Use of Passive
Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action. It is not important or not known, however, who or what is performing the action.
Example: My bike was stolen.
In the example above, the focus is on the fact that my bike was stolen. I do not know, however, who did it.Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following example shows:
Example: A mistake was made.
In this case, I focus on the fact that a mistake was made, but I do not blame anyone (e.g. You have made a mistake.).Form of Passive
Subject + finite form of to be + Past Participle (3rd column of irregular verbs)
Example: A letter was written.
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)
Examples of Passive
| Tense | Subject | Verb | Object | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Simple Present | Active: | Rita | writes | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | is written | by Rita. | |
| Simple Past | Active: | Rita | wrote | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | was written | by Rita. | |
| Present Perfect | Active: | Rita | has written | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | has been written | by Rita. | |
| Future I | Active: | Rita | will write | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | will be written | by Rita. | |
| Hilfsverben | Active: | Rita | can write | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | can be written | by Rita. | |
Examples of Passive
| Tense | Subject | Verb | Object | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Present Progressive | Active: | Rita | is writing | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | is being written | by Rita. | |
| Past Progressive | Active: | Rita | was writing | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | was being written | by Rita. | |
| Past Perfect | Active: | Rita | had written | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | had been written | by Rita. | |
| Future II | Active: | Rita | will have written | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | will have been written | by Rita. | |
| Conditional I | Active: | Rita | would write | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | would be written | by Rita. | |
| Conditional II | Active: | Rita | would have written | a letter. |
| Passive: | A letter | would have been written | by Rita. | |
Passive Sentences with Two Objects
Rewriting an active sentence with two objects in passive voice means that one of the two objects becomes the subject, the other one remains an object. Which object to transform into a subject depends on what you want to put the focus on.| Subject | Verb | Object 1 | Object 2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Active: | Rita | wrote | a letter | to me. |
| Passive: | A letter | was written | to me | by Rita. |
| Passive: | I | was written | a letter | by Rita. |
Personal and Impersonal Passive
Personal Passive simply means that the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence. So every verb that needs an object (transitive verb) can form a personal passive.
Example: They build houses. – Houses are built.
Verbs without an object (intransitive verb) normally cannot form a
personal passive sentence (as there is no object that can become the
subject of the passive sentence). If you want to use an intransitive
verb in passive voice, you need an impersonal construction – therefore
this passive is called Impersonal Passive.
Example: he says – it is said
Impersonal Passive is not as common in English as in some other languages (e.g. German, Latin). In English, Impersonal Passive is only possible with verbs of perception (e. g. say, think, know).
Example: They say that women live longer than men. – It is said that women live longer than men.
Although Impersonal Passive is possible here, Personal Passive is more common.
Example: They say that women live longer than men. – Women are said to live longer than men.
The subject of the subordinate clause (women) goes to the beginning
of the sentence; the verb of perception is put into passive voice. The
rest of the sentence is added using an infinitive construction with 'to'
(certain auxiliary verbs and that are dropped).Sometimes the term Personal Passive is used in English lessons if the indirect object of an active sentence is to become the subject of the passive sentence.
Texto extraído de Learn English
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Passive Voice – Voz Pasiva
| Voz Activa The lady buys a new hat. La dama compra un sombrero nuevo. (El verbo “comprar” recae sobre “la dama” indicando que ella es quien realiza la acción) |
| Voz Pasiva A new hat is bought by the lady. Un nuevo sombrero es comprado por la dama. (En este caso interesa que “un nuevo sombrero es comprado” sin demasiada importancia de quien realiza la acción) |
Para construir la voz pasiva es necesario que la oración en voz activacuente con objeto directo, es decir que responda a la pregunta “¿qué cosa?”, por ejemplo:
| My sister lost the keys. Mi hermana perdió las llaves. ¿Qué cosa perdió mi hermana? Las llaves (éste es el objeto directo) |
Luego el objeto directo establecido pasará a ocupar el lugar de sujeto, elsujeto de la voz activa pasa a ser complemento agente acompañado de la preposición BY y el verbo principal se coloca en pasado participio acompañado por el verto TO BE en el tiempo que se encuentra la voz activa. Por ejemplo:
| My sister lost the keys. The keys were lost by my sister. |
Observe en la oración pasiva que “the keys” ocupan el lugar de sujeto, “by my sister” es el complemento agente y el verbo principal está ahora en pasado participio acompañado por el verbo to be (were) enpasado simple ya que la oración activa se encontraba en ese tiempo verbal. Veremos en el siguiente cuadro como se modifican los verbos de Voz Activa a Voz Pasiva:
| Tiempo Verbal de la oración en voz activa | VOZ ACTIVA | VOZ PASIVA |
| Presente Simple | My brotherstudies the lesson. | The lesson is studied by my brother. |
| Presente Continuo | My brother is studying the lesson. | The lesson is being studied by my brother. |
| Pasado Simple | My brotherstudied the lesson. | The lesson wasstudied by my brother. |
| Pasado Continuo | My brother was studying the lesson. | The lesson was being studied by my brother. |
| Futuro Simple | My brother will study the lesson. | The lesson will be studied by my brother. |
| Futuro Cercano | My brother is going to studythe lesson. | The lesson is going to be studied by my brother. |
| Presente Perfecto | My brother has studied the lesson. | The lesson has been studied by my brother. |
| Pasado Perfecto | My brother had studied the lesson. | The lesson had been studied by my brother. |
Texto extraído de Aprender Inglés Facil
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The Passive Voice (La voz pasiva)
Hasta ahora hemos hablado de la voz activa donde enfocamos la acción del verbo en el sujeto. Pero cuando queremos dar más importancia a la acción y no a quien la ha hecho, utilizamos la voz pasiva.- Ejemplos:
- La voz activa
- He ate all of the cookies. (Comió todas las galletas.)
- La voz pasiva
- All of the cookies were eaten. (Todas las galletas fueron comidas.)
Grammatical Rules (Reglas gramaticales)
Se forma la voz pasiva con el verbo auxiliar "to be" y el participio pasado del verbo.
Estructura Sujeto + verbo auxiliar ("to be") + participio pasado.
- Ejemplos:
- The speech is written for the president. (El discurso está escrito para el presidente.)
- The house was built in 1975. (La casa fue construida en 1975.)
- My wallet has been stolen. (Ha sido robada mi cartera.)
- The room will be cleaned while we are out. (Se limpiará la habitación mientras estemos fuera.)
- El objeto de la oración activa pasa a ser el sujeto de la pasiva.
- El verbo principal se sustituye por el auxiliar "to be", en su mismo tiempo, junto al verbo principal en participio.
- El sujeto de la oración principal pasa a ser complemento agente de la pasiva.
- Si hacemos mención en la oración del sujeto que realiza la acción (sujeto agente), este irá normalmente introducido por la preposición "by".
- Ejemplos:
- Mark Twain wrote the book. → The book was written by Mark Twain. (Mark Twain escribió el libro. → El libro fue escrito por Mark Twain.)
- The housekeeper will clean the room. → The room will be cleaned by the housekeeper. (La ama de casa limpiará la habitación. → La habitación será limpiado por la ama de casa.)
Uses (Usos)
- Usamos la voz pasiva cuando no sabemos quien ha hecho la acción.
- Ejemplos:
- A civilian has been killed. (Un civil ha sido asesinado.)
- The car was stolen. (El coche fue robado.)
- Usamos la voz pasiva cuando queremos dar importancia a lo que pasó,
más que a quién hizo la acción o cuando no queremos decir quien lo hizo.
- Ejemplos:
- The letter was delivered yesterday. (La carta fue entregada ayer.)
- A mistake was made. (Un error fue cometido.)
Nota: No podemos usar la voz pasiva con verbos intransitivos como "die", "arrive" o "go". Verbos intransitivos son verbos que no llevan un objeto directo.
Artículo extraído de cursos-inglés.com
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