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The Passive Voice
There are two voices
in English, the active and the passive. The
active tells us what the subject does, for example:
- The secretary wrote a letter.
The passive tells us what is done to the subject.
For example:
- The letter was written by the secretary.
Form
The passive is made
with the verb "to be" and the past
participle. Here are the main English tenses
used in the passive voice.
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Tense
Simple present:
Present continuous:
Simple past:
Past continuous:
Present perfect:
Past perfect:
Future:
Future continuous:
Present conditional:
Past conditional:
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Subject
Flowers
Flowers
Flowers
Flowers
Flowers
Flowers
Flowers
Flowers
Flowers
Flowers
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Verb "to
be"
are
are being
were
were being
have been
had been
will be
will be being
would be
would have
been
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Past Participle
planted every
year
planted now.
planted last
year
planted last
summer.
planted here
for 10 years.
planted until
last year.
planted next
year.
planted during
the summer.
planted if
we had seeds.
planted if
we had had seeds.
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By
To state what the
cause of a passive action is, you can use by.
For example:
- This photo was taken by my friend.
- I was given this by my brother.
It is often not necessary
to statethe cause of a passive action, especially
when clearly understood or irrelevant. For example:
- The meeting was cancelled. (The meeting's
cancellation is what is important, not who cancelled
it.)
- These boots were made in Italy. (The fact
they were made in Italy is what's important,
not who made them.)
Born
When talking abut
the birth of specific people of things we use
the passive form "to be born". For
example:
- I was born in Iran.
- The twins were born just last year.
Get
Get can be
used instead of to be in situations where
something happens. For example:
- Our flight got cancelled = Our flight
was cancelled.
- I got paid today = I was paid
today.
Get can't
be used with general situations and state verbs
(verbs that express a state, not an action).
For example:
- He is liked by a lot of people. - OK
- He gets liked by a lot of people.
- Incorrect.
- She is known to be a hard-working employee.
- OK
- She gets known to be a hard-working
employee.- Incorrect
Get is used more often in informal English.
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