How is the passive formed in English? Lesson assignments
Passive voice in English(passive voice or passive voice) is usually used when the speaker's attention is focused on the action itself. In this case, the structure of the sentence itself changes: the tense changes, the word order changes, an auxiliary verb is added in one form or another, and the main verb changes its form. In this case, it is unimportant or even unknown who performs this action:
My bike was stolen- My motorcycle was stolen.
In this example, the emphasis is on the fact that a motorcycle was stolen. The speaker either does not know who exactly did this, or does not attach importance to it, so the sentence is constructed in the passive voice - you can notice that in addition to the main verb, placed in the third form, the verb to be has appeared in the past tense form.
Sometimes passive voice is used to smooth out the emotional coloring:
A mistake was made- A mistake was made.
In this case, using passive voice (passive voice) the speaker emphasizes only the fact of making a mistake, not talking about who made it. The verb to be in the past tense form also appears here.
Formation of passive voice
The English passive voice is formed like this (basic rule):
noun (subject) + form of the verb to be + verb in the 3rd form (past participle).
The girl was deceived- The girl was deceived.
A building was burned by John– The building was set on fire by John.
My sandwich is eaten- They are eating my sandwich.
The theater will be built- The theater will be built.
This island will be explored– This island will be explored.
The children will be met at the railway station– The children will be met at the railway station.
The construction is going to + verb, which is used to express intention or simply talk about the future tense, changes to is going to be + verb:
The project is going to be done by Friday– The project will be done by Friday.
The pie is going to be baked in the evening- The pie will be baked in the evening.
My beard is going to be cut- The beard will be trimmed.
In some passive voices, additional verbs have, will, etc. are placed before or after the form of the verb to be (in their various types and forms). Cases of the appearance of several verbs in a row are discussed in more detail in the table below.
When converting active voice to passive, remember:
- present simple (present simple) and passive voice are not compatible;
- a noun that was an object in the active voice becomes a subject in the passive voice;
- the final form of the verb in the passive voice changes to “form of the verb to be” + “verb in the third form”;
- a noun that was the subject in the active voice becomes the object or is completely dropped out of the sentence in the passive voice.
Using prepositions in the passive voice
When you need to clarify by whom or what the action was performed, the prepositions by and with are used:
The cat is caught by the boy- The cat was caught by the boy.
We were warned by a fireman- We were warned by the fire department.
The preposition by is needed to clarify who performed the action:
The cat is caught by the boy- The cat was caught by the boy.
The preposition with is needed to clarify how the action was performed:
The paper is cut with the scissors– The paper was cut with scissors.
In interrogative constructions that begin with who and what, the preposition by is always present.
Who was the Moby-Dick written by?– Who painted the Mona Lisa?
What was the earthquake caused by?– What caused the earthquake?
Temporary forms
Let us emphasize once again: all tense forms of the passive voice consist of two parts: to be in a certain tense form and the third form of the verb. Like the active voice, the passive voice has different tenses and forms.
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The third form of the verb is always present in the tense forms of the passive voice and the time of the utterance is determined by the form of the verb to be.
| Time | Active voice | Passive voice |
|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | bought | is/are bought |
| Present Continuous | am/is/are buying | is/are being bought |
| Present Perfect | have/has bought | have/has been bought |
| Past Simple | bought | was/were bought |
| Past Continuous | was/were buying | was/were being bought |
| Past Perfect | had bought | had been bought |
| Future Simple | will buy | will be bought |
| Future Perfect | will have bought | will have been bought |
| Modal verbs | can/should buy | can/should be bought |
In Continuous tenses, the passive voice is not used. If you need to use one of these tenses, then it must be replaced with an active voice or another tense. Next, we will consolidate these rules using additional tables with examples.
Table of tenses in passive voice
Examples of sentences in the passive voice in simple English tenses:
| Time | Pledge | Subject | Verb | Object | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present Simple | Active | Mark | writes | an article | Mark writes an article |
| Passive | An article | is written | by Mark | Article written by Mark | |
| Past Simple | Active | Mark | wrote | an article | Mark wrote an article |
| Passive | An article | was written | by Mark | The article was written by Mark | |
| Present Perfect | Active | Mark | has written | an article | Mark wrote the article |
| Passive | An article | has been written | by Mark | The article was written by Mark | |
| Future Simple | Active | Mark | will write | an article | Mark will write the article |
| Passive | An article | will be written | by Mark | The article will be written by Mark |
Examples of sentences in passive voice in more complex English tenses:
| Time | Pledge | Subject | Verb | Object | Translation |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present Continuous | Active | Peter | is sending | a message | Peter sends a message |
| Passive | A message | is being sent | by Peter | Message sent by Peter | |
| Past Continuous | Active | Peter | was sending | a message | Peter sent a message |
| Passive | A message | was being sent | by Peter | The message was sent by Peter | |
| Past Perfect | Active | Peter | had sent | a message | Peter sent a message |
| Passive | A message | had been sent | by Peter | The message was sent by Peter | |
| Future Perfect | Active | Peter | will have sent | a message | Peter will send a message |
| Passive | A message | will have been sent | by Peter | ||
| Conditional I | Active | Peter | would send | a message | Peter will send a message |
| Passive | A message | would be sent | by Peter | The message will be sent by Peter | |
| Conditional II | Active | Peter | would have sent | a message | Peter will be able to send a message |
| Passive | A message | would have been sent | by Peter | The message could be sent by Peter |
Negative form formation
The English passive voice in the negative form is formed by adding the particle not after the verb to be in the appropriate form or another additional verb (have, will, should, etc.) if it is used:
English textbook was not bought in 2007– The English textbook was not purchased in 2007.
Their promises shouldn't be kept“Their promises should not be kept.”
The flowers are not watered- Flowers are not watered.
This car is not washed- This car is not washed.
I am not invited- I'm not invited.
Formation of the interrogative form
In interrogative sentences put in the passive form (passive voice), the verb to be is placed at the very beginning:
Was the rabbit caught?– Was the rabbit caught?
Were you told to come in the morning?- Did they tell you to come in the morning?
Are they injured?- Were they wounded?
Is the fence painted?– Is the fence painted?
If a sentence in the passive voice contains additional verbs that are conditioned by a special tense (for example, present perfect or future simple), they are moved to the beginning, and the verb to be in the required form remains in its place:
Will the message be written by Mike?– Will the message be written by Mike?
Will she be invited to the birthday?– Will she be invited to her birthday?
Is my beard going to be cut?– Will my beard be trimmed?
Verbs that are not used in the passive voice
In English, it is impossible to translate into passive voice. Let us remember that intransitive verbs differ in that they cannot have a direct object. They usually denote movement or state.
Examples intransitive verbs:
Cry- cry
Work- work
Laugh- laugh
Start- start
Move– move
Run- run
Translating a sentence from active to passive voice
Let's summarize. To convert a sentence to passive, the following steps are required:
- The object in a sentence must take the place of the subject.
- It is necessary to translate the verb into the third form or add the ending -ed and add the verb to be to it in the required tense and form. The tense itself does not change, with the exception of those tenses that are not used in the passive voice.
- The subject of a sentence in the active voice takes the place of an object in the passive voice and is used with the prepositions by (if the action is performed by a person) or with (if the action is “performed” by a tool or object).
Example:
| Active voice | Passive voice |
|---|---|
| My father cooks dinner for the whole family– My mother prepares breakfast for the whole family. my father |
Dinner is cooked by my father for the whole family– Breakfast is prepared by my mother for the whole family. dinner |
| John invited me to his birthday John invited me to his birthday. John– subject in active voice |
I was invited to the birthday by Jonn– I was invited to John’s birthday party. I– the addition to which the action is directed |
Video about passive voice in English:
Passive Voice is used if the subject does not perform the action, but experiences an influence directed at it from the predicate. It is clear from the context who is performing the action, or whether it is not significant. The emphasis is on the result of the action.
To form a verb in the form passive voice, you need to learn some rules. First, you need to pay attention to the rule of forming participle II for verbs in the correct form. must be learned by heart. To form a verb in the passive voice form, you need required form the verb “to be” (tense, person, number), and the past participle (Participle II) of the main significant verb. Below are the verbs “to ask / to take” in the form passive voice tables English:
Table of 8 passive forms of English verb
| Present simple tense | Present Indefinite | am / is / are + taken / asked |
| Present continuous tense | Present Continuous | am / is / are + being + taken / asked |
| Present perfect tense | Present Perfect | have / has + been + taken / asked |
| Past simple tense | Past indefinite | was / were + taken / asked |
| Past continuous tense | Past Continuous | was / were + being + taken / asked |
| Past perfect tense | Past Perfect | had + been + taken/ asked |
| Future simple tense | Future Indefinite | will + be + taken/ asked |
| Future continuous tense | Future Continuous | not used |
| Future perfect tense | Future Perfect | will + have + been + taken/ asked |
Now we understand How is the passive voice formed? in English sentences. How is it used correctly? IN active voice the proposal looks like this: “Mary often asks questions. “Mary often asks questions.” .
The same sentence in the passive voice looks different: Mary is often asked questions. Mary is often asked questions.
In this case, using the passive voice is possible and even recommended, since it is absolutely not important who performed the action.
To form an interrogative sentence, you need to put before the subject:
Was your bag stolen? – Was your bag stolen?
The negative form of the passive voice is formed using the particle “not”, which must be placed after the first auxiliary verb:
Tom has not been seen anywhere. - Tom was nowhere to be seen.
How to correctly translate the passive voice of English?
There is a rule that is used not only in English, but also in Russian: a noun that is an object in a sentence with an active voice, in a sentence passive or passive voice becomes the subject, and vice versa. If a passive sentence refers to who is doing the action, in English there must be a "by" before that object/subject. It will be translated into Russian in the instrumental case form.
How can you translate the passive voice (examples):
— Using short form passive participles - This house was built many years ago. – This house was built many years ago.
— Using a verb ending in “s” or “sya” — The dinner is being cooked - Dinner is being prepared.
- If there is no one who performs the action in the sentence, you can use an indefinite personal sentence - She was given an interesting magazine. – She was given an interesting magazine.
Despite the difficulty of learning the passive voice in English, learning theme "Passive Voice" it is necessary, since it is used very often both in oral and written speech.
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Time passive voice (Passive Voice) are formed using to be(in the appropriate tense form) and past participles: is locked/is being locked etc. The past participle of regular verbs is formed by adding the ending to the infinitive –ed: to invite – invite ed. When added to a verb –ed sometimes there are changes in its spelling: to stop – stopp ed. Past Participle irregular verbs need to remember: to tell – told – told. More about .
Table of all tenses in the passive voice
| Present Present | Past Past | Future Future | Future in the Past The future is in the past | |
| Simple (indefinite) Uncertain | The ball is taken every day. | The ball was taken yesterday. | The ball will be taken tomorrow. | The ball would be taken the next day. |
| Continuous (Progressive) Long-term | The ball is being taken now. | The ball was being taken at 7 o’clock yesterday. | not used | not used |
| Perfect Perfect | The ball has already been taken. | The ball had been taken by 7 o'clock yesterday. | The ball will have been taken by 7 o'clock tomorrow. | The ball would have been taken by 7 o'clock the next week. |
| Perfect Continuous Perfect continuous | not used | not used | not used | not used |
When forming the interrogative form of the passive voice, the auxiliary verb is placed before the subject: Is the ball taken? Would the ball be taken?
During education negative form passive voice particle not placed after the auxiliary verb: The ball is not taken. The ball would not be taken.
Compare the sentences in the active and passive voices and notice that the object of the predicate verb in the active voice (the room) becomes the subject in the passive voice.
Examples:Active Voice:
Someone cleans the room every day.
Someone cleans the room every day.
Passive Voice:
The room is cleaned every day.
The room is cleaned every day.
Using the passive voice
1. The passive voice is used when the speaker’s focus is on the person/object that is being acted upon.
Examples: He has been stolen my key. - He stole my keys.
2. The passive voice is used if the person/thing who performed the action is unknown.
Examples: The shirts have just been ironed. – The shirts have just been ironed (it is unknown who exactly ironed the shirts).
3. The passive voice is used if the character/object is not of interest.
Examples: She has been invited to the restaurant. - She was invited to the restaurant. (we are not interested in who exactly invited her to the restaurant, but she herself is interested)
4. Times in the passive voice are used according to the same rules as the corresponding times in the active voice. For example, when we're talking about about an action that is now in development, the form is used.
Examples: The room is being cleaned at that moment. - The room is being washed at this moment.
5. If the passive phrase indicates face by, and if indicated tool/instrument/means/substance, performing an action, then the preposition is used with.
There is an active and passive voice - Active Voice and Passive Voice, respectively. In the first option, you do an action or someone else performs it themselves, that is, an active action. For example: Masha goes to school - Masha goes to school. Petya drives a car - Petya drives a car.
-
In the passive voice it would be different - Masha is taken to school. That is, an action is performed on a subject or inanimate object. I was invited - I was invited - that is, I did not invite, but I was invited.
How is Passive Voice formed?
Let's see how the Passive voice is formed according to the scheme: Creatures. + Be (am, is, are) + V3. That is, the verb to be and the third form of the verb are placed.
Examples
Affirmative sentences
-
I'm invited- action over animate object and Present Simple time. In English it would be like this: I am invited.
You are invited— You are invited.
She's invited— She is invited.
He is invited— He is invited.
Important to remember that in Passive Voice only the third form is always used - V3. Or the ending –ed is added to the verb if it falls into the category of regular ones. For convenience, we have a table of irregular verbs - Irregular Verbs, which you can view here:. The third form, V3, is located in the Participle II column.
Also important that in the passive voice the pronouns do not change. For example, her invite - she is invited. That is, here it is not HER, but SHE.
Interrogative sentences
To ask a question in the passive voice, you need to use the following formula:
To be + Creatures. + V3 ?
Are the houses built every year? – Are houses built every year?
Are you invited everywhere? Are you invited everywhere?
Negative sentences
Creatures + Be + not + V3
German is (to be) not spoken (V3) everywhere. German is not spoken everywhere.
Important to know that Future Perfect Continuous Passive, Present Perfect Continuous Passive and Past Perfect Continuous Passive do not exist - they are used instead Perfect shapes. And instead of Future Continuous Passive, Future Simple is used.
Table of tenses in Passive Voice
For convenience, we suggest you look at the table using tenses in the passive voice.
Lots of examples to reinforce:
Present Simple Passive
He is called every day. They call him every day.
Homework is done. Homework done
Tickets are bought. Tickets are being reserved.
Present Progressive Passive: to be (is, are, am) + Ving + V3
A new big house is being built now. New big house currently under construction.
I am being given a glass of milk now. Now they give me a glass of milk.
Present Perfect Passive: Have/has + been + V3
This work has just been started - The work has just begun
I have just been invited - I have just been invited
Past Simple Passive: Was/were + V3
The book was written by Alisa. – The book was written by Alice.
These apples were bought by Julia. These apples were bought by Julia.
Past Continuous Passive: Was/were + being + V3
I was being asked a question when you came home - I was asked a question just
when you came home.
The car was being washed when I arrived. The car was washed just when I arrived.
Past Perfect Passive: Had + been + V3
When we came home breakfast had been cooked already. When we got home, tomorrow was already ready.
Had the song been sung by the time she returned? Was the song written by the time she arrived?
Future Passive: Will + have/has + V3
They will be met by me. They will be met by me.
I will be thinking. I'll be surprised.
Future Perfect Passive:
By the time we return the shop will have been opened yet. - By the time we arrive, the store will already be open.
Will everything have been prepared by 7 p.m.? – Will everything be ready by 7 pm?
When comparing the English language with the Russian language, one can notice that some grammatical features and structures have much in common and are used in the same situations. Thus, the linguistic structure of English includes some grammatical phenomena and categories, in particular, the division into voices - active and passive (they are also called active and passive voice, respectively). If the situation with the active voice is clear, then for the passive form it is necessary to give some explanations and describe why such a construction is used.
What is Passive Voice
If we define the active voice, then we can say that most sentences belong here, since the passive is used less often. - this is a situation where the subject of a sentence is an independent performer of an action. Unlike the active, the passive voice in English is a grammatical construction associated primarily with the verb form and showing that the action is not performed by the subject itself; the subject undergoes the action rather than performs it. To put it simply, active and passive voice in English differ in that in the first the performer does something himself, and in the second he does not.
To clearly demonstrate how this looks in the language, it is worth giving examples of sentences that compare these two types of voice:
- · He buys meet at the market every Saturday – Every Saturday he buys meat at the market(the subject, i.e. “he”, is the independent performer of the action)
- · Meat is bought at the market every Sunday – Meat is bought at the market every Saturday(the subject, i.e. “meat,” cannot be an independent performer; the action is performed not by him, but on him)
How is Passive Voice formed?
Comparing Active and Passive Voice, you can notice the difference in the forms of the same tense. The formation of the passive voice is impossible without the presence of two important grammatical factors:
1. Auxiliary verb to be, used in the form of the required tense - am, is, are, was, were, been, will be.
2. The form of the semantic verb in Passive Voice must necessarily be in , or, more simply put, be the third, if you refer to the table of irregular verbs (if the verb is regular, the ending will simply be –ed).
This order is typical for almost all types of tense forms.
Note: when forming any Continuous form, the presence of the verb to be is also required, but here the form of the verb will be being, since otherwise it will not be possible to show duration.
- Finally his name was called and he stepped forward - In the end, his name was called and he stepped forward
- She saw that the test had been changed and felt fear - She saw that the test was changed and felt fear
- He felt with satisfaction that he was being stared at - He noted with satisfaction that they were looking at him
Questions in Passive Voice
Questions in the passive voice are formed quite standardly. Here the rules are the same as in the active voice, where interrogative sentences are: the initial position in the sentence will be taken by the auxiliary verb of the required tense (if it is not there, then to be is brought forward in the appropriate form). Next should come the subject, followed by the rest of the passive form and other minor members of the sentence. Interrogative sentences in the passive voice look like this:
- Have you already been asked to come? – Have you already been asked to come?
- Was he invited to the party yesterday? – Was he invited to a party yesterday?
Negative sentences in the passive voice
The Passive Voice with negation is also simple in its formation: the standard particle not is added to auxiliary verb(the verb to be, if there is no main verb), and this rule is valid for all forms of the passive:
- He will not be allowed to use this car without my permission - He will not be allowed to use this car without my permission
- The juice hasn’t been drunk yet, there is some more left - The juice hasn’t been drunk yet, there is a little left
Verbs for Passive Voice
Despite its apparent simplicity, the passive voice in English cannot be used with all verbs. As a rule, verbs in transitive or, as they are also called, causative form are awarded such a privilege.
The transitivity of an English verb is explained simply: if a word expressing an action can be given an addition, direct or indirect, then it is called transitive. Examples of such verbs are bring, eat, open, come, call and many others. If this cannot be done, then the verb is called intransitive and usually does not appear in Passive Voice (sit, fly, jump, live, etc.).
Note: in some cases the passive is formed even with intransitive verbs, but in this case it is usually accompanied by a preposition:
- At last an agreement was come at - In the end, they came to an agreement
- When a boy, he was often laughed at, but later everything changed – When he was a boy, he was often laughed at, but later everything changed
- When he was called for, he didn’t want to answer - When he was called, he didn’t want to answer
Modal Verbs and Passive Voice
The passive voice is formed even easier than with all the others. Since modal verbs can also have a passive form, then special case There are also uses with them, but it does not pose any complexity, because here after the modal it is enough to add be and put the main verb following it in the Participle II form. In practice, modal verbs in this form are used quite often, and for such use of Passive Voice, examples can be as follows:
- The work must be done immediately - The work must be done immediately
- This text can not be translated without your help – This text cannot be translated without your help
Features of some temporary forms in Passive Voice
As mentioned above, the tense system provides for passive constructions in English, which are used freely and much more often than in Russian. However, it is worth noting that not all tenses can be in the passive form, and this is important to consider when using this grammatical structure in speech and writing. For this purpose, Passive Voice has a table that shows the basic Passive formulas and indicates those cases when their use is impossible.
Time table in Passive Voice:
| Indefinite | Continuous | Perfect | Perfect Continuous | |
| Past | was/were + V(3) | was/were + being + V(3) | had + been + V(3) | – |
| Present | am/is/are + | am/is/are + being + V(3) | have/has + been + V(3) | – |
| Future | will be + V(3) | – | will have + been + V(3) | – |
There is a completely logical explanation for this: tenses of the category Perfect Continuous, and also the passive voice is not formed in English, since their structure contradicts the norms for the formation of the passive, because they are already supplemented by the verb to be in its original or third form. This means that it will no longer be possible to supplement the construction with anything, since the grammar prohibits this.
Prepositions for Passive Voice
Unlike Active Voice, Passive Voice is often used with prepositions, and this is typical not only for intransitive verbs. Sometimes there is a need to show who or with the help of which the action was performed. There are two standard prepositions here: by (expresses the performer, or agent) and with (expresses the instrument, which is called instrument).
Note: the statement that by is used only with animate nouns, and with with inanimate nouns is erroneous, and several situations with examples can confirm this:
- When he went for a walk to the mountains he was hit by a stone - When he went for a walk to the mountains, he was hit by a stone(the stone was not used as a tool or tool, everything happened by accident)
- The police note that the murder victim was struck with a stone – The police note that the murder victim was hit with a stone(the stone was used as a tool, using it purposefully)
Following the instructions described above will make it easy to distinguish between active and passive voice in English and will not cause inconvenience in forming the desired form.
