The Passive Voice What is the passive English

The Passive Voice

What is the passive? English sentences can have both a subject and an object. Example: I ate an apple Who is the subject? What is the object?

Subject vs. Object The subject is the person/thing doing the action…… נושא The object is the thing that something is being done to… מושא

Active vs. Passive Sentences in which the subject is doing the action are called ACTIVE. פעיל Sentences that describe something being done to the subject or another object are called PASSIVE. סביל

Active Form We use the active form to say what the subject does. For example: • • I speak English every day at work. I repaired the flat tire on the car.

Passive Form We use the passive form to say what happens to people and things, to say what is done to them. For example: • English is spoken here. • The car is being repaired.

When do we use the passive form? 1) We use the passive form when we don't know who did the action. For example: • The car was damaged while it was parked on the street. • The shirts were made in Turkey.

When do we use the passive? 2) We use the passive form when what was done is more important than who did it. For example: • It was approved by Greg last week. • I was informed by the manager only two days ago.

Active or Passive? 1) I was drinking a glass of water when he knocked on the door. ACTIVE 2) The house had been painted by the young men last year. Passive 3) The students are taught by the professor. 4) The castle had been visited by many tourists Passive 5) Once a week, Tom cleans his room. ACTIVE 6) The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came in. Passive

How do we change active sentences to passive ones? The two-step program: 1. Modify the verb • Add the helping verb be in the correct tense. • Use V 3 as the main verb.

2. Change the subject • Turn the object of the active sentence into the subject of the passive one. • The subject of the active sentence can then either be dropped or mentioned at the end, preceeded by the preposition ”by”

And what the heck does that mean? ? ? Active sentence: I ate the apple. 1. Which tense is this? Past simple “The formula” was/were + V 3 2. Turning the object into the “apple” is now the subject adding “by” subject Passive sentence: The apple was eaten by me.

When we add “by” the pronoun of the sentence changes…. (since it is no longer the subject of the sentence!!!) For example: I = me He = him She = her We = us They = them The apple was eaten by The apple was eaten by me. him. her. us. them.

STEPS 1. Recognize whether the sentence is active or passive - - what is the focus on? (subject vs. object) 2. Figure out the tense the sentence is written in…. And use the formula sheet. 3. Make the object the subject - - use “by” (DON’T FORGET TO CHANGE THE PRONOUN!)