PASSIVE VOICE:  Part 4

Introduction

We'd like to welcome you to the ESL HELP! Desk, where all activities and exercises are authentic English, from learners of English. Be sure to check out our many aspects of our website, including our blog, our Vocabulary lessons, and our Library, by clicking on the many links above.

In today's lesson we continue our unit on PASSIVE VOICE.  This is PART 4 of our series.

If you'd like to begin with Part 1 of our series, please click here: What Is Passive Voice?

How Do I Form the Passive Voice?

 

To form the passive voice, you must always do the following two things:

  1. Use the correct form of the be verb.

  2. Use the past participle form of the main verb.

Use a form of the be verb that indicates the desired time reference. To learn how to indicate the desired time reference correctly, see section 11-4 of this chapter.

If the verb is present tense, you must of course make sure that the subject-verb agreement is correct.

Here are some examples:

  • We once demonstrated against how prisoners are treated.

  • Strict penalties are attached to crimes.

  • The teacher checks to see that the homework has been done.

  • If a student comes to school late, he is hit with a stick.

The two sentences below will explain this guideline in detail:

Active Voice Passive Voice
The mountains surround our town.
subject (plural) verb (plural) object (singular) 		Our town is surrounded by mountains.
subject (singular) verb (singular) do-er of the action (plural)


In the present tense active voice sentence above (to the left):

  • the subject, mountains, is plural and so -->

  • the main verb, surround, is in 3rd person plural form, surround.

In the present tense passive voice sentence above (to the right):

  • the new subject, our town, is 3rd person singular and so -->

  • the be verb is also 3rd person singular (is)

  • the main verb, surround, is now in the past participle form, surrounded.

  • the do-er of the action, mountains, is included in a prepositional phrase, by mountains.

Next.... Chart of Passive Voice for Each Verb Tense

 

Our next lesson provides you with The Passive Voice Chart for Each Verb Tense.


All material is copyrighted, Software for Students.  Copying for PERSONAL USE ONLY. All others must contact Software for Students for permission to use in schools or other educational institutions.

 Music by Grover Washington, Sassy Stew