The passive voice

Auxilio EnglischkursD.D.Zethmeier

The passive voice

• Which grammer do you need to know before you learn the passive voice:

• The English tenses• The forms of “to be“• The past participle (3rd form)• The English word order (Subject – Verb –

Object)• Allright? Let´s get started:

The passive voice

• The passive voice is used when we want to express that something happens to the object The focus is being put on the object

• I paint the Empire State Building• I paint the Empire State Building• The Empire State Building is painted by me

The forms of “to be“ in the passive voice

• As you know, the verb to be is an irregular verb. It´s three forms are:

• be• was/ were• been

The forms of “to be“ in the passive voice

• The structure of the passive voice looks like this: • form of “to be“ + past participle (3rd form)• The verb “to be“ tells us in which tense the passive

voice sentence has:• Simple Present: is/am/are• Simple Past: was/were• Present Perfect: has/have + been• Past Perfect: had + been• Will-Future: will + be

The forms of “to be“ in the passive voice

• Since the past participle cannot take –ing form (progressive form) there is a word needed that tells us that the sentence is in the –ing form:

• Structure: “to be“ + being + past participle• Present Progressive: is/am/are being

The forms of “to be“ in the passive voice

• Exercise: Transform the following sentences into the passive voice

• The construction workers are building this road

• This road is being built by the construction workers.

• The lady was singing the famous song• The famous song was being sung by the lady

The past participle stays in all tenses!

• A car is bought by …• A car is being bought by …• A car was bought by …• A car was being bought by …• A car has been bought by…• A car has been being bought by …• A car had been bought by…• A car will be bought by …• A car is going to be bought by …

How can I profit from knowing the passive voice?

• Firstly, you are able to express that something happens to the object.

• Secondly, and most important, the passive voice counts to complex English sentences. When using them in your guided writing you earn extra points!

Thank you for your attention

• Finally, I would like you to convert the following sentences either from active to passive, or the other way around:

• The ball was hit by John• They have designed a brand new car• The gangsters were being caught by the police• He had bought this expensive painting before he

overpainted it.• She is baking this delicious cake.