PASSIVE VOICE

Mohamed JAAFARI, FLSHBM, USMS, Beni Mellal

I. Definition
The voice, also known as diathesis, is a grammatical feature of the verb that expresses / voices out “the
relationship between semantic roles (agent, patient) and syntactic functions (subject, object)” (Bussmann et al.,
1998, p. 1270). The ‘agent’ is the doer of the action, while the ‘patient’ is the receiver of the action (Yule, 2014,
p. 113) or the entity affected by the action. The ‘subject’ is a function that can be filled by the entity that the
sentence statement is revolving about and it is in the initial position or slot of the sentence (Richards & Schmidt,
2013, p. 566).
Glossary: A semantic role is the underlying relationship that a participant has with the main verb in a clause.

II. Form
There are two main types of voice: active voice and passive voice.
Active voice: Cats chase mice. The word ‘Cats’ is the agent / doer that performs the action ‘chasing’. ‘Cats’
as a doer of the action is also the ‘subject’ of the utterance, that is the topic and the focus of the sentence.

Syntactic structure Subject Active Verb Object

Sentence Cats chase mice.
Semantic Roles Agent / doer Event / action Patient / affected

× *
Passive voice: Mice are chased by cats. Now, the subject or the theme of the sentence is Mice rather than Cats.

Syntactic structure Subject Passive verb Prepositional phrase

Auxiliary + past participle
Sentence Mice are chased by cats
Semantic Roles Patient / affected Event / action by + Agent / doer

* ×
In the passive voice, the subject or the topic / focus of the utterance is ‘mice’, the entity which is affected by the
action of chasing.
Tenses Active Voice Passive Voice
Simple present The movie bores Jack. Jack is bored by the movie.
The movie fascinates the boys. The boys are fascinated by the movie.
Simple past The blue car attracted Leila. Leila was attracted by the blue car.
Her parents bought two Two computers were bought by her parents.
computers.
Present Continuous Bob is drawing a diagram A diagram is being drawn by Bob
Past Continuous Bob was writing the letters. The letters were being written by Bob
Present perfect The team has won the game. The game has been won by the team
Present perfect continuous Malik has been writing songs Songs have being written by Malik.
Past perfect Malik had written songs. Songs had been written by Malik.
Future simple Sophia will drive a new car. A new car will be driven by Sophia.
Future continuous The reserachers will be reading The reports will be being read by the
the reports. researchers.
Future perfect The students will have done The quizzes will have been done by the
the quizzes. students.

Passive Voice with different prepositions: with, to, in

I know the fact. The fact is known to me.
Light filled the room. The room was filled with lights.
Her manners pleased us very much. We were very much pleased with her manners.
The poems of Tagore interest me. I am interested in the poems of Tagore.

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III. Uses
The passive is particularly useful (even recommended) in a few situations:
 When it is more important to draw our attention to the person or thing acted upon:
A letter is written by John.
 When the actor in the situation is not important:
The famous artist was welcomed with deafening applause.
 To avoid responsibility / blame for actions taken:
Mistakes were made. # We made mistakes (Where “we” is taking responsibility)
However, we have taken decisions to compensate for the loss.
 In scientific reports and instruction manuals the object being acted upon is often more important than the
doer of the action to avoid a sense of subjectivity. For example:
“The experiment was conducted over the course of two weeks.”
“A sample of 1000 people was surveyed on their daily eating habits”

Videos on Passive Voice:

Video 1passive vs active voice: https://youtu.be/4xS2BgkjsFg?si=u1FyObxGP5NdoiM4

Video 2:Transitive active Sentences: https://youtu.be/8x4K9INW2Zg?si=njYGZzsQmAPEQA2-
Video 3: Structure & Tenses in Passive Voice: https://youtu.be/N7uvEllP5Jg?si=EYV0Hwnv2SOBgwTO
Video 4: Passive Voice All tenses https://youtu.be/nRGLDD0BBdc?si=Sq9v1qOaRsDaNcnB
Video 5: Passive Voice in tenses: https://youtu.be/pXh-VfeOBYs?si=soDdCVzqONBF9Rbt

IV. Exerciseses
1. Circle Active or Passive
2. I ate a piece of chocolate cake. Active Passive
3. The librarian read the book to the students. Active Passive
4. The money was stolen. Active Passive
5. They are paid on Fridays. Active Passive
6. The movie is being made in Hollywood. Active Passive
7. I washed my car three weeks ago. Active Passive
8. His hair was cut by a professional. Active Passive
9. I will introduce you to my boss this week. Active Passive
10. It would have been fixed at the weekend. Active Passive
11. The national anthem is being sung by Jason this time. Active Passive

12. Convert into passive voice.

Example : The earthquake injured thousands.
Thousands were injured by the earthquake. (Passive)
1. Susan broke the washing machine.
2. The washing machine was broken.
3. The rain caused the game to be stopped.
4. The referee stopped the game because of the rain.
5. The teacher asked Leila to do the quiz.
13. Make passive sentences from the following information.
1. Fiat cars / Italy / make
2. Spaghetti / boiling water / cook
3. Children / schools / educate
4. Football / every country / play
5. Racehorses / jockeys / ride
6. Rolls Royce cars / make / Great Britain
7. We / teach / our teacher
8. spaghetti / make / flour
9. Switzerland / speak / German
10. Jam / apricots / make

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14. Put the verb between brackets in passive or active voice and the suitable tense.
1. That door …………………………..(paint) yesterday.
2. Michelangelo ………………………….. (paint) the Sistine Chapel.
3. Michael Schumacher ………………………….. (drive) for Ferrari in 2003.
4. In the UK, everyone ………………………….. (drive) on the left.
5. Inter-city trains ………………………….. (usually/drive) by men.
6. The 'La Stampa' newspaper ………………………….. (read) by two million people in Italy.
7. My car ………………………….. (steal)! Call the police!!!!
8. The thieves ………………………….. (steal) the gold last week.
9. The Queen ………………………….. (open) the bridge tomorrow.
10. The bridge ………………………….. (destroy) by the storm last night.
11. I ………………………….. (learn) Japanese when I was in Tokyo.
12. I ………………………….. (teach) by an old Japanese man.
13. This letter ………………………….. (should/type), not handwritten!
14. The new secretary ………………………….. (type) at 100 wpm.

15. Complete the sentences using the correct form of the passive voice

1. The authorities decided that the meeting ………………………….. next Wednesday. (hold)
2. The goods ………………………….. to our house in the Midlands every Friday. (transport)
3. The larger portrait ………………………….. by a well-known Flemish artist.(paint)
4. When I arrived I ………………………….. a note by one of the delegates . (hand)
5. Nothing ………………………….. of Pauline since her car accident last spring. (see)
6. I'll have to stay at home because our new furniture …………………………... .(deliver)
7. For the past few days I had to work in Jack's office because mine at the moment.(redecorate)
8. I major new oil deposit ………………………….. in the North Sea recently.(discover)
9. The space probe Explorer ………………………….. from Cape Canaveral last year.(launch)
10. Breakfast ………………………….. in this hotel before 7 am. ( not serve)
11. Up to now no decision ………………………….. on the future of the company.(make)
12. As we speak the suspect ………………………….. by the police.(question)
13. A lot of meetings ………………………….. but nothing has been decided yet. (hold)
14. The door ………………………….. for at least twenty years. (not open)
15. Bicycles widely in this city instead of public transport.(use)
16. Elections in Britain every five years. (hold)
17. Your drinks to you in a minute. Please wait . (bring)
18. The Olympic Games in South Korea for the first time in 2018.(organize)