voice is the "normal" voice. But sometimes we need the passive voice. In this lesson we look at how to construct the passive voice, when to use it and how to conjugate it. Construction of the Passive Voice The structure of the passive voice is very simple: subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle) The main verb is always in its past participle form.
This PowerPoint helps students to consider the concept of infinity.
INTRODUCTION PASIVE VOICE
1. Nor theast school of
agriculture
THIRD FOURT MONTH
PRACTICE ENGLISH III
ENGINEER OSCAR GARCÍA
GRUP PRACTICE #4
MEMBERS ORTIZ ALONZO CRISTIAN IVÁN
LLANOS DE LA FRAGUA ZACAPA
2. Passive Voice
The passive voice is less usual than the active voice. The active voice is the "normal" voice. But sometimes
we need the passive voice. In this lesson we look at how to construct the passive voice, when to use it and
how to conjugate it.
Construction of the Passive Voice
The structure of the passive voice is very simple:
subject + auxiliary verb (be) + main verb (past participle)
The main verb is always in its past participle form.
Look at these examples:
subject
auxiliary verb
(to be)
main verb
(past
participle)
Water is drunk by everyone.
100 people are employed
by this
company.
I am paid in euro.
We are not paid in dollars.
Are they paid in yen?
Use of the Passive Voice
We use the passive when:
•we want to make the active object more important
•we do noté know the active subject
3. Conjugation for the Passive Voice
We can form the passive in any tense. In fact, conjugation of verbs in the passive is rather easy, as the main verb is always in past participle form and the auxiliary verb is always be.
To form the required tense,
we conjugate the
auxiliary verb. So, for example:
•present simple: It is made
•present continuous: It is being made
•present perfect: It has been made
Here are some examples with most of the possible tenses:
infinitive to be washed
simple
present It is washed.
past It was washed.
future It will be washed.
conditional It would be washed.
continuous
present It is being washed.
past It was being washed.
future It will be being washed.
conditional It would be being washed.
perfect simple
present It has been washed.
past It had been washed.
future It will have been washed.
conditional It would have been washed.
perfect continuous
present It has been being washed.
past It had been being washed.
future It will have been being washed.
conditional It would have been being washed
4.
5. Examples and Observations:
Last week our dogwood tree was struck by lightning.
"Pandora, from Greek mythology, was given a box with all the world's evils in it."
(Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture, 2008)
It is believed that in the elementary school a class of fifteen pupils for one teacher gives better results than either a class of three or a class
of thirty."
(Psychological Foundations of Educational Technology, ed. by W.C. Trow and E.E. Haddan, 1976)
"[Fern] found an old milking stool that had been discarded, and she placed the stool in the sheepfold next to Wilbur's pen."
(E.B. White, Charlotte's Web, 1952)
"America was discovered accidentally by a great seaman who was looking for something else . . .. America was named after a man who
discovered no part of the New World. History is like that, very chancy."
(Samuel Eliot Morison, The Oxford History of the American People, 1965)
"Her bones were found
round thirty years later
when they razed
her building to
put up a parking lot."
(Maya Angelou, "Chicken-Licken." Oh Pray My Wings Are Gonna Fit Me Well, 1975)
"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and has been widely regarded as a bad move."
(Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, 1979)
"Fiction was invented the day Jonas arrived home and told his wife that he was three days late because he had been swallowed by a
whale."
(attributed to Gabriel Garcia Marqu
