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Module 4 / English IV
Jeanette Sandre Cuautle
The passive voice occurs in both spoken and written English, and it is used very frequently in technical writing.
Most verbs that take an object can be used in the passive voice. In sentences in the active voice, the primary focus is
on the subject (the agent or doer of the action). To give primary focus to the object of the sentence, the sentence can
be changed to the passive voice. Compare:
Active: In my city, important companies produce local brands of drinks.
Time expression
subject
verb
Passive: In my city, local brands of drinks are produced by important companies. (focus: local brands of drinks)
Time expression
subject
verb
verb
direct object
agent
in the market.
verb
time expression
agent
time expression
To form the passive voice, use be + the past participle of the main verb. For the simple present tense, use am, is, or
are + past participle. For the simple past tense, use was or were + past participle; for the future, use + be + past
participle. The passive voice subject determines whether the verb be is singular or plural. The agent can be included
in the passive sentence in a phrase with by.
ACTIVE
SIMPLE PRESENT
TENSE
PASSIVE
PRESENT PERFECT
TENSE
different
MODALS
We must take photos without flash.
I.