In English 125, we looked at the structure of passive voice and the differences between active and passive voice. Here is a quick review of some of the basic points.

Passive Voice Review

The passive voice is when the object takes more importance than the agent, so they switch position.

  • James makes dinner every Saturday. > Dinner is made by James every Saturday.
    • In the second sentence, the use of the passive voice makes dinner more important than James. If you want to focus on the subject and the action that the subject is doing, use the active voice.

What is included in a passive voice sentence:

  • an object
    • Dinner is made by James every Saturday.
    • She ran very quickly to the store to buy milk. (no object, so the sentence can only be in the active voice)
  • the auxiliary verb ‘be’ + past participle
    • Dinner is made by James every Saturday. (present simple)
    • The project is being finished at the moment. (present continuous)
  • an agent (but not always)
    • Dinner is made by James every Saturday.
    • Spanish is taught at that school. (no agent)

Reasons to use the passive voice:

  • The focus is on the object.
    • Dinner is made by James every Saturday.
  • The agent is unknown.
    • His car was stolen last weekend. (unknown)
  • The agent is unimportant.
    • A survivor was found on the island two days ago. (‘by a hiker’ is unimportant)
  • The agent is understood.
    • Hopefully, the thieves will be arrested soon. (‘by the police’ is understood)

Other Passive Forms

Verb Tense “Be” Verb Main Verb Past Participle Example

Future Simple

will be

p.p.
  • The exam will be given tomorrow.

Going to- Future

am / is / are going to

p.p.
  • The vocabulary is going to be explained.

Past Perfect Simple

had + been

p.p.
  • The changes had been made before the student gave their presentations.

Future Perfect Simple

will + have + been

p.p.
  • The projects will have been finished by tomorrow.

Present / Future Modals

modal + be

p.p.
  • The language in the report may be changed.
  • The language in the report might be changed.
  • The language in the report could be changed.
  • The language in the report should be changed.

Use of ‘get’ instead of ‘be’

In informal speech, you can use get instead of the auxiliary verb ‘be’ in passive voice sentences when you want to express a change that is surprising or dramatic.

  • He got expelled from the language program for cheating on his final exam. (He was expelled...)
  • My computer got stolen from the classroom yesterday morning. (My computer was stolen...)

Exercise

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