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Passive Voice

Sometimes you say things like, "My bike was stolen," or, "The boy was given a gift." But who stole my bike? Who gave the boy a gift? You aren’t sure. That’s why you use the passive voice, which emphasizes the person or thing an action was done to, not the one who did the action.

Passive voice is normally formed with to be + a past participle, as in, "Chris was hired yesterday." You can use the passive voice in any tense by changing the form of 'to be.' For instance, you can say, "My cookie was eaten" (past tense) or, "My cookie is being eaten" (present progressive tense).

When you want to include the one who performed the action in a passive voice sentence, you use the word 'by' after the verb. For instance, "Danny will be picked up by his mother today."

Sometimes, the verb 'to get' is used instead of 'to be,' as in "My sister got sick last night."

Passive Voice Grammar Quiz

  1. The same song many times.

  2. Quantum of Solace in many different countries.

  3. Many children by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

  4. Several speeding drivers by police officers recently.

  5. Kate Winslet an Academy Award.

Go Super to see the answers! Go Super!

Passive Voice Lessons:

Give the Green Light

Revolutionary Road

Changeling

Vintage Clothes

Home Repair

Katy Perry

Traffic Tickets

Quantum of Solace

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Comments

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sara70

sara70

Saudi Arabia

I hate studying grammar neither English grammar or Arabic grammar
Thanks I’ll try hard to focus.

10:35 PM Mar 24 2011 |

ingrydmm

ingrydmm

Brazil

someone knows the answers?

it's this? 

 was played / was filmed / have been adopted / have been stopped / was given

 

?? 

06:08 PM Mar 09 2011 |

Radzaq

Radzaq

Indonesia

greatt…

08:01 AM Feb 04 2011 |

shareefthaha

India

Hi! when we give emphasis for the action, not for the person who did it, the sentence has to be said in passive voice. When a man from Punjab state killed the ex-prime minister of India Indira Gandhi, nobody told killer's name, because it is unimportant, so on!

Shareef

05:47 AM Jan 17 2011 |

atiijoon@ymail.com

Iran, Islamic Republic Of

hi

09:09 PM Jan 02 2011 |

mrhany

Egypt

wonderful

08:26 AM Nov 23 2010 |

donita

donita

Italy

it's not that hard marvin maziel Smile

06:52 AM Jul 26 2010 |

Holmes nash phil

Malawi

It is formed by the to be + past pasticipal of the verb.
WHAT TO CONSIDER
1. Verb tense does not change.
2. Object begins in the structure.
3. Sentence form remains the same.
4. Verb number.
Examples:
active in present tense simple.. Mr phil teache’s Ebaby students.
Passive= Ebaby students are taught by mr Phil.

10:19 AM Jul 15 2010 |

marvin maziel

Mexico

passive voice was hard to be learned by me 

10:27 PM Jul 01 2010 |

talat-dly

Iraq

He was overcome by them

11:52 AM Jun 26 2010 |