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Active sentences in the simple past tense have the following structure:
Subject + past tense form of the verb + object
Passive sentences in the simple past tense have the following structure:
Object of the active sentence + was/were + past participle form of the verb + by + subject of
the active sentence
Changing an assertive sentence into the passive
Active: He wrote a letter.
Passive: A letter was written by him.
Active: They knew it.
Passive: It was known to them.
Active: She sang a song.
Passive: A song was sung by her.
Active: He loved his friends very much.
Passive: His friends were loved very much by him.
There are two main differences to keep in mind when looking at the active vs. the passive voice
(sorry, they are not “tenses”, a “tense” refers to a time frame, past, present or future, while
“active” and “passive” can be used in any of these three time frames!).
In the active voice, the sentence is constructed with a subject (a person, place or thing), followed
by a verb (can be active or abstract) and often followed by an object (again, a person, place or
thing).
In passive voice, we seem to flip the sentence around, beginning with the object, followed by the
verb “be”, followed by the original transitive verb in the past participle form as an adjective, and
sometimes followed by the original subject preceded by “by”:
The cake was eaten by me. (The cake + was + eaten + by me)
The book was bought by John. (The book + was + bought + by John)
The question was asked by Sally. (The question + was + asked + by Sally)
As can be seen, the words that were objects in the active voice become subjects in the passive
voice, while the subjects of the active voice become objects (subject pronoun “I” becomes object
pronoun “me” for example).
The second important difference is meaning and usage.
In the active voice, which is the most common and almost preferred voice in speech and often in
writing, the subject is the person (usually) who performs the action and that person is placed at
the beginning of the sentence. That is then followed by the transitive verb and the object receives
the action, caused by the subject. This is a natural and common structure in English.
The passive voice takes the focus away from the person who does the action, reduces the action
itself to a mere adjective, the verb is that rather weak, “a = b” auxiliary “be” and the focus has
been shifted to the person or thing that receives that action by being placed at the beginning. The
“by me” or “by John” or “by Sally” are sometimes added, but often are not, because it does not
matter who did the action but rather who or what received that action.
La segunda diferencia importante es el significado y el uso. En la voz activa, que es la voz más
común y casi preferida en el habla y con frecuencia por escrito, el sujeto es la persona
(generalmente) que realiza la acción y esa persona se coloca al principio de la oración. Luego
sigue el verbo transitivo y el objeto recibe la acción, causada por el sujeto. Esta es una estructura
natural y común en inglés. La voz pasiva quita el foco a la persona que realiza la acción, reduce
la acción en sí misma a un mero adjetivo, el verbo es más bien débil, "a = b" auxiliar "be" y el
foco se ha cambiado a la persona o Lo que recibe esa acción al ser colocado al principio. El "por
mí" o "por John" o "por Sally" a veces se agregan, pero a menudo no, porque no importa quién
hizo la acción sino quién o qué recibió esa acción.
EXERCISE
In the present perfect tense we make passive verb forms by putting has/have + been before the
past participle form of the verb.
Sentences are given in the active voice. Change them into the passive.
En el tiempo presente perfecto, hacemos formas verbales pasivas poniendo has / have + been
antes de la forma de participio pasado del verbo. Las oraciones se dan en la voz activa.
Cambialas a la pasiva.
1 The cat has drunk the milk. / The 1 El gato ha bebido la leche. / La
milk……………………… by the leche ……………………… por el
cat gato.
Has drunk Ha bebido
Has been drunk Ha sido bebido
Had been drunk Había sido bebido
Broken: Roto
1 Peter has broken another
window. / another Another: Otra
window………………… by peter
Has broken Window: Ventana