The Passive Voice

Who is the star of this movie?

The subject of any sentence is the

“star”.

Who is the star of this movie?

The subject of any sentence is the

“star”.

Who is the star of this movie?

If you want the object of the sentence to be the

“star”, you must

use the Passive Voice.

Active Voice: The subject is doing the actionPassive Voice: The object becomes the subject

Active:Cheryl kissed her husband. (subject) (object)

Passive: The husband was kissed by Cheryl.(object) (passive verb) (subject)

Ideas sometimes need to be expressed in passive voice instead of active voice.

Three reasons to use passive voice:

1. If the agent is unknown, unimportant, or obvious from the context:

-Jan’s purse was stolen from the library.

2. To emphasize the recipient:-Dozens of homes were destroyed by the earthquake.(use passive to emphasize when someone or something is hurt.)

3. To make generic explanations, statements, and announcements:The present perfect tense is used to describe actions in the past that are related to the present in some way.-That castle has been visited by many tourists.

How to form Passive Voice

“Be” verb (match the tense) + Past Participle (transitive verb only)

Simple present: Corn is grown in Ohio.Pres. progressive: Corn is being grown in Iowa.Pres. perfect: The U.S. economy has been stimulated by the

recent tax rebates.

Simple past: The home was destroyed in last month’s wind storm.

Past progressive: The boy was being helped by the paramedic.Past perfect: The student had been taught by the teacher.Modals: My job might be threatened by the economy.Simple Future: The door will be locked after all employees leave.Be going to: The door is going to be locked after all employees

leave.Future perfect: The bill will have been signed by the president by

the time Congress returns from break.

Transitive and Intransitive Verbs

Passive voice ONLY uses transitive verbs.

Transitive verbs must be followed by an object. Active voice: The slow economy affected me in many

ways.Passive voice: I was affected by the economy.

Intransitive verbs cannot be followed by an objectActive voice: My dog died.Common intransitive verbs: happen, sleep, come, see,

agree, arrive, cry, exist, go, live, occur, rain, rise, stay, walk

(Intransitive verbs can be followed by adverbs or prepositional phrases. Ex. My dog died yesterday by my side on the kitchen floor.)

Practice

Ms. Stella ____________________ at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

A. is employing

B. employed

C. employing

D. is employed

Practice

Ms. Stella ____________________ at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.

A. is employing

B. employed

C. employing

D. is employed

Practice

“Can’t we do something about the situation?”

“Something __________ right now.”

A. is doing

B. is done

C. is being done

D. has been doing

Practice

“Can’t we do something about the situation?”

“Something __________ right now.”

A. is doing

B. is done

C. is being done

D. has been doing

Practice

Renoir is one of the most popular French impressionist painters. His paintings _______ masterpieces all over the world.

A. had considered

B. are considering

C. are considered

D. consider

Practice

Renoir is one of the most popular French impressionist painters. His paintings _______ masterpieces all over the world.

A. had considered

B. are considering

C. are considered

D. consider

PracticeOn Friday afternoon before the weekend, the

highways _________ people on their way home from work.

A. are crowding by

B. are being crowd with

C. are crowded with

D. crowd by

PracticeOn Friday afternoon before the weekend, the

highways _________ people on their way home from work.

A. are crowding by

B. are being crowd with

C. are crowded with

D. crowd by

The Passive Voice