Passive voice
Definition
Passive
Voice is very popular use, both in everyday conversations and in reading books.
In the Indonesian language sentence is known as a verb beginning with
di-(written, given, scolded, etc.). In the active sentence we may say so:
The teacher warned Nitha for being late. -> Teachers warned Nitha for being
late.
But if we want to express this sentence in the passive voice, we will say:
Nitha was warned by the teacher for being late. -> Nitha warned by the
teacher for being late.
The rules for forming the passive voice,
(1) The sentence should have Object (Transitive Verb).
(2) Object in the active sentence becomes the subject in passive sentences.
(3) said his work should form the III (Past Participle) preceded by a to be
(am, is, are, was, were the resource persons, been). And
(4) The structure of the sentence by tenses.
A. Simple Past Tense
Struktur —> Subject + was/were + Past Participle
Example :
(A) Fire destroyed the house. —> (P) The house was destroyed by fire.
B. Simple Present Tense
Stuktur —> Subject + am/is/are + Past Participle
Example :
(A) People all over the world speak English. —> (P) English is spoken all over
the world.
C. Present Perfect Tense
Struktur —> Subject + have/has been + Past Participle
Example :
(A) The students have copied the lesson. —> (P) The lesson has been copied
by the students.
D. Present Continuous Tense
Struktur —> Subject + am/is/are + being + Past Participle
Example :
(A) She is typing the letter. —> (P) The letter is being typed.
E. Simple Future Tense
Struktur —> Subject + shall/will be + Past Participle
Example :
(A) They will sign the contract next week. —> (P) The contract will be
signed next week.
F. Passive Voice with Auxiliaries
Struktur —> Subject + aux + be + Past Participle
Example :
(A) He must finish the work today. —> (P) The work must be finished today.
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.
|
.
As you can see in the examples, adding by Rita does
not sound very elegant. That’s why it is usually dropped.
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
calledImpersonal 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.
