PASSIVE VOICE I

WHY SHOULD WE USE PASSIVE

VOICE?
We dont know the subject of the action (doer)

That house was burnt down

We know the subject of the action but do not want to mention it, for

whatever the reason

The Ming vase was badly broken, Im sorry mum.
We are more interested in the action itself than in the doer.

Penicillin was discovered by Alexander Fleming

HOW DO WE NORMALLY CHANGE

VERBS FROM ACTIVE TO PASSIVE
VOICE?
We normally need the auxiliary verb to be, which we
conjugate in the same tense as the main verb in the
active verb, followed by the main verb in past participle.
Eg:

The woman bought a new car.

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WAS/WERE BOUGHT

ACTIVE VOICE

PASSIVE VOICE

I DO IT

IT IS DONE

I DID IT

IT WAS DONE

I WILL DO IT

IT WILL BE DONE

I WOULD DO IT

IT WOULD BE DONE

I HAVE DONE IT

IT HAS BEEN DONE

I HAD DONE IT

IT HAD BEEN DONE

I WILL HAVE DONE IT

IT WILL HAVE BEEN DONE

I WOULD HAVE DONE IT

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN DONE

Notice that if we count verbs, in passive voice there is always one more verb
than in active voice (the auxiliary to be), that is a wonderful trick to know if

we are conjugating the verb correctly, by counting verbs

CONTINUOUS TENSES:
ACTIVE VOICE

PASSIVE VOICE

I AM DOING IT

IT IS BEING DONE

I WAS DOING IT

IT WAS BEING DONE

I WILL BE DOING IT

IT WILL BE BEING DONE

I WOULD BE DOING IT

IT WOULD BE BEING DONE

I HAVE BEEN DOING IT

IT HAS BEEN BEING DONE

I HAD BEEN DOING IT

IT HAD BEEN BEING DONE

I WILL HAVE BEEN DOING IT

IT WILL HAVE BEEN BEING DONE

I WOULD HAVE BEEN DOING IT

IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BEING

DONE

*I AM GOING TO DO IT

IT IS GOING TO BE DONE

WITH MODAL VERBS:

ACTIVE VOICE

PASSIVE VOICE

I CAN DO IT

IT CAN BE DONE

I COULD DO IT

IT COULD BE DONE

I MUST DO IT

IT MUST BE DONE

I MAY DO IT

IT MAY BE DONE

I MIGHT DO IT

IT MIGHT BE DONE

I HAVE TO DO IT

IT HAS TO BE DONE

I SHALL DO IT

IT SHALL BE DONE

I SHOULD DO IT

IT SHOULD BE DONE

I OUGHT TO DO IT

IT OUGHT TO BE DONE

TYPES OF PASSIVE VOICE:

DIRECT OBJECT
INDIRECT OBJECT
CAUSATIVE HAVE/GET
IMPERSONAL
PERSONAL
HAVE SOMEONE DO
GET SOMEONE TO DO
In this presentation we are only going to see the first two
types.

DIRECT OBJECT
For this passive voice we need a transitive verb, therefore
well also need a direct object.
My mother buys all the weekly supplies
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All the weekly supplies are bought by my mother

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AGENT

INDIRECT OBJECT
For this passive voice we only need an intransitive verb and
an indirect object.
My brother has talked to my sister for hours
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CC

My sister has been talked for hours by my mother

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AGENT

WHAT HAPPENS IF THERE ARE

BOTH OBJECTS IN THE SAME
IfSENTENCE?
you find a sentence with both direct and indirect objects,
then you can do both types of passive voice, depending on
what you want to empasize:
My brother has bought my sister a new toy
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A new toy has been bought for my sister by my brother

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AGENT
My sister has been bought a new toy by my brother
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AGENT

*NOTE:
In any of these types of passive voice if the subject in the
active is:
people, somebody, a personal pronoun (he, she, I, they,
etc)

we tend to omit the agent of the sentence, that is the doer

of the action