PASSIVE VOICE

The passive vs the active voice:

The Active Voice	The Passive Voice
Most countries in Latin America speak Spanish.	Spanish is spoken in most countries in latin America.

Use of the passive voice:

1. Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.
   Example: "A letter was written."
   The focus, here, is on the fact that a letter was written. We don't know, however, who wrote it.
2. Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:
   Example: A vase was broken.
   Focus, here, is on the fact that a vase was broken, but we don't blame anyone. Compare this to: "You broke the vase."

Form of the passive voice:

Subject + the appropriate form of to be + Past Participle

NOTE: The appropriate form of to be = To be is put in the the tense of the active voice main verb.
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

• The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence.
• The form of the verb is the appropriate form of to be (the tense of the active voice main verb) + the past participle.
• The subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped.)

Example:

Active	Nancy	makes	tea
	subject	verb	object
Passive	Tea	is made	(by Nancy)
	object becoming subject	verb	subject becoming object or is dropped

Simple present passive on line exercises

Simple past passive on line exercises