How to use passive voice in English? | Studio English
Understanding how to use passive voice in English is important. It’s one of the grammar rules that many English learners find it hard to comprehend.
It might seem complicated at first sight but it’s not hard at all. Once you understand the rule you will be able to apply it easily on your own.
What does passive voice mean in English?
In English, there are Active voice and passive voice. In our daily conversations, we make we use the Active voice normally.
In Active voice, we start by mentioning the one or thing who is responsible for the action. While the passive voice in English starts with the thing of the person that was affected by the action, while the person or thing who did it comes at the end of the sentence after the preposition “by”.
In short, we use passive voice English when we care about the action done not the one who did it.
For example:
- James cleaned the house. (Active voice)
- The house was cleaned by James. (Passive voice)
How do we form a passive voice in English?
The passive voice in English consists of [ verb to be and Past participle]
In active voice, the sentence is constructed as follows:
Subject + verb + object.
For example:
- James cleaned the house.
While in Passive voice we construct the sentence as follows:
Object + verb + subject.
For example:
- The house was cleaned by James.
Here are examples of passive voice in English:
- English is spoken by many people.
- The house was cleaned by lily.
- The window has been cleaned.
- Food was being served.
- The window was broken.
Here’s how to transform Active into Passive voice:
Active:
Kids played football.
Passive:
Football was played by kids.
Active:
He hunted the deer.
Passive:
The deer were hunted by him.
Active:
Emy cleaned the house.
Passive:
The house was cleaned by Emy.
Active:
They finished the job.
Passive:
The job was finished.
Active:
They will send him away to school.
Passive:
He will be sent away to school.
What are the rules for passive voice?
When we talk, we use the active voice normally. And the sentence consists of [subject + verb + object].
For example, the man broke the bike.
While in the Passive voice in English the sentence consists of [object + verb + subject].
For example, the bike was broken by the man.
Here are the rules and different types of passive voice in English:
The first rule to transform Active voice into passive is to identify the Subject, Verb, and object.
For example:
He cleaned the house.
Subject: he.
Verb: Cleaned.
Object: house.
The second rule is to switch the subject and object with each other. This means that the object of the active voice will be the subject of the passive voice.
For example:
- Active: He cleaned the house.
Subject: he.
Verb: Cleaned.
Object: house.
- Passive: The house was cleaned by him.
Third rule: it’s not necessary to use the subject in the passive voice, because we only care about the action done to the object, not the one or the thing who did it. And the meaning of the sentence will be complete.
For example:
The eggs were sold out.
The fourth rule is to change the verb of the active voice into a past participle. Because in passive voice English we don’t use the base form of the verb.
Here are some examples:
Active: Emy prepares lunch.
Passive: lunch is prepared by Emy.
Active: Water fills the jar.
Passive: the jar is filled with water.
Active: cats eat mice.
Passive: Mice are eaten by cats.
The fifth rule is to change the pronoun used in the active voice sentence as follows:
| Active Voice Pronoun | Passive Voice Pronoun |
| I | Me |
| We | Us |
| He | Him |
| She | Her |
| They | Them |
| You | You |
| It | It |
The final rule is to use the auxiliary verbs that suit the context of the sentence like (is/am/are/was, etc.).
Here are some examples:
- The bike was broken him.
- The box is filled with biscuits.
- Food is being eaten by them.
What is passive voice in English grammar?
Passive voice is all about the object that was acted upon, and not the one or thing who did the action. Unlike the active voice. Active voice is direct, clear, and strong.
When do we use passive voice in English?
Many people hate passive voice because it’s a bit complicated, however, in some cases it should be used. Here’s when to use passive voice in English.
Is passive voice used in English?
Yes, and here is when to use it:
- If we don’t know who did the action.
The painting was made in old age. (Here we don’t know who made the painting.)
- It’s not important to mention the actor.
An experiment will be made to discover the effect of microlearning on the future of eLearning. (We don’t care who will do the experiment we only care about the experiment itself).
- When we don’t want to show who is responsible for the action.
The window was broken.
- When mentioning general truth.
Rules are made to be broken.
- When we want to focus on the thing being acted upon (to emphasize the main topic).
The research was made in the early days to study the effect of pollution on climate change.
- Writing about a scientific genre or history that heavily relies on Passive voice. So it’s mainly used in papers, scientific studies, lab reports, etc.
Why do we use passive voice in English?
We use Passive voice in English when we want to focus on the person or subject who went through the action. And we don’t care who or what did the action. Here are some examples:
- The house was cleaned.
- The house was built in the late years.
- Developments are made for better future.
Other reasons why we use passive voice is discussed in the above section.
What is passive voice example?
Here are some examples of passive voice English:
- The bike was broken by him.
- The box is filled with biscuits.
- Food is being eaten by them.
- The house was cleaned.
- The house was built in the late years.
- Developments are made for better future.
How to avoid passive voice in English?
Sometimes, passive voice makes the writing looks too complicated and vague, therefore people try to avoid using it.
To turn passive voice into the active voice you should switch the object and subject (switch the actor and receiver). And change the verb, because like we said the verb comes in the past participle form when forming the passive voice.
Changing the verb is a bit difficult, but don’t worry you will understand it easily with the following examples.
Present simple.
- Passive voice: A car is bought by me.
- Active voice: I buy a car.
Present simple continuous:
- Passive voice: A car is being bought by me.
- Active voice: I am buying a car.
Present perfect:
- Passive voice: A car has been bought by me.
- Active voice: I have bought a car.
Past simple:
- Passive voice: A car was bought by me.
- Active voice: I bought a car.
Past simple continuous:
Passive voice: A car was being bought by me.
Active voice: I was buying a car.
Past perfect:
Passive voice: A car had bought by me.
Active voice: I bought a car.
What is the difference between active and passive voice?
In Active voice, we start by mentioning the one or thing who is responsible for the action. While the passive voice in English starts with the thing of the person that was affected by the action, while the person or thing who did it comes at the end of the sentence after the preposition “by”.
Here are some examples:
Active: Emy prepares lunch.
Passive: lunch is prepared by Emy.
Active: Water fills the jar.
Passive: the jar is filled with water.
Active: cats eat mice.
Passive: Mice are eaten by cats.
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