THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ACTIVE AND PASSIVE TENSE

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE ACTIVE AND PASSIVE TENSE What is the passive tense and why do we use it? www. englishevolutionlearning. com

“FOR EVERY ACTION, THERE IS A REACTION. ” The word ‘passive’ means to be inactive. There are two types of sentences in English grammar - active and passive – sometimes called transient and intransient. An active tense involves the subject doing something to an object, for example: “Leon drove the car to the beach. ” This sentence means that Leon 1 (the subject of the sentence) drove 2 (the action) the car 3 (the object). Leon is the actor or agent and he has done the action: SUBJECT 1+ VERB 2 + OBJECT 3

THE PASSIVE (INTRANSIENT) TENSE In a passive sentence, the subject is not directly doing anything, for example: “My car 1 was 2 stolen 3. ” This is a passive sentence and it is formed like this: subject 1 + verb ‘to be’ 2 + past participle 3 In a passive sentence, the actor doing the action is not known. If you ask the question; ‘who stole the car? ’, we do not know.

THE ACTIVE (TRANSIENT) TENSE An active subject in a sentence is the person or thing that is doing something to the object, for example: “The police officer 1 gave 2 the driver 3 a speeding ticket. 4” This is an active sentence and it is formed like this: subject 1 + verb 2 + indirect object 3 + direct object 4 The actor is known (the police officer), the action and object receiving the action is clear (he gave a speeding ticket) and we know who was acted on (the driver).

THE PASSIVE (INTRANSIENT) TENSE If we want to make an active sentence passive, we remove the subject and the object becomes the subject, for example: “The police officer 1 gave 2 the driver 3 a speeding ticket. 4” subject 1 + verb 2 + indirect object 3 + direct object 4 To change this sentence from active to passive voice, the indirect object (the driver) becomes the subject of the passive sentence, for example: “The driver 1 was 2 given 3 a speeding ticket. 4” subject 1 + to be 2 + past participle 3 + direct object 4

THE PASSIVE (INTRANSIENT) TENSE “The driver was given a speeding ticket. ” Which word is the subject in the sentence? • the driver What happened to him? • He was given a speeding ticket. Who gave him the speeding ticket? • We don’t know who gave the speeding ticket. This is how the passive tense works.

THE PASSIVE TENSE WITH ‘BY’ CLAUSE You use a by clause when you want to give necessary information; for example: The Sagrada Familia was designed by Antoni Gaudi. When we want to give credit: We were cooked a delicious meal by his father. When it is surprising or interesting: The boy was rescued from the fire by his pet dog. *DON’T INCLUDE THE AGENT IF IT IS UNNECESSARY.

UNDERSTANDING WHY WE USE THE PASSIVE 1: 2: 3: In It We isa want obvious passive to deliberately who/what sentence we the avoid either agent mentioning don’t is from know the who or what context, agent, the forfor agent example: is or the agent is not specific, for example: “The factory will be closed and many people will “Over 300 people arrested at football lose were their jobs. ” “The rivers beinglast polluted. ” matches in are England year. ” Here the speaker avoids blaming the company for We“Bad know weather that the is expected arrest people next so in jobs. this closing the factory or police making people loseweek. ” their example we don’t need a ‘by clause’.

PASSIVE FORMS Tense Active Passive Infinitive to do to be done Perfect Infinitive to have done to have been done Participle & Gerund doing being done Note: The passive is not used in the present perfect continuous, past perfect continuous or future continuous. However, the passive can be used in all the other verb forms. In the following slides, change the active sentences to passive forms. Decide whether the sentence would be better with a by clause: Is it necessary to know the agent? Should the agent get credit?

PRACTICE Tense Active Passive Present simple He kicks the ball. The ball is kicked by someone. Present continuous He is kicking the ball. The ball is being kicked [by someone]. Past simple He kicked the ball. The ball was kicked [by someone]. Present perfect He has kicked the ball. The ball has been kicked. Past perfect He had kicked the ball. The ball had been kicked. Change the sentences to their passive form.

PRACTICE Tense Active Passive Past perfect continuous He had been kicking the ball. No passive Future with ‘will’ He will kick the ball. Future with ‘going to’ He is going to kick the ball. The ball is going to be kicked. Future continuous He will be kicking the ball. No passive The ball will be kicked. Change the sentences to their passive form.

PRACTICE used to/modals Active Passive used to She used to run the company. The company used to be run by her would He would take the children to school. The children would be taken to school by him. should We should pay them on time. They should be paid on time. could/can You could repair the fence. The fence could be repaired by you. may/might They may/might buy the house. The house may/might be bought by them. Change the sentences to their passive form.

LESSON REVIEW Ø What is the difference between a passive and active sentence and how is the passive formed? Ø How is the passive tense used? Ø When do we use a by clause?