Introduction to the passive voice
We use the passive voice when we want to place focus on the object instead of the subject. That is, what was done is more important than who did it. For us, the person or thing affected by the doer has a priority over the doer himself.
| Active sentence | A shark Doer/subject | ate Verb (action) | the Prime Minister Direct object (victim) |
| Passive sentence | The Prime Minister Direct object (victim) | was eaten To be in the past participle | by a shark. Doer/subject |
Transformation steps
- Identification of the direct object
- Identifying the verb tense.
- Putting ‘’to be’’ in the same tense.
- Putting the verb in the past participle.
- Adding a by-phrase(by+subject) ,if necessary.
| TENSE | ACTIVE SENTENCE | PASSIVE SENTENCE |
| PRESENT SIMPLE | A shark eats the Prime Minister. | The Prime Minister is eaten by a shark. |
| PRESENT CONTINUOUS | A shark is eating the Prime Minister. | The Prime Minister is being eaten by a shark. |
| PRESENT PERFECT | A shark has eaten the Prime Minister. | The Prime Minister has been eaten by a shark. |
| PAST SIMPLE | A shark ate the Prime Minister. | The Prime Minister was eaten by a shark. |
| PAST CONTINUOUS | A shark was eating the Prime Minister. | The Prime Minister was being eaten by a shark. |
| PAST PERFECT | A shark had eaten the Prime Minister. | The Prime Minister had been eaten by a shark. |
| FUTURE SIMPLE | A shark will eat the Prime Minister. | The Prime Minister will be eaten by a shark. |
| FUTURE PERFECT | A shark will have eaten the Prime Minister. | The Prime Minister will have been eaten by a shark. |
| NEAR FUTURE | A shark is going to eat the Prime Minister. | The Prime Minister is going to be eaten by a shark. |
| MUST/HAVE TO | A shark must/has to eat the Prime Minister. | The Prime Minister must/has to be eaten by a shark. |
| CAN/COULD | A shark can/could eat the Prime Minister. | The Prime Minister can/could be eaten by a shark. |
| MAY/MIGHT | A shark may/might eat the Prime Minister. | The Prime Minister may/might be eaten by a shark. |
| SHOULD/OUGHT TO | A shark should/ought to eat the Prime Minister. | The Prime Minister should /ought to be eaten by a shark. |
| WOULD | A shark would eat the Prime Minister. | The Prime Minister would be eaten by a shark. |
Remarks about the passive voice transformation
- Only sentences that contain a transitive verb can be transformed into a passive form. Example: The baby is sleeping. (‘’to sleep’’ is an intransitive verb)
- We don’t add a by-phrase when :
- The DOER is unknown. Example: A baby was kidnapped yesterday.
- The DOER is not important. Example: Rice is grown in China.
