active and passive voice
Transitive verbs have both active and passive forms:
| active | passive | |
|---|---|---|
| The hunter killed the lion. | >> | The lion was killed by the hunter. |
| Someone has cleaned the windows | >> | The windows have been cleaned |
The passive forms are made up of the verb be with a past participle:
| be | past participle | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| English | is | spoken | all over the world |
| The windows | have been | cleaned | |
| Lunch | was being | served | |
| The work | will be | finished | soon |
| They | might have been | invited | to the party |
We sometimes use the verb get to form the passive:
Be careful with the glass. It might get broken.
Peter got hurt in a crash.
If we want to show the person or thing doing the action we use by:
She was attacked by a dangerous dog.
The money was stolen by her husband.
We can use the indirect object as the subject of a passive verb:
| active | passive | |
|---|---|---|
| I gave him a book for his birthday | >> | He was given a book for his birthday. |
| Someone sent her a cheque for a thousand euros | >> | She was sent a cheque for a thousand euros. |
We can use phrasal verbs in the passive:
| active | passive | |
|---|---|---|
| They called off the meeting. | >> | The meeting was called off. |
| His grandmother looked after him. | >> | He was looked after by his grandmother. |
| They will send him away to school. | >> | He will be sent away to school. |
Some verbs very frequently used in the passive are followed by the to-infinitive:
| be supposed to | be expected to | be asked to |
| be scheduled to | be allowed to | be told to |
John has been asked to make a speech at the meeting.
You are supposed to wear a uniform.
The meeting is scheduled to start at seven.
English Grammar
- Pronouns
- Determiners and quantifiers
- Possessives
- Adjectives
- Adverbials
- Nouns
- Verbs
- irregular verbs
- question forms
- verb phrases
- present tense
- past tense
- perfective aspect
- continuous aspect
- active and passive voice
- to + infinitive
- -ing forms
- talking about the present
- talking about the past
- talking about the future
- verbs in time clauses and if clauses
- wishes and hypotheses
- the verb be
- link verbs
- delexical verbs like have, take, make and give
- Modal verbs
- double object verbs
- phrasal verbs
- reflexive and ergative verbs
- verbs followed by to + infinitive
- verbs followed by -ing clauses
- verbs followed by that clause
- Clause, phrase and sentence
Search
Tags for teachers
- No terms applicable.
A - Z of Content
- 1 of 6
- ››
Grammar Support
Read more about these areas of grammar:
Comments
I have a problem in academic writing. How can I improve it?
Moreover, I have problem for using word "supposed to"? where we should use it? Thanks.
hi... Peter thank you very much for your help.
Hi,
I wanted to know what the Passive voice would be for the following sentence:
They are playing in the park.
All I have managed to come up with is
a) Playing is done by them in the park.
b) The game is being played by them in the park.
Also wanted to know if an object can be introduced while changing a sentence from active voice to passive.
team
Hello Debjen
The problem you have is that in your sentence you are using 'play' as an intransitive verb - i.e. one without an object. Play can be transitive or intransitive:
We can only make passive sentences if we have an object. So, we can make a passive sentence from the transitive example:
Football is being played in the park (by them)
We cannot make one from the intransitive example.
What you have done - cleverly - is to introduce an object into the sentence by (in your first try) making 'playing' into a gerund (i.e. a noun) instead of a verb (as part of the present continuous). In your second try you have introduced an object ('the game') which was not there in the original sentence. Those are clever cheats to try to get around the problem of having an intransitive verb, but they are still 'cheats'!
I hope that clarifies it for you.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hi... can anyone help me.
I can't understand indirect object as the subject of a passive verb?
team
Hello english_learner456,
To understand this, we need to correctly identify the two objects in the sentence. Take a look at the examples in the summary:
I gave him a book for his birthday
The direct object here is what was given - a book
The indirect object is the person to whom it was given - him
We can make two passive sentences from this.
1) using the direct object as the subject:
A book was given to him for his birthday (by me).
2) using the indirect object as the subject:
He was given a book for his birthday.
Now you have a go: try to make two sentences from the other example, one with the direct and one with the indirect object as the subject:
Someone sent her a cheque for a thousand euros.
I hope that helps you.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello
I am required to change the following to passive voice without changing the tense or meaning:
a. The games master coaches the football team
b. John is playing ball.
c. The butcher is killing a goat
d. Will the messenger deliver the letter?
e. Did you buy this book?
Below is what I think the passive should be -
a. The football team is being coached by the games master.
b. Ball is being played by John.
c. A goat is being killed by the butcher.
d. Will the letter be delivered by the messenger?
e. Was this book bought by you?
Kindly let me know if I am correct. Thank you.
a. the football team is coached by the game master
Could sb kindly tell me the passive voice of (I'll be doing my homework at 7 tomorrow)
team
Hello hisham ali!
Why not try to work it out? Homework will be the subject, and you are using future continuous passive. If you can't work out the answer from the information on this page, try our new verb machine game - that may help you!
Regards
Jeremy Bee
The LearnEnglish Team