The rule for forming the passive voice. Passive Voice in English: meaning, structure, features of use
Passive Voice is used if the subject does not perform the action, but experiences an influence directed at it from the predicate. It is clear from the context who is performing the action, or whether it is not significant. The emphasis is on the result of the action.
To form a verb in the form passive voice, you need to learn some rules. Firstly, you need to pay attention to the rule of formation of verbs in correct form participle II. must be learned by heart. To form a verb in the form of the passive voice, you need the necessary form of the verb “to be” (tense, person, number), and the past participle (Participle II) of the main significant verb. Below are the verbs “to ask / to take” in the form passive voice tables English:
Table of 8 passive forms of English verb
| Present simple tense | Present Indefinite | am / is / are + taken / asked |
| Present continuous tense | Present Continuous | am / is / are + being + taken / asked |
| Present perfect tense | Present Perfect | have / has + been + taken / asked |
| Past simple tense | Past indefinite | was / were + taken / asked |
| Past continuous tense | Past Continuous | was / were + being + taken / asked |
| Past perfect tense | Past Perfect | had + been + taken/ asked |
| Future simple tense | Future Indefinite | will + be + taken/ asked |
| Future continuous tense | Future Continuous | not used |
| Future perfect tense | Future Perfect | will + have + been + taken/ asked |
Now we understand How is the passive voice formed? in English sentences. How is it used correctly? IN active voice the proposal looks like this: “Mary often asks questions. “Mary often asks questions.” .
The same proposal in passive voice looks different: Mary is often asked questions. Mary is often asked questions.
IN in this case It is possible and even recommended to use the passive voice, since it is absolutely not important who performed the action.
To form an interrogative sentence, you need to put before the subject:
Was your bag stolen? – Was your bag stolen?
The negative form of the passive voice is formed using the particle “not”, which must be placed after the first auxiliary verb:
Tom has not been seen anywhere. - Tom was nowhere to be seen.
How to correctly translate the passive voice of English?
There is a rule that is used not only in English, but also in Russian: a noun that is an object in a sentence with an active voice, in a sentence passive or passive voice becomes the subject, and vice versa. If a passive voice sentence indicates who is doing the action, English this object/subject must be preceded by "by". It will be translated into Russian in the instrumental case form.
How can you translate the passive voice (examples):
— Using the short form of the passive participle — This house was built many years ago. – This house was built many years ago.
— Using a verb ending in “s” or “sya” — The dinner is being cooked - Dinner is being prepared.
- If there is no one who performs the action in the sentence, you can use an indefinite personal sentence - She was given an interesting magazine. – She was given an interesting magazine.
Despite the difficulty of learning the passive voice in English, learning theme "Passive Voice" necessary, because oral speech, and in writing it is used very often.
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There are two voices in English: Active voice (active voice) and Passive voice (passive voice). How these pledges differ from each other is most easily explained using an example:
The storm uprooted the tree. The storm uprooted the tree.
The tree was uprooted by the storm. The tree was uprooted by a storm.
In the first sentence, the subject "storm" itself performed some action, in this case it is "uprooted". Here " storm" is subject – « agent», who performed the action.
In the second case, the action occurred on the subject. Here the subject is " tree" is object (« bearer») on which the action was performed.
Here are more examples:
So, in what cases is it customary to use the passive voice in English?
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The passive voice in English is usually used when:
This umbrella was left on the table. This umbrella was left on the table.
Coca-Cola is drunk in every country in the world. Coca-Cola is drunk in every country in the world.
Rolls Royce cars are made in England. Rolls-Royces are made in England.
He was hospitalized with head injury. He was hospitalized with a head injury. |
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In English, it is preferable to use the passive voice if as a subject(i.e. the one who performs the action) words such as: People, We, You, You, They or someone. It is better to say: My flat was burgled (my apartment was robbed) than: Someone burgled my flat (someone robbed my apartment) |
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The passive voice is used in sentences when we the action itself is important, i.e. what happened/is happening/will happen, and not who performed this action. Two new factories were built last year. Last year, two new factories were built. |
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If subject is very long, then it is preferable to use the passive voice. It’s better to say: We were surprised by his decision to get married. We were surprised by his decision to get married. Than: Нis decision to get married surprised us. His decision to get married surprised us. |
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If we're talking about about some process, for example we talk cooking recipe any dish or instructions for use, then in English it is customary to use the passive voice, and the sentence usually begins with the word “let”. Let the onion be fried for 5 minutes. Fry the onion for 5 minutes. |
The method of forming the passive voice in English:
Verb to be (in the appropriate tense) + V3 (Participle II):
IN active voice the subject denotes the performer of the action, the person or thing performing the described action, and the one to whom the action is directed, the so-called. The “receiver of the action” in a sentence is an object.
Most sentences have an active voice.
Offers active voice in English
performer of the action + I form of the verb + recipient of the action
For example:
The professor teaches the students.
The professor teaches to the students.
John washes the dishes.
John is washing the dishes.
Passive Voice
IN passive voice the subject is the person or thing being affected by another person or thing. In other words, the doer and recipient of the action are swapped, although the doer of the action may not be specified.
Offers passive voice in English are formed as follows:
action recipient + be + past participle
For example:
The students are taught.
Students are taught.
The dishes are washed.
The dishes are washed.
The passive voice is used:
1. Mainly in cases where the performer of the action is not mentioned in the sentence; it is either unknown, or the speaker does not consider it necessary to report it.
For example:
Is English spoken in many countries?
Is English spoken in many countries?
That book was written a few years ago.
This book was written several years ago.
2. When the performer of the action, although mentioned in the sentence, is not in the center of the speaker’s attention; a noun or pronoun expressing the given performer of the action is introduced by a preposition by. Please note that in the active voice the performer of the action was the subject, while in the passive voice he becomes the object.
For example:
The students are taught by the professor
A professor teaches students.
The dishes are washed by John.
John washes the dishes.
Also, in a passive voice sentence, another object can be used, attached by a preposition with, and describing how the action is performed, for example:
The dishes are washed with a bar of soap.
Dishes are washed with a bar of soap.
In English, the scope of use of verbs in the passive voice is much wider than in Russian. Thus, any verb that takes a direct or indirect object can be used in the passive voice.
For example:
I gave him a book. (I gave him the book.)
A book was given to him. (The book was given to him.) = He was given a book. (He was given a book.)
They showed me a beautiful picture. (They showed me a beautiful picture.)
A beautiful picture was shown to me. ( Beautiful picture was shown to me.) = I was shown a beautiful picture. (I was shown a beautiful picture.)
In English, verbs that take a prepositional object can be used in the passive voice (for example: to attend to, to send for, etc.). The proposed object is used as the subject of the passive phrase, and the preposition comes immediately after the verb.
For example:
She went after him. – He was gone after.
She followed him. - Let's go get him.
Ways to translate the passive voice into Russian
There are three ways to translate the passive voice into Russian:
1. Using the verb “ be” + short form participles, for example:
Were his books translated into Russian?
Were are his books translated into Russian?
2. Verbs ending in –xia, For example:
Letters are delivered by mailmen.
Letters are delivered postmen.
3. Vaguely personal phrase (this method of translation is possible in cases where the performer of the action is not mentioned in the English sentence), for example:
They were taught French last year.
Their taught French last year.
Examples of active and passive voice
The table below shows examples of active and passive voice in all possible times. Please note that the passive voice is not used in tenses Present Perfect Continuous, Past Perfect Continuous, Future Perfect Continuous and Future Continuous.
| Active voice | Passive voice | |
| Present Simple | 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 |
| Past Simple | 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. |
| Present Perfect | Many tourists have visited that castle. | That castle has been visited by many tourists. |
| Present Perfect Continuous | Recently, John has been doing the work. | |
| Past Perfect | George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic’s license. | Many cars had been repaired by George before he received his mechanic’s license. |
| Past Perfect Continuous | Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant’s fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to Paris. | |
| Future Simple will | Someone will finish the work at 5:00 PM. | The work will be finished by 5:00 PM. |
| Future Simple be going to | Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight. | A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Sally tonight. |
| Future Continuous | At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes. | |
| Future Perfect | They will have completed the project before the deadline. | The project will have been completed before the deadline. |
| Future Perfect Continuous | The famous artist will have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished. | |
| Used To | Jerry used to pay the bills. | The bills used to be paid by Jerry. |
| Would Always | My mother would always make the pies. | The pies would always be made by my mother. |
| Future in the Past | I knew John would finish the work at 5:00 PM. | I knew the work would be finished by 5:00 PM. |
Our speech in Russian is quite diverse. We use different designs: simple and complex, active and passive. And we don’t even think about it. If you want to raise your English speech to the same “intuitive level”, then you should definitely use our Passive Voice table.
When you started studying tenses, you probably came across such a grammatical phenomenon as active and passive voice. Let's remember what their difference is. Most time periods can be used in two cases. If the subject of the sentence itself performs the action (I’m walking, he’s drawing, we bought, they’ll fly), then we need an active form. If something is done to the subject, he is subjected to influence (trees are planted, water is poured, I was invited, we will be taken), then we use the passive construction. That's the last one we'll talk about.
Education
Each tense uses different auxiliary verbs and predicate forms. The Passive Voice table will tell us about this.
Present |
Past |
Future |
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Formula Simple |
is/am/are + V ed (V 3) | was/were + V ed (V 3) | will/shall + be + V ed (V 3) |
| Letters are sent every day. — Letters are sent every day. | Letters were sent yesterday. — The letters were sent yesterday. | Letters will be sent tomorrow. — The letters will be sent tomorrow. | |
Formula Continuous |
is/am/are + being + V ed (V 3) | was/were + being + V ed (V 3) | ————————— |
| Letters are being sent now. — Letters are being sent now. | Letters were being sent at 5 yesterday. — Letters were sent at 5 o’clock yesterday. | ————————— | |
Formula Perfect |
has/have + been + V ed (V 3) | had + been + V ed (V 3) | will/shall + have/has+ been +V ed (V 3) |
| Letters have already been sent. - The letters have already been sent. | Letters had been sent before he phoned. — The letters were sent before he called. | Letters will have been sent by 5 tomorrow. — Letters will be sent tomorrow before 5 o’clock. | |
| Perfect Continuous | ———————————— | ———————————- | ————————— |
Note that the Perfect Continuous is not used at all in the passive voice. And Continuous time has no future segment. The interrogative and negative forms are identical in all tenses.
? - Recall. verb + mean + predicate
- Subject + auxiliary. verb + not + predicate
Were you invited to the party yesterday? — Were you invited to a party yesterday?
I wasn’t invited to the party yesterday. — I wasn’t invited to the party yesterday.
Are the flowers being planted now? —Are they planting flowers now?
The trees are not being planted now. — Trees are not being planted now.
Let's compare Active and Passive
The use of different tenses fully corresponds to their counterparts in the active voice. That is why it is recommended to study all the elements of this group, and then look in detail at. Let's look at a few examples to make it easier for you to understand everything and remember it at the right time.
Active |
Passive |
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Present Simple |
She writes a new play for the theater every year. — She writes a new play for the theater every year. | A new play for the theater is written by her every year. — She writes a new play for the theater every year. |
Past Simple |
He stole food from the shop. — He stole food from the store. | Food was stolen from the shop by him. — The food was stolen from the store. |
Future Simple |
They will show a new musical on TV next month. — They will show a new musical on television next month. | A new musical will be shown on TV next month. — The new musical will be shown on television next month. |
Present Continuous |
My dad is repairing the car now. — My dad is repairing the car now. | The car is being repaired by my dad now. — The car is now being repaired by dad. |
Past Continuous |
At 9 my brother was loading the truck. — At 9 o’clock my brother was unloading the truck. | At 9 o’clock the truck was being loaded by my brother. — At 9 o’clock the truck was unloaded by my brother. |
Present Perfect |
My daughter has already translated the whole text. — My daughter has already translated the entire text. | The whole text has already been translated by my daughter. — The entire text has already been translated by my daughter. |
Past Perfect |
When we came to the kitchen, he had eaten the pie. — When we entered the kitchen, he had already eaten the pie. | When we came to the kitchen, the pie had been eaten. — When we entered the kitchen, the pie had already been eaten. |
Future Perfect |
We will have finished the work by 6 tomorrow. — Tomorrow we will finish work by six. | The work will have been finished by 6 tomorrow. — The work will be finished tomorrow by six. |
As you can see, there is nothing complicated in this element of the language. First of all, determine the role of the subject: it acts or on him. Then determine the time (you can use hint words). If you need to use the passive construction, then our passive voice table is at your service. Choose the tense, auxiliary verb, predicate ending, and you're done. It is better to consolidate all this in exercises that can be completed online on our website.
Forms of passive voice - Passive forms
The tables present temporary ? e forms of the passive voice. As an example given regular verb invite (invite).
Present - Present
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Simple[?s?mp(?)l] Simple Alternative title: Indefinite[?n?def(?)n?t] Uncertain |
Continuous
Long-term Alternative title: Progressive Long lasting |
Perfect[?p??(r)f?kt] Perfect | ||||||||
| ... am/are/is + III. | ... am/are/is being + III. | ... have/has been + III. | ||||||||
| I | am | invited. | I | am | been invited. | I | have | been invited. | ||
| You | are | You | are | You | ||||||
| We | We | We | ||||||||
| They | They | They | ||||||||
| He | is | He | is | He | has | |||||
| She | She | She | ||||||||
| It | It | It | ||||||||
| I am invited. I am invited (usually, always, often). | I am being invited. I am invited (now). | I have been invited. I was invited (I'm already invited). | ||||||||
Past Past
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Simple[?s?mp(?)l] Simple Alternative title: Indefinite[?n?def(?)n?t] Uncertain |
Continuous
Long-term Alternative title: Progressive Long lasting |
Perfect[?p??(r)f?kt] Perfect | ||||||||
| ... was/were + III. | ... was/were being + III. | ... had been + III. | ||||||||
| I | was | invited. | I | was | being invited. | I | had been invited. | |||
| You | were | You | were | You | ||||||
| We | We | We | ||||||||
| They | They | They | ||||||||
| He | was | He | was | He | ||||||
| She | She | She | ||||||||
| It | It | It | ||||||||
| I was invited. I was invited (usually, always, often). | I was being invited. I was invited (at the time.../at the time...). | I had been invited. I was invited (before...). | ||||||||
Future[?fju?t??(r)] Future
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Simple[?s?mp(?)l] Simple Alternative title: Indefinite[?n?def(?)n?t] Uncertain |
Continuous
Long-term Alternative title: Progressive Long lasting |
Perfect[?p??(r)f?kt] Perfect | |||||||||||
| ... will /shall* be + III. | Absent in the passive voice (replaced by the Future Simple form) | ... will /shall* have been + III. | |||||||||||
| I | will /shall* | be invited. | I | will /shall* | have been invited. | ||||||||
| We | We | ||||||||||||
| You | will | You | will | ||||||||||
| They | They | ||||||||||||
| He | He | ||||||||||||
| She | She | ||||||||||||
| It | It | ||||||||||||
| I will be invited. I will be invited./I will be invited. | I will have been invited. I will be invited (by the time...). | ||||||||||||
Future in the past[?fju?t??(r) ?n ð? p??st] The future is in the past
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Simple[?s?mp(?)l] Simple Alternative title: Indefinite[?n?def(?)n?t] Uncertain |
Continuous
Long-term Alternative title: Progressive Long lasting |
Perfect[?p??(r)f?kt] Perfect | ||||||||||||
| ... would /should* be + III. | Absent in the passive voice (replaced by the Future in the Past Simple) | ... would /should* have been + III. | ||||||||||||
| I | would/should* | be invited. | I | would/should* | have been invited. | |||||||||
| We | We | |||||||||||||
| You | would | You | would | |||||||||||
| They | They | |||||||||||||
| He | He | |||||||||||||
| She | She | |||||||||||||
| It | It | |||||||||||||
| I knew I would be invited. I knew that I would be invited./I knew that I would be invited. | I knew I would have been invited. I knew I would be invited (by the time...). | |||||||||||||
*Shall and should are outdated forms auxiliary verb of the future and future in the past tense, respectively, for the first person singular and plural(I and we) and are not usually used in modern English.
Note: In spoken English and in fiction books, Present Simple, Past Simple and Future Simple are often used instead of complex Perfect and Continuous forms. "Primordial" forms are mainly used in technical and scientific literature.