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Passives
Look at these examples to see how the passive voice is used.
A lot of olive oil is produced in Italy.
This book was written by Angela Davis.
The suspect will be released tomorrow.
This product has not been tested on animals.
Try this exercise to test your grammar.
- Grammar test 1
Read the explanation to learn more.
Grammar explanation
We use the passive voice to change the focus of the sentence.
My bike was stolen. (passive – focus on my bike)
Someone stole my bike. (active – focus on someone)
We often use the passive:
- when we prefer not to mention who or what does the action (for example, it's not known, it's obvious or we don't want to say)
- so that we can start a sentence with the most important or most logical information
- in more formal or scientific writing.
How we make the passive
We make the passive using the verb be + past participle. We start the sentence with the object.
| Avatar | was | directed by James Cameron. |
| ↓ | ↓ | ↓ |
| Object | + be + | past participle |
It is not always necessary to add who or what did the action.
| My flight | is | cancelled. |
| ↓ | ↓ | ↓ |
| Object | + be + | past participle |
Only the form of be changes to make the tense. The past participle stays the same. Here are examples of the passive in its most common tenses.
| Tense | Example | Structure |
| Present simple | Alioli is made from oil, garlic and salt. | is/are + past participle |
| Present continuous | The hall is being painted this week. | is/are being + past participle |
| Past simple | John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963. | was/were + past participle |
| Past continuous | The signs were being put up last week. | was/were being + past participle |
| Present perfect | Oranges have been grown here for centuries. | has/have been + past participle |
| Past perfect | When he got home, he found that his flat had been burgled. | had been + past participle |
| Future simple | The work will be finished next week. | will be + past participle |
Do this exercise to test your grammar again.
- Grammar test 2
Language level
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Hello Pandalapd
The subject of the verb 'saw' is 'someone' and the object is 'my talk', so a passive verb such as 'was seen' is not correct there, because a passive verb only has a subject and not an object. 'had seen' is also a possible correct answer there, but is not an option for that question.
For the second sentence, 'was found' is not correct for the same reason that 'was seen' wasn't correct for the first sentence: an active verb is needed, not a passive one. 'found' is also correct, but is not an option for that question.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello ahmed hefny,
Organisations like the fire service can be treated as both singular (an organisation or an institution) or plural (a team of people). Thus, both has and have are possible.
Other organisations like this include sports teams, governments, international organisations, the police, the army and others.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello M.Ayman
That's close to being correct. Instead, I would recommend something like 'My cat eats fish in the afternoon'. In the passive, that would be 'Fish is eaten by my cat in the afternoon'. I can't think of a time anyone would likely say that in the passive, though.
All the best
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
Hello Bharati,
Obviously, only transitive verbs can be used in passive voice, so if the adjective/participle comes from an intranstive verb then it must be an adjective rather than a passive construction.
It's true, however, that it's often unclear if a sentence is a passive construction or simply [be + adjective]. I'm not sure it really matters, to be honest, as it's simply a question of nomenclature.
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team