Passive Voice

                            S          V          O

ACTIVE     :  (a) Mary helped the boy.

                               S             V

PASSIVE    :  (b) The boy was helped by Mary

Form of the passive : be + past participle

In the passive voice, the object of an active verb becomes the subject of the passive verb: “the boy” in (a) becomes the subject of the passive verb in (b). (a) and (b) have the same meaning.

ACTIVE     :  (c) An accident happened.

PASSIVE    :  (d) (none)

Only transitive verbs (verbs that are followed by an object) are used in the passive. It is not possible to use verbs such as happen, sleep, come, and seem (intransitive verbs) in the passive.

Examples of Passive Voice:

*      Simple Present

ACTIVE (A)    : Mitchie helps Shane

PASSIVE (P)   : Shane is helped by Mitchie

*      Present Continuous

A : Mitchie is helping Shane

P : Shane is being helped by Mitchie

*      Present Perfect

A : Mitchie has helped Shane

P : Shane has been helped by Mitchie

*      Simple Past

A : Mitchie helped Shane

P : Shane was helped by Mitchie

*      Past Continuous

A : Mitchie was helping Shane

P : Shane was being helped by Mitchie

*      Past Perfect

A : Mitchie had helped Shane

P : Shane had been helped by Mitchie

*      Simple Future

A : Mitchie will help Shane

P : Shane will be helped by Mitchie

*      Be going to

A : Mitchie is going to help Shane

P : Shane is going to be helped by Mitchie

*      Future Perfect

A : Mitchie will have helped Shane

P : Shane will have been helped by Mitchie

Using Passive Voice

(a)     Rice is grown in India.

(b)     Our house was built in 1890.

(c)      This olive oil was imported from Spain.

Usually passive voice is used without a “by phrase.” The passive is most frequently used when it is not known or not important to know exactly who performs an action.

In (a) : Rice is grown in India by people, by farmers, by someone. In sentence (a), it is not known or important to know exactly who grows rice in India.

(a), (b), (c) illustrate the most common use of the passive, i.e., without the “by phrase.”

(d)     Life on the Mississippi was written by Mark Twain.

The “by phrase” is included only if it is important to know who performs an action. In (d), by Mark Twain is important information.

(e)     My aunt made this rug. (active)

(f)       This rug was made by my aunt.

(g)     That rug was made by my mother.

If the speaker/writer knows who performs an action. Usually the active is used, as in (e).

The passive may be used with the “by phrase” instead of the active when the speaker/writer wants to focus attention on the subject of a sentence. In (f) the focus of attention is on two rugs.