Level: beginner
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. |
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. |
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.
- Active and passive voice 1
- Active and passive voice 2
- Active and passive voice 3
Level: intermediate
The passive infinitive is made up of to be with a past participle:
The doors are going to be locked at ten o'clock.
You shouldn't have done that. You ought to be punished.
We sometimes use the verb get with a past participle to form the passive:
Be careful with that glass. It might get broken.
Peter got hurt in a crash.
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. |
- Active and passive voice 4
- Active and passive voice 5
Level: advanced
Some verbs which are very frequently used in the passive are followed by the to-infinitive:
| be supposed to | be expected to | be asked to | be told to |
| be scheduled to | be allowed to | be invited to | be ordered 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.
- Active and passive voice 6
- Active and passive voice 7
Comments
Sir,
Cab was late .
Can we use 'delay' in place of late?
Cab was delay
Hi Rsb,
Delay is a noun and a verb but not an adjective, so we should use the -ed form here: The cab was delayed.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
How delayed is noun here sir?
It is not behaving like an adjective describing the cab noun
Hello Rsb,
I just wanted to point out that Jonathan didn't say that 'delayed' is a noun -- he said that 'delay' is a noun. In this sentence, 'delayed' is an adjective.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Can't we write "cab was delay"?
What kind a noun is delay?
Hello Rsb,
I'm afraid that isn't correct. I'd suggest you study the example sentences you can find in a few online dictionaries -- I think that should clarify to you how it is used.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Sir "cab was delayed"
It has two meanings :-
1. It is a passive voice that the cab was delayed by someone. Subject is silent
2. It is simple past sentence, delayed is an describing the cab which is noun. Am I correct ?
what kind a noun is delay ?
And also what kind a noun is 'shift'?
For ex. Shift gets over at 6am
Hi Rsb,
Yes, that's right! The sentence has those two meanings. Note though that the noun cab needs an article before it (probably the).
I don't understand what you mean by 'what kind of noun'. Do you want to know the meaning, or whether the noun is countable or uncountable? If so, I'd recommend using the dictionary for both of these. Have a look at these Cambridge Dictionary pages for delay and shift.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Dear Teachers,
I am having issues with understanding the object in Active voice to be placed as a subject of the Passive Voice. For example, I am not sure what the obj is in the following examples (how many words):
e.g.Repair another table for this class. (two days ago)
- Another table for this class was repaired two days ago.
- Another table was repaired for this class two days ago.
Hi eager2know,
I think normally, we'd understand another table as the object of the active voice sentence. We'd understand the phrase for this class as referring to the action of repairing, and it isn't part of the object.
But, we can understand it another way: the object is another table for this class. In this case, the table is for the class (while in the other meaning above, 'repairing' is for the class). It's a small difference in meaning, though, and both of your passive sentences mean pretty much the same thing.
Best wishes,
Jonathan
The LearnEnglish Team
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