PASSIVE TENSE
Sentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have "active forms" and "passive forms." You must learn to recognize the difference to successfully speak English.
Active Form
In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. Most sentences are active.
[Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action]
Examples:
Passive Form
In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject of the sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally included near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be emphasized. You can also use the passive form if you do not know who is doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the action.
When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:
- the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
- the finite form of the verb is changed (to be + past participle)
- the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is dropped)
[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action]
Examples:
Active / Passive Overview
| Active | Passive | |
| Simple Present | Once a week, Tom cleans the house. | Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom. |
| Present Continuous | Right now, Sarah is writing the letter. | Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah. |
| Simple Past | Sam repaired the car. | The car was repaired by Sam. |
| Past Continuous | The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store. | The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store. |
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