PASSIVE VOICE

Thousands of tourists visit the Parthenon
every year.

The Parthenon is visited
by thousands of tourists every year.

thing doing action + VERB + thing receiving action
The professor teaches the students.
(subject) (active verb) (object)
(doing action) (receiving action)
ACTIVE VOICE
In active sentences, the thing doing the
action is the subject of the sentence
and the thing receiving the action is the
object. Most sentences are active.
We use the active form of a verb to
say what a subject does.

thing
receiving
action
+ BE + past participle
of verb
+ by + thing doing
action
The students are taught by the professor.
(subject) (passive verb) (agent)
(receiving
action)
(doing action)
PASSIVE VOICE
In the passive form, the thing receiving
the action is the subject of the sentence
and the thing doing the action is optionally
included at the end of the sentence.
We use the passive form to say what
happens to the subject.

USE OF PASSIVE FORM
We use the passive form of a verb when it is not
important who does the action, or when we
don't know who does it.
The letter was delivered at 9 a.m. (The identity of the
person who delivered the letter is unknown or
unimportant.)
The thief was arrested yesterday. (It is obvious that
he was arrested by the police)

If we want to say who does the action, we use
'by':
The letter was delivered by the postman.
If we want to say the material or the instrument
somebody used to do the action, we use ‘with’:
He was stabbed with a knife.
The cake was made with oranges.

Only transitive verbs (those that take objects) can be
transformed into passive constructions. Furthermore,
active sentences containing certain verbs cannot be
transformed into passive structures. To have is the most
important of these verbs. We can say "He has a new car,"
but we cannot say "A new car is had by him." Here is a
brief list of such verbs:
resemble look like equal agree with
mean contain hold have
lack suit fit become

The passive form of verbs is formed of
BE + the past participle.
THE VERB ‘TO BE’
Present Simple am/is/are
Present Continuous am/is/are being
Past Simple was/were
Past Continuous was/were being
Future Simple will be
Future Perfect Simple will have been
Present Perfect Simple have/has been
Past Perfect Simple had been
Am / Is / Are Going to am / is / are going to be
Present Infinitive be
Perfect Infinitive have been
Present Gerund being

The Egyptians built the Pyramids.
Changing from Active to Passive
The Pyramids were built by the Egyptians.

IMPORTANT NOTES I:
Never forget the prepositions which follow some verbs!
Laura put up the curtains. The curtains were put up by Laura.
While forming passive questions beginning with Who, Whom or
Which, remember to write ‘by’ at the end!
Who offered her the job? Who was she offered the job by?
The verb let is turned into be allowed to in the passive voice.
She let me put on her new coat. I was allowed to put on her new coat.

IMPORTANT NOTES II:
When the verbs ‘hear, make, help, see’ are followed by
gerund in the active voice, we use gerund in the passive
voice, as well.
We heard him playing the guitar. He was heard playing the
guitar.
When the verbs ‘hear, make, help, see’ are followed by
bare infinitive in the active voice, we use full infinitive
in the passive voice, as well.
They saw him cross the street. He was seen to cross the street.

VERBS WITH TWO OBJECTS:
When a verb is followed by two objects, then we have two
ways of writing the passive voice.
Tom gave Susan some flowers.
1 2
1: Susan was given some flowers by Tom. (More usual)
2: Some flowers were given to Susan by Tom.

PERSONAL - IMPERSONAL STRUCTURE
When we have the verbs believe, expect, feel, hope, know, report, say,
think etc. there are two ways to write the passive voice:
Active Voice:
(1) People expect he will recover soon.
(2) People thought the suspect had lied to the police.
thing receiving
action
+ BE + past participle of
verb
+
To- infinitive +
(1) He is expected to recover soon.
(1) The suspect was thought to have lied to the
police.
Personal Structure

Stonehenge …. (build) in prehistoric times.
It … …. (construct) as a place of worship.
Many of its stones … (steal) over the years.
It …. (visit) by a lot of tourists every year.

Ms Archer’s ruby ring ………. (steal)
from her house last night.
Rolls Royce cars ……………. (make)
in England.

Joan don’t let me drive her car.

The landlord offered
the Ambassador
a bottle of the finest
champagne.

People expect scientists
to find a cure for AIDS.