1. Passive voice
Instituto De Enseñanza a Distancia de Andalucía
Ramón Tirado Fernández

2. Use of the passive voice
 We use passive voice when we don’t know who makes the action.
• My bird was stolen.
• My neighbour has been murdered.
 We use passive voice when the action is more important than who
did it or when we don’t want to say who did it.
• That politician was voted.
• His house was bought.

3. Gramatical rules
To make the passive sentence we must use the following structure:
Subject + auxiliary verb (to be) + past participle
Examples:
• Present simple: This computer is made in China.
• Past simple: The film was starred by Nicolas Cage
• Present perfect: The shopping centre has been closed by the police.
• Past perfect simple: The shop had been closed when we arrived.
• Future with will: Call and the door will be opened.
• Future with going to: That man has a gun. The shop is going to be attaked.

4. Changes in the sentence
1. The object in the active sentence is the subject in the passive sentence.
2. The main verb is replaced by the auxiliary verb (To be).
3. The subject of the main sentence becomes the agent complement.
4. We use “By” before name the subject that makes the action.

5. From active to passive voice
1. They will close the cinema. The cinema will be closed.
2. He is going to invite you. Your are going to be invited by him.
3. I’ve readen your book. Your book has been readen by me.
4. They will defeat the dragon. The dragon will be defeated by them.
5. My grandpa captured the bird. The bird was captured by my grandpa.