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PRESENT TENSE IN PASSIVE AND ACTIVE VOICE

Gabriel Omar Vasquez Lemus


Universidad rural de Guatemala
Cobán, Alta Verapaz
Oratoria
03/03/2019
PRESENT TENSE IN PASSIVE AND ACTIVE VOICE

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.

Changing a negative sentence into the passive


Active: She did not know anything about it.
Passive: Nothing about it was known to her.
Active: Nobody could discourage him from pursuing his path.
Passive: He could not be discouraged from pursuing his path by anybody.
Active: You did not listen to me.
Passive: I was not listened to by you.
Active: She did not write a story.
Passive: A story was not written by her.

Changing an interrogative sentence into the passive


Passive forms of these sentences begin with did. If the active sentence begins with a question
word, the passive sentence will also begin with a question word. If the active sentence begins
with who or whose, the passive sentence will begin with by whom or by whose. If the active
sentence begins with whom, the passive sentence will begin with who.
Active: Did he break the window?
Passive: Was the window broken by him?
Active: Where could you find such fine art?
Passive: Where could such fine art be found?
Active: Why did you abuse your servant?
Passive: Why was your servant abused by you?
Active: Did anyone steal your purse?
Passive: Was your purse stolen by anyone?
Active: Did anyone hurt your feelings?
Passive: Were your feelings hurt by anyone?
Active: Did Alice invite you?
Passive: Were you invited by Alice?
Active: Who killed the snake?
Passive: By whom was the snake killed?
Active: Why did he punish you?
Passive: Why were you punished by him?
Active: Whom did you laugh at?
Passive: Who was laughed at by you?

Las oraciones activas en pasado simple tienen la siguiente estructura:


Asunto + forma del tiempo pasado del verbo + objeto
Las oraciones pasivas en pasado simple tienen la siguiente estructura:
El objeto de la oración activa + era / era + participio pasado del verbo + por + sujeto de la
oración activa
Cambiar una frase asertiva en pasiva.
Activo: Escribió una carta.
Pasivo: una carta fue escrita por él.
Activo: lo sabían.
Pasivo: Se les conocía.
Activa: cantó una canción.
Pasivo: una canción fue cantada por ella.
Activo: Amaba mucho a sus amigos.
Pasivo: sus amigos fueron muy queridos por él.
Cambiar una oración negativa por la pasiva.
Activa: Ella no sabía nada al respecto.
Pasivo: Nada de eso le era conocido.
Activo: Nadie podría desanimarlo a seguir su camino.
Pasivo: nadie puede desanimarlo a seguir su camino.
Activo: No me escuchaste.
Pasivo: no me escuchaste.
Activa: Ella no escribió una historia.
Pasivo: una historia no fue escrita por ella.
Cambiar una oración interrogativa por la pasiva.
Las formas pasivas de estas oraciones comienzan con do. Si la oración activa comienza con una
palabra de pregunta, la oración pasiva también comenzará con una palabra de pregunta. Si la
oración activa comienza con quién o quién, la oración pasiva comenzará con quién o por quién.
Si la oración activa comienza con quién, la oración pasiva comenzará con quién.
Activo: ¿Rompió la ventana?
Pasivo: ¿La ventana fue rota por él?
Activo: ¿Dónde podrías encontrar tal arte?
Pasivo: ¿Dónde se puede encontrar tal arte?
Activo: ¿Por qué abusaste de tu sirviente?
Pasivo: ¿Por qué abusaron de ti tu sirviente?
Activo: ¿Alguien te robó el bolso?
Pasivo: ¿Su bolso fue robado por alguien?
Activo: ¿Alguien hirió tus sentimientos?
Pasivo: ¿Sus sentimientos fueron heridos por alguien?
Activa: ¿Te invitó Alice?
Pasivo: ¿Fuiste invitado por Alicia?
Activo: ¿Quién mató a la serpiente?
Pasivo: ¿Por quién fue asesinada la serpiente?
Activo: ¿Por qué te castigó?
Pasivo: ¿Por qué fuiste castigado por él?
Activo: ¿De quién te reíste?
Pasivo: ¿De quién te reíste?

Whats the difference between an active tense and passive tense

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!).

First, there is the grammatical difference.

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).

I ate the cake. (I + ate + the cake)

John bought the book. (John + bought + the book)

Sally asked the question. (Sally + asked + the question)

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.

¿Cuál es la diferencia entre un tiempo activo y un tiempo pasivo?


Hay dos diferencias principales que se deben tener en cuenta al mirar la voz activa frente a la voz
pasiva (lo siento, no son "tiempos verbales", un "tiempo" se refiere a un período de tiempo,
pasado, presente o futuro, mientras que está "activo" y "Pasivo" se puede utilizar en cualquiera
de estos tres marcos de tiempo!).
Primero, existe la diferencia gramatical.
En la voz activa, la oración se construye con un sujeto (una persona, lugar o cosa), seguida por
un verbo (puede ser activo o abstracto) y, a menudo, seguida por un objeto (nuevamente, una
persona, lugar o cosa).
Yo comi el pastel (Yo + comí + el pastel)
John compró el libro. (Juan + compró + el libro)
Sally hizo la pregunta. (Sally + preguntó + la pregunta)
En voz pasiva, parece que damos la vuelta a la oración, comenzando con el objeto, seguido del
verbo "ser", seguido del verbo transitivo original en la forma de participio pasado como un
adjetivo, y algunas veces seguido del sujeto original precedido por " por":
El pastel fue comido por mí. (El pastel + fue + comido + por mi)
El libro fue comprado por John. (El libro + fue + comprado + por John)
La pregunta fue hecha por Sally. (La pregunta + fue + preguntada + por Sally)
Como se puede ver, las palabras que eran objetos en la voz activa se convierten en sujetos en la
voz pasiva, mientras que los sujetos de la voz activa se convierten en objetos (el pronombre de
sujeto "I" se convierte en el pronombre de objeto "yo", por ejemplo).

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 I have finished the job. / The job 1 He terminado el trabajo. / El


……………………. By me trabajo ……………………. Por
Has finished mi
Has been finished
Ha terminado
Had been finished Ha sido terminado
Habia sido terminado

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

Has been broken


Had been broken

Group #1 simple perfect tense in active and passive voice


PRESENT TENSE IN PASSIVE AND ACTIVE VOICE
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.

Changing a negative sentence into the passive


Active: She did not know anything about it.
Passive: Nothing about it was known to her.
Active: Nobody could discourage him from pursuing his path.
Passive: He could not be discouraged from pursuing his path by anybody.
Active: You did not listen to me.
Passive: I was not listened to by you.
Active: She did not write a story.
Passive: A story was not written by her.

Changing an interrogative sentence into the passive


Passive forms of these sentences begin with did. If the active sentence begins with a question
word, the passive sentence will also begin with a question word. If the active sentence begins
with who or whose, the passive sentence will begin with by whom or by whose. If the active
sentence begins with whom, the passive sentence will begin with who.
Active: Did he break the window?
Passive: Was the window broken by him?
Active: Where could you find such fine art?
Passive: Where could such fine art be found?
Active: Why did you abuse your servant?
Passive: Why was your servant abused by you?
Active: Did anyone steal your purse?
Passive: Was your purse stolen by anyone?
Active: Did anyone hurt your feelings?
Passive: Were your feelings hurt by anyone?

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