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)
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