In A Sentence Written In The Active Voice, The

In a sentence written in the Active voice, theobject receives the action of the verb: Cats eat fish Subject doing actionverb Objectreceiving action

In a sentence written in the Passive Voice, thesubject receives the action of the verb: Fish are eaten by cats Subject receiving actionverb Objectdoing action

Subject verb object John cleaned the room. The room was cleaned (by John) Object verb( by subject)

Note: John slept well John lives far away

The structure of the passive voice is verysimple: Subject auxiliary verb (be) main verb (past participle) A letter was written by John. Water is drunk by everyone.

The decorator is painting my room My room is being painted by

The object of the active sentence becomesthe subject of the passive sentence. The finite form of the verb is changed (to be past participle). The subject of the active sentence becomesthe object of the passive sentence (or isdropped).

Notes My car is being fixed by John No one paid the bills The bills were not paid They talked about Peter Peter was talked about

When we want to make the active objectmore important. When we do not know the active subject. President Kennedy was killed by Lee HarveyOswald. My wallet has been stolen.

TensePresent simplePast simpleFuture simplePresent continuousPast continuousFuture continuousPresent perfectPast perfectFuture perfectPresent perfectcontinuousPast perfectcontinuousFuture perfectcontinuousConditionalActiveJohn does itJohn did itJohn will do itJohn is doing itJohn was doing itJohn will be doing itJohn has done itJohn had done itJohn will have done itJohn will have doing itPassiveIt is done by JohnIt was done by JohnIt will be done by JohnIt is being done by JohnIt was being done by JohnIt will be being done by JohnIt has been done by JohnIt had been done by JohnIt will have been done by JohnJohn had been doing itJohn will have been doing itJohn would have done itIt would be done by John

Passive Sentences with Two ObjectsActive:Passive:Passive:SubjectVerbObject 1Object 2Ritawrotea letterto me.Hegavemethe bookA letterwas writtento meby Rita.The bookwas givento me(by him)Iwas writtena letterby Rita.Iwas giventhe book(by him)

QuestionsTenseAuxiliarySubjectVerbPresent PerfectHasthe housebeen built?Past PerfectHadthe housebeen built?will-futureWillthe housebe built?going to-futureIsthe housegoing to be built?Future PerfectWillthe househave been built?Conditional IWouldthe housebe built?Present ProgressiveIsthe housebeing built?Past ProgressiveWasthe housebeing built?

1. Changing the tense to a similartense: Someone has reported the incidents The incidents were reported The incidents have been reported They are going to build a school A school will be built A school is going to be built

2. Forgetting the verb to be: Someone has reported the incidents The incidents have reported The incidents have been reported They are going to build a school A school is going to built A school is going to be built

3. Using the present participle insteadof the past participle: Someone has reported the incidents The incidents have been reporting The incidents have been reported They are going to build a school A school is going to be building A school is going to be built

4. Plural/ Singular confusion Someone has reported the incidents The incidents has been reported The incidents have been reported They are going to build a school A school are going to be built A school is going to be built

The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. The finite form of the verb is changed (to be past participle). The subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped).