{"id":11073,"date":"2014-12-21T12:40:31","date_gmt":"2014-12-21T12:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/?p=11073"},"modified":"2023-05-10T20:54:46","modified_gmt":"2023-05-11T01:54:46","slug":"passive-voice-in-english","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/passive-voice-in-english\/","title":{"rendered":"Passive Voice in English"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/111559327\" width=\"600\" height=\"450\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/center><br \/>\n<strong>Download:<\/strong> <i>Right-click each link and select &#8220;Save as&#8230;&#8221;<\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/AEG-Lesson-15-Worksheet.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Worksheet &#8211; Exercises<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/AEG-Lesson-15.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Full text<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/EspressoEnglish\/AEG-Lesson15.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Audio<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"alert\">\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">This is a free sample from the<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/espressoenglish.lpages.co\/advanced-english-grammar-course\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Advanced English Grammar Course<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/espressoenglish.lpages.co\/advanced-english-grammar-course\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9396 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/cooltext1454238393.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"463\" height=\"75\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/cooltext1454238393.png 463w, https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/cooltext1454238393-300x48.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 463px) 100vw, 463px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10812\" src=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/securepayment-300x167.jpg\" alt=\"securepayment\" width=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/securepayment-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/securepayment.jpg 755w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/contact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Contact me for payment by Banco do Brazil deposit<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Passive Voice vs. Active Voice<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>In the active voice, the subject of the sentence\u00a0<strong>DOES the action:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Jake<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>wrote<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0a<strong>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #008000;\">letter.<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>subject<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0\/\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>verb<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0\/\u00a0<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>object<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence\u00a0<strong>is\u00a0acted upon:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A<strong>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #008000;\">letter<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>was written<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0(by\u00a0<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Jake<\/strong><\/span>).<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>subject<\/strong><\/span><strong>\u00a0\/\u00a0<\/strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>verb<\/strong><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Notice that the\u00a0<strong>object<\/strong>\u00a0of the active sentence (letter) became the\u00a0<strong>subject<\/strong>\u00a0of the passive sentence. If we want, we can include &#8220;by Jake&#8221; to say who did the action.<\/p>\n<p>We do not include &#8220;by&#8230;&#8221; when:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>The doer of the action is <strong>unknown:<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>The money was stolen.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>The doer of the action is <strong>&#8220;people in general&#8221;:<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>Black cats are believed to bring bad luck.<\/em><\/li>\n<li>The doer of the action is <strong>completely unimportant:<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>This bridge was built in 1889. (probably by a construction company)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>(<a href=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/when-do-we-include-by-someone-in-a-sentence-in-the-passive-voice\/\">Click here<\/a>\u00a0for more explanation and examples).<\/p>\n<p>The passive voice is formed by\u00a0<strong>a form of the verb TO BE + past participle\u00a0of the main verb.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The form of the verb \u201cto be\u201d is the same as the form of the original main verb:<\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Structure of the passive voice<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Here&#8217;s\u00a0how to form the passive voice for each verb tense in English.<\/p>\n<table border=\"1\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"122\"><strong>Tense<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"302\"><strong>Active \/ Passive<\/strong><\/td>\n<td width=\"198\"><strong>When to use it?<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"122\">Simple Present<\/td>\n<td width=\"302\">Factory workers\u00a0<strong>test<\/strong>\u00a0the products.<\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"198\">General procedures &amp; processes; general thoughts &amp; opinions<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"302\">The products\u00a0<strong>are tested.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"122\">Simple past<\/td>\n<td width=\"302\">An interior design company\u00a0<strong>renovated\u00a0<\/strong>our facilities last month.<\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"198\">Actions completed at a specific time in the past.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"302\">Our facilities\u00a0<strong>were renovated\u00a0<\/strong>last month.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"122\">Simple future<\/td>\n<td width=\"302\">Everyone\u00a0<strong>will exchange\u00a0<\/strong>gifts at Christmas.<br \/>\nThe company\u00a0<strong>is going to implement\u00a0<\/strong>the policy next month.<\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"198\">Actions to be completed in the future<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"302\">Gifts <strong>will be exchanged <\/strong>at Christmas.<br \/>\nThe policy\u00a0<strong>is going to be implemented\u00a0<\/strong>next month.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"122\">Present continuous<\/td>\n<td width=\"302\">Teachers\u00a0<strong>are using<\/strong>\u00a0the new book<br \/>\nin their classrooms.<\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"198\">Actions currently in progress<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"302\">The new book\u00a0<strong>is being used\u00a0<\/strong>in classrooms.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"122\">Past continuous<\/td>\n<td width=\"302\">I spoke up when I saw that my manager\u00a0<strong>was ignoring<\/strong>\u00a0the safety regulations.<\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"198\">Actions in progress at a time in the past<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"302\">I spoke up when I saw that the safety regulations\u00a0<strong>were being ignored.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"122\">Present perfect<\/td>\n<td width=\"302\">Somebody\u00a0<strong>has<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>eaten\u00a0<\/strong>the last piece of cake.<\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"198\">Actions completed at an unspecified time in the past.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"302\">The last piece of cake\u00a0<strong>has been eaten.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"122\">Past perfect<\/td>\n<td width=\"302\">I discovered that someone\u00a0<strong>had copied<\/strong>\u00a0my brilliant idea.<\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"198\">An action that happened before another action in the past.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"302\">I discovered that my brilliant idea\u00a0<strong>had been copied.<\/strong><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"122\">Future perfect<\/td>\n<td width=\"302\">The store\u00a0<strong>will have delivered<\/strong>\u00a0the furniture by Friday.<\/td>\n<td rowspan=\"2\" width=\"198\">An action that will happen before a date in the future<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td width=\"302\">The furniture\u00a0<strong>will have been delivered <\/strong>by Friday.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Note that the form of the verb &#8220;to be&#8221; is singular or plural depending on the new subject of the sentence:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Teachers\u00a0<strong>are using<\/strong>\u00a0the new book in their classrooms.<br \/>\n<em>(teachers = plural, so we use &#8220;are&#8221;)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The new book\u00a0<strong>is being used<\/strong>\u00a0in classrooms.<br \/>\n<em>(the new book = singular, so we use &#8220;is&#8221;)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">My manager\u00a0<strong>was ignoring\u00a0<\/strong>the safety regulations.<br \/>\n<em>(my manager = singular, so we use &#8220;was&#8221;)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The safety regulations\u00a0<strong>were being ignored.<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>(regulations = plural, so we use &#8220;were&#8221;)<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Modal Verbs + Passive Voice<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>We can also add modal verbs to passive voice structures &#8211; typically:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">the\u00a0<strong>present\u00a0<\/strong>(modal + be + past participle)<br \/>\n<em>To talk about things in the present or future<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">the\u00a0<strong>present perfect\u00a0<\/strong>(modal + have been + past participle)<br \/>\n<em>To talk about things in the past<\/em><\/p>\n<h4><strong>Possibility:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Present: This recipe\u00a0<strong>can be made\u00a0<\/strong>with margarine instead of butter.<\/li>\n<li>Past: He&#8217;s very upset. He\u00a0<strong>might have been\u00a0fired<\/strong>\u00a0from his job.<\/li>\n<li>Past: That was very dangerous. You\u00a0<strong>could have been killed!<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>Impossibility:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Present: Crops\u00a0<strong>can&#8217;t be grown\u00a0<\/strong>here because the soil is too rocky.<\/li>\n<li>Past: The work\u00a0<strong>couldn&#8217;t have been finished\u00a0<\/strong>in a day. It was at least a week&#8217;s worth of work.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>Permission:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Positive: Photos\u00a0<strong>may be taken\u00a0<\/strong>during the performance.<\/li>\n<li>Negative: Cell phones\u00a0<strong>may not be used\u00a0<\/strong>in the classroom.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>Requirement:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Positive: The shipment\u00a0<strong>must be delivered\u00a0<\/strong>before the deadline.<\/li>\n<li>Negative: These samples\u00a0<strong>must not be exposed\u00a0<\/strong>to contamination.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><strong>Advice:<\/strong><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li>Present: Something\u00a0<strong>should be done\u00a0<\/strong>about the problem.<\/li>\n<li>Past: Something\u00a0<strong>should have been done\u00a0<\/strong>about the problem a long time ago.<\/li>\n<li>Present: Criminals\u00a0<strong>ought to be punished.<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>(we don&#8217;t usually use &#8220;ought to have been&#8221; in the past; we prefer &#8220;should have been&#8221;)<\/em><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>When can we use the passive voice?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Some teachers and writers say that the passive voice should always be avoided, but this is not true. Of course it is not good to use the passive voice\u00a0<em>too much,\u00a0<\/em>but it is perfectly acceptable to use it &#8211; especially in these four situations:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<h4><strong>Use the passive voice when we don&#8217;t know who did the action<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">A laptop\u00a0<strong>was\u00a0stolen\u00a0<\/strong>from the classroom.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Three people\u00a0<strong>have\u00a0been\u00a0killed\u00a0<\/strong>in the park. Police are looking for clues to the identity of the murderer.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li>\n<h4><strong>Use the passive voice when the person who does the action is &#8220;people in general&#8221;<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Tino&#8217;s\u00a0<strong>is considered<\/strong>\u00a0the city&#8217;s best pizzeria.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Chinese\u00a0<strong>is seen\u00a0<\/strong>as\u00a0a very difficult language to learn.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">It\u00a0<strong>was\u00a0<\/strong>once\u00a0<strong>believed\u00a0<\/strong>that the sun revolved around the earth.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>\n<h4><strong>Use the passive voice when the person who does the action is obvious or unimportant<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">She\u00a0<strong>is being treated\u00a0<\/strong>for cancer.<br \/>\n<em>(by doctors and nurses, obviously)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Bill Clinton\u00a0<strong>was elected\u00a0<\/strong>president in 1993.<br \/>\n<em>(by the country&#8217;s population, obviously)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">All articles\u00a0<strong>are proofread\u00a0<\/strong>before publication.<br \/>\n<em>(who proofreads them is not important\u2026 probably a team of editors)<\/em><\/p>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li>\n<h4><strong>Use the passive voice when we want to give MORE\u00a0emphasis to the receiver of the action than to the doer<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">Sometimes we\u00a0<em>do\u00a0<\/em>want to mention who did the action, because it is interesting or important in some way&#8230; but we still want to keep the\u00a0<em>primary\u00a0<\/em>focus of attention on the object of the action:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">The Taj Mahal\u00a0<strong>was built<\/strong>\u00a0by\u00a0the emperor\u00a0Shah Jahan\u00a0in memory of his wife.<br \/>\n<em>(we are learning primarily about the Taj Mahal, so we keep the attention on it)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">My mother\u00a0<strong>is being treated\u00a0<\/strong>for cancer by one of the best doctors in the country.<br \/>\n<em>(the most important person in this sentence is my mother, not the doctor)<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\">This software\u00a0<strong>has been used\u00a0<\/strong>by more than 50,000 small businesses.<br \/>\n<em>(we want to emphasize how great the software is; the small businesses are a secondary detail)<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>When\u00a0<em>can&#8217;t\u00a0<\/em>we use the passive voice?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>We can&#8217;t use the passive voice with\u00a0<strong>intransitive verbs\u00a0<\/strong>(verbs that have no object):<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>He<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">\u00a0<strong>fixed<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>the clock.<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<em>(fixed = transitive; the clock = the object)<\/em><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>The clock<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>was fixed.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>He<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>laughed.<\/strong><\/span><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>They<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">&#8216;re<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>coming<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span>over.<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>An accident<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>has happened.<\/strong><\/span><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><em>(laugh, come, happen = intransitive. There are no objects; therefore there is no possibility of making these sentences into the passive voice)<\/em><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Can we use the passive voice with state verbs?<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>With state verbs,\u00a0some of them can be used in the passive voice and others cannot.<\/p>\n<p>Verbs that can be used in the passive voice include\u00a0<strong>need, know, include, involve, love, hate, see, hear, feel.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>We<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>need<\/strong><\/span><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>new tools.<\/strong><\/span><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>New tools<\/strong><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>are needed.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Everyone<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0in the country\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>knows<\/strong><\/span><strong>\u00a0<\/strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>her name.<\/strong><\/span><strong><br \/>\n<\/strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>Her name<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>is known<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0throughout the country.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>The price<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>includes<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>tax.<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>Tax<\/strong><\/span><strong>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">is included<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0in the price.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>This job<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>involves<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>manual labor.<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">Manual labor<\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>is involved<\/strong>\u00a0<\/span>in this job.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>People<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>love\/hate<\/strong><\/span><span style=\"color: #008000;\">\u00a0<strong>the band&#8217;s music.<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>The band&#8217;s music<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>is loved\/hated.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>People<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0often\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>see<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>birds<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0in the forest.<br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>Birds<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>are<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0often\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>seen<\/strong><\/span>\u00a0in the forest.<\/p>\n<p>Verbs that cannot be used in the passive voice include\u00a0<strong>have\u00a0<\/strong>(for possession),\u00a0<strong>belong to,\u00a0lack, resemble, appear, seem, look, be.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>I<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>have<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>a cat.<\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"text-decoration: line-through;\">A cat is had by me.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>The team<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>lacked<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>a leader.<\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"text-decoration: line-through;\">A leader was lacked by the team.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>That cloud<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>resembles<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>a dragon.<\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"text-decoration: line-through;\">A dragon is resembled by that cloud.<\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><strong>This task<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>seems<\/strong>\u00a0<strong>difficult.<br \/>\n<\/strong><em>(no passive sentence is possible)<\/em><\/p>\n<p>You can use the passive voice with transitive phrasal verbs:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>He<\/strong> <\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>took<\/strong><\/span> <strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">the files<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">out<\/span><\/strong> of the archives.<br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">The files<\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"> were taken out<\/span><\/strong> of the archives.<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>Someone<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>has put away<\/strong><\/span> <span style=\"color: #008000;\"><strong>the tools.<\/strong><\/span><br \/>\n<strong><span style=\"color: #008000;\">The tools<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">have been put away.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Some phrasal verbs are intransitive. It is not possible to create sentences in the passive voice with these, because there is no object:<\/p>\n<p style=\"padding-left: 30px;\"><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>The<\/strong> <\/span><strong><span style=\"color: #0000ff;\">car<\/span> <span style=\"color: #ff0000;\">slowed down.<\/span><\/strong><br \/>\n<span style=\"color: #0000ff;\"><strong>He<\/strong> <\/span><span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><strong>is running away.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong>Summary: Passive Voice Lesson<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>In the active voice, the subject of the sentence DOES the action. In the passive voice, the subject of the sentence\u00a0<strong>is acted upon.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The passive voice is formed by\u00a0<strong>a form of the verb TO BE + past participle of the main verb.<\/strong>\u00a0The verb TO BE can be conjugated in various tenses.<\/li>\n<li>You can use a\u00a0<strong>modal verb + be + past participle<\/strong>\u00a0(for things in the present\/future) &#8211; Ex) Something should be done about this problem.<\/li>\n<li>You can use a\u00a0<strong>modal verb + have been + past participle<\/strong>\u00a0(for things in the past) &#8211; Ex) Something should have been done about this problem a long time ago.<\/li>\n<li>The passive voice is used when the person who did the action is\u00a0<strong>unknown, obvious\/unimportant, &#8220;people in general,&#8221;<\/strong>\u00a0or\u00a0<strong>less important than the object.<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>We can include \u201cby\u2026 (the doer)\u201d if we know who did the action and want to mention it because it is somewhat important.<\/li>\n<li>We <strong>can&#8217;t use<\/strong> the passive voice with intransitive verbs and some state verbs.<\/li>\n<li>We <strong>can use<\/strong> the passive voice with transitive phrasal verbs.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>You\u2019ve finished Lesson 15! Now continue to the exercises to get more practice with the passive voice.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Download:<\/strong> <i>Right-click each link and select &#8220;Save as&#8230;&#8221;<\/i><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/AEG-Lesson-15-Worksheet.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Worksheet &#8211; Exercises<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/12\/AEG-Lesson-15.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Full text<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/EspressoEnglish\/AEG-Lesson15.mp3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Audio<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div class=\"alert\">\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\">This is a free sample from the<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/espressoenglish.lpages.co\/advanced-english-grammar-course\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Advanced English Grammar Course<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/espressoenglish.lpages.co\/advanced-english-grammar-course\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-9396 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/cooltext1454238393.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"463\" height=\"75\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/cooltext1454238393.png 463w, https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/10\/cooltext1454238393-300x48.png 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 463px) 100vw, 463px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-10812\" src=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/securepayment-300x167.jpg\" alt=\"securepayment\" width=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/securepayment-300x167.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/securepayment.jpg 755w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.espressoenglish.net\/contact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em>Contact me for payment by Banco do Brazil deposit<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Download: Right-click each link and select &#8220;Save as&#8230;&#8221; Worksheet &#8211; Exercises Full text Audio This is a free sample from the Advanced English Grammar Course Contact me for payment by Banco do Brazil deposit Passive Voice vs. Active Voice In the active voice, the subject of the sentence\u00a0DOES the action: Jake\u00a0wrote\u00a0a\u00a0letter. subject\u00a0\/\u00a0verb\u00a0\/\u00a0object In the passive [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11073","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grammar"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v27.1 (Yoast SEO v27.1.1) - 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