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Active and passive sentences usually have the same meaning but the focus is different. In the active voice the subject performs the action expressed and the focus is on the agent that does the action.
Adam cleaned the kitchen.
In the passive voice the subject receives the action expressed in the verb. The object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. We use a passive verb to say what happens to the subject. The focus of the sentence is on the subject that receives the action. The passive verb is formed by the verb to be (are, were, have been, being…) + the past participle of the verb (for more information see the table in the chapter “Formation of the passive form”).
The kitchen was cleaned by Adam
SUBJECT ACTION OBJECT
SUBJECT ACTION OBJECT
The person who makes the action is introduced by the preposition by in the passive sentence. But in some cases the subject of the passive sentence is omitted, this happens when who or what causes the action is unknown or unimportant. Look at the examples: Active Passive
Mary bought a book. A book was bought by Mary. A thief stole my car. My car was stolen (by a thief). I read the message. The message is read (by me). Someone has opened the window. The window has been opened. They are building a house. A house is being built. They are building three houses. Three houses are being built.
Look at the position of the different parts of the sentence:
ACTIVE: Alan wrote a letter to me. PASSIVE: A letter was written to me by Alan.
ACTIVE: My colleague has just told me the news. PASSIVE: I have just been told the news by my colleague.
ACTIVE: Someone showed him how to use the mobile phone. PASSIVE: He was shown how to use the mobile phone.
No one and nobody
ACTIVE: Nobody understands her. PASSIVE: She is never understood. She has never been understood.
Present Conditional When I have time, I do the filing.
get +past participle When I have time, the filing gets done.
Intransitive and stative verbs Intransitive verbs are verbs that have a subject but don’t have an object. Ex: run, fall, die, sleep, arrive
Stative verbs are verbs that show a state, quality or description of the subject. These verbs are related to a state (a situation which doesn’t change) and not to an action. Eg: be, feel, see, have, like, belong, need, love, like, think, believe, want, understand…
Intransitive and stative verbs cannot be used in the passive forms.
Ex: I love swimming. ( NOT Swimming is loved by me) We have a cat. ( NOT A cat is had by us)
Use of passive form The active form is used more often than the passive because it is clearer to understand who does the action and because you use fewer words to convey the same message. You should use the passive form:
- when the agent performing the action is not known. For example: All flights were cancelled due to terrible weather conditions.
- when you want to focus more on the object rather than the subject. For example: The president was killed in 1998.
