Our speech in Russian is quite diverse. We use different designs: simple and complex, active and passive. And we don’t even think about it. If you want to raise your English speaking to the same "intuitive level", then you should definitely use our Passive Voice table.
When you started studying tenses, you probably came across such a grammatical phenomenon as active and passive voice. Let's remember what their difference is. Most time periods can be used in two cases. If the subject of the sentence itself performs the action (I’m walking, he’s drawing, we bought, they’ll fly), then we need an active form. If something is done to the subject, he is subjected to influence (trees are planted, water is poured, I was invited, we will be taken), then we use the passive construction. That's the last one we'll talk about.
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Each tense uses different auxiliary verbs and predicate forms. The Passive Voice table will tell us about this.
Present |
Past |
Future |
|
Formula Simple |
is/am/are + V ed (V 3) | was/were + V ed (V 3) | will/shall + be + V ed (V 3) |
| Letters are sent every day. — Letters are sent every day. | Letters were sent yesterday. — The letters were sent yesterday. | Letters will be sent tomorrow. — The letters will be sent tomorrow. | |
Formula Continuous |
is/am/are + being + V ed (V 3) | was/were + being + V ed (V 3) | ————————— |
| Letters are being sent now. — Letters are being sent now. | Letters were being sent at 5 yesterday. — Letters were sent at 5 o’clock yesterday. | ————————— | |
Formula Perfect |
has/have + been + V ed (V 3) | had + been + V ed (V 3) | will/shall + have/has+ been +V ed (V 3) |
| Letters have already been sent. - The letters have already been sent. | Letters had been sent before he phoned. — The letters were sent before he called. | Letters will have been sent by 5 tomorrow. — Letters will be sent tomorrow before 5 o’clock. | |
| Perfect Continuous | ———————————— | ———————————- | ————————— |
Note that the Perfect Continuous is not used at all in the passive voice. And Continuous time has no future segment. The interrogative and negative forms are identical in all tenses.
? - Recall. verb + mean + predicate
- Subject + auxiliary. verb + not + predicate
Were you invited to the party yesterday? — Were you invited to a party yesterday?
I wasn’t invited to the party yesterday. — I wasn’t invited to the party yesterday.
Are the flowers being planted now? —Are they planting flowers now?
The trees are not being planted now. — Trees are not being planted now.
Let's compare Active and Passive
The use of different tenses fully corresponds to their counterparts in the active voice. That is why it is recommended to study all the elements of this group, and then look in detail at. Let's look at a few examples to make it easier for you to understand everything and remember it at the right time.
Active |
Passive |
|
Present Simple |
She writes a new play for the theater every year. — She writes a new play for the theater every year. | A new play for the theater is written by her every year. — She writes a new play for the theater every year. |
Past Simple |
He stole food from the shop. — He stole food from the store. | Food was stolen from the shop by him. — The food was stolen from the store. |
Future Simple |
They will show a new musical on TV next month. — They will show a new musical on television next month. | A new musical will be shown on TV next month. — The new musical will be shown on television next month. |
Present Continuous |
My dad is repairing the car now. — My dad is repairing the car now. | The car is being repaired by my dad now. — The car is now being repaired by dad. |
Past Continuous |
At 9 my brother was loading the truck. — At 9 o’clock my brother was unloading the truck. | At 9 o’clock the truck was being loaded by my brother. — At 9 o’clock the truck was unloaded by my brother. |
Present Perfect |
My daughter has already translated the whole text. — My daughter has already translated the entire text. | The whole text has already been translated by my daughter. — The entire text has already been translated by my daughter. |
Past Perfect |
When we came to the kitchen, he had eaten the pie. — When we entered the kitchen, he had already eaten the pie. | When we came to the kitchen, the pie had been eaten. — When we entered the kitchen, the pie had already been eaten. |
Future Perfect |
We will have finished the work by 6 tomorrow. — Tomorrow we will finish work by six. | The work will have been finished by 6 tomorrow. — The work will be finished by six tomorrow. |
As you can see, there is nothing complicated in this element of the language. First of all, determine the role of the subject: it acts or on him. Then determine the time (you can use hint words). If you need to use the passive construction, then our passive voice table is at your service. Choose the tense, auxiliary verb, predicate ending, and you're done. It is better to consolidate all this in exercises that can be completed online on our website.
The rules of the English language are such that at the beginning of a sentence there is usually a word indicating the object or person performing the action. For example:
I cook dinner every day.— I cook lunch every day.
The action is expressed in the active voice, that is, a person, in this case “I,” perform some action. The same idea can be expressed another way:
Dinner is cooked every day. — Lunch is prepared every day.
As you can see, the word “lunch” has formally taken the place of the subject, although “lunch” doesn’t do anything by itself. This sentence is written in the passive voice, in other words Passive Voice. In such a sentence, what matters is not who performs the action, but the action itself.
Rules for using the passive voice
When to use the passive voice?
- When it is not known who or what is doing the action.
- When the action itself is important, and not the person who performed it.
The passive voice is formed using the verb to be in the required form and the third form of the semantic verb.
The passive voice has several forms. In this lesson we will look at the forms of simple present, past and future tenses. Let's present the forms of the passive voice in the table:
To ask a question in the passive voice, it is enough to remember how the question is asked in the Present Simple, Past Simple and Future Simple tenses. In the first two cases, the verb to be is placed before the subject, in the second - the auxiliary verb will. For example:
Is the letter sent?
Was the car washed?
Will the house be bought?
Negation is formed using the particle “not”: I won't be asked tomorrow.
If it is important for you to emphasize, by whom an action was performed, use a preposition by:
This book was written by Charles Dickens.— This book was written by Charles Dickens.
If after by you use a pronoun, it will be in the indirect case:
The tickets were bought by me.— The tickets were bought by me.
If it is important for you to indicate how an action is performed, use a preposition with:
Soup is eaten with a spoon.— Soup is eaten with a spoon.
| By whom? | by |
| With what, with what? | with |
Important! Modal verbs are often used in the passive voice. The proposal is structured as follows:
modal verb +be+V3
For example: It must be done tomorrow.
Important! Not all verbs can be used in the passive voice. These verbs include:
- to fly, to arrive
- to be, to become
- to have, to possess, to belong
- to come, to go, to last
The logical question is what to do if we want to express an action that has just ended or is currently ongoing using the passive voice. It's simple. The forms Present Perfect Passive and Present Continuous Passive will help you.
As you remember, with help. Present Perfect we express the result of an action, and Present Continuous describes the action taking place at the moment. The same thing can be expressed using the passive voice.
Compare several offers:
| ACTIVE VOICE | PASSIVE VOICE | |
| Present Continuous | I am wash ing the car. | The car is being wash ed. |
| Present Perfect | I have wash ed the car. | The car has been wash ed. |
As shown in the table, in the active voice the subject is a person, “I”, and in the passive voice the subject is taken by an object - “machine”. The passive voice form in both tenses is constructed using the verb to be and the verb in the third form, while the verb to be changes in accordance with the chosen tense form:
| Present Continuous Passive | am/is/are + being + V3 |
| Present Perfect Passive | have/has + been + V3 |
As you can see, in the passive voice the Continuous form is expressed using the verb be with the ending ing, and the Perfect form is expressed by the auxiliary verb have and the verb be in the third form.
Passive voice signal words
Important! The choice of the desired form of the passive voice will be prompted by the same signal words that are used with forms of the active voice. Let's look at a few examples:
The windows are being clean ed at the moment.The football match is being play ed next Sunday.
The door has just been paint ed.
The cake hasn't been eaten yet.
As you can see, all signals are valid for both active and passive voices. And their place in the sentence is governed by the rules you already know.
To ask a question in Present Perfect Passive or Present Continuous Passive, you need to change the order of the words in the sentence, for example:
Are you being followed?
What has it been made of?
Lesson assignments
Task 1. Open the brackets using Passive Voice.
- The car (not/sell) yesterday.
- The ceiling (paint) next week.
- The paper (buy) by my father every week.
- A new house (build) here next year.
- much money (spend) yesterday in the shop?
- My clothes usually (iron) by my mother.
- Your article (publish) last month.
- The door (not/open).
Task 2. Translate.
- The shop is closed.
- Everyone trusts him.
- When will the film be shown?
- Yesterday the children were taken to the zoo.
- The song was not sung.
- Has your bag been stolen?
- They didn't tell me anything.
- Museums are visited by many people.
Task 3. Open the brackets using Present Perfect Passive or Present Continuous Passive
- Jeanette usually goes to school, but this month she (teach) at home.
- The problem just (solve).
- I can't find my purse. I think, it (steal).
- A very good job recently (offer) to my brother.
- You breakfast still (cook).
- The office (repair) at the moment.
- You ever (bite) by a dog?
- The new bridge (build) at the moment.
Task 4. Change the sentences using the passive voice.
- I have already sold my flat.
- She is writing a letter.
- I buy bread every day.
- He will repair the bike.
- Is she using a computer at the moment?
- Someone broke the window.
- Mom has ironed my shirt.
- You can buy cheese in any supermarket.
Answer 1.
- wasn't sold
- will be painted
- is bought
- will be built
- Was much money spent...
- are usually ironed
- was published
- isn't open
Answer 2.
- The shop is closed.
- He is trusted by everyone.
- When will the film be shown?
- The children were taken to the Zoo yesterday.
- The song wasn't sung.
- Was your bag stolen?
- I was told nothing./I wasn’t told anything.
- Museums are visited by many people.
Answer 3.
- is being taught
- has just been solved
- has been stolen
- has recently been offered
- is still being cooked
- is being repaired
- Have you ever been…
- is being built
Answer 4.
- My flat has already been sold.
- A letter is being written.
- Bread is bought every day.
- The bike will be repaired.
- Is the computer being used at the moment?
- The window has been broken.
- My shirt has been ironed.
- Cheese can be bought in any supermarket.
To say that an action is performed on an object or person, English uses the passive voice.
For example:
“The car has been repaired. The door is closed. Children are punished. The documents have been signed."
As you can see, in such sentences we focus on the action itself, and not on who performed it.
In English, the passive voice is used very often. I think you have come across such sentences more than once in films, books, news, and newspapers in English.
In this article we will look at when the passive voice is used and how to form such sentences in all tenses.
From the article you will learn:
- General rules for using the passive voice in English
- Table of the use of passive voice in all tenses
What is active and passive voice in English?
First, let's look at what voice is and why it is needed in the English language.
Pledge expresses an attitude towards action, that is, it shows:
- the person/object itself performs the action (I brought a letter)
- a person/object experiences the effect of someone on himself (the letter was brought)
Accordingly, in English there are two types of collateral:
1. Active voice- the actor himself performs actions.
For example:
Clients signed an agreement (clients are an actor and they performed a certain action).
2. Passive voice- the actor experiences the action of another person.
For example:
The contract is signed (the contract was not signed by himself, the action was performed on him).
When do we use passive voice?
3 Uses of Passive Voice in English
As I said, the passive voice is used when an action is performed on something/someone. In such sentences, the main emphasis is always on the action itself.
These may be the following cases:
1. When we do not know who performed the action.
For example: The bank was robbed (we don’t know who did it).
2. When it is not important to us who performed the action, but the action itself is important.
For example: This house will be built next year (it doesn’t matter to us who does it, it’s important to us that it will be built).
3. When we don't want to say who exactly did it(if something bad happened and we don't want to blame anyone).
For example: The holiday is ruined (we don’t want to say who ruined it).
Now let's look at the rules for constructing such sentences in English.
General rules for constructing the passive voice in English
I’ll say right away that constructing such sentences in English is not difficult. To do this you need:
1. Put the object/person on whom the action is performed in first place in the sentence.
For example:
A letter….
Letter…
A car...
Car…
Children….
Children…
2. Put the verb to be in second place in the right tense.
Let's look at this through the three most used tenses in English:
- Present Simple (simple present tense) - am, are, is
- Past Simple (simple past tense) - was, were
- Future Simple (simple future tense) - will be
For example:
A letter is….
Letter….
A car was….
The car was...
Children will be….
Children will...
3. The action itself (verb) that was performed on the actor should be put in the past tense.
There are regular and irregular verbs in English. You can find out whether a verb is correct or not by looking it up in the dictionary.
Depending on the verb we:
- add the ending -ed if the verb is correct (prepare - prepared)
- put it in the 3rd form if the verb is not regular (send - sent)
For example:
A letter is delivered.
The letter is being delivered.
A car was sold.
The car has been sold.
Children will be punished.
Children will be punished.
If we want to add that an action is performed by someone or with the help of something, we can use prepositions by and with.
UsagebyAndwithin passive voice
1. We use by to say that an action will be performed by someone. We put it at the end of the sentence, and after it the character (by Tom, by Mary).
For example:
The documents were sent by his secretary.
The documents were sent by his secretary
2. We use with to say that an action will be performed using some tool. We put with at the end of the sentence, and after it the tool itself (with a knife, with a pen)
For example:
The picture will be painted with a pencil.
The picture will be drawn in pencil.
We talked in detail about how to construct passive voice in 3 simple tenses in these articles:
- Future Simple Passive - simple future tense in the passive voice in English
However, in some cases the passive voice is also used in other tenses.
Let's see what such proposals look like.
Table of the use of the passive voice in all tenses of the English language
Since the passive voice is most often used in 3 simple tenses, we will not dwell in detail on the rest, but will consider a general table of use.
As you can see from the three simple tenses, the principle of construction remains the same in all tenses.
Everything that changes - this is the verb to be. We put it on at the right time.
Here's how it happens.
| Time | Use case | How the verb to be changes | Examples | |
| Present Simple Present simple |
We are talking about a regular action that occurs in the present tense. |
Dinner is cooked by mom. The rooms are cleaned every day. |
||
| Present Continuous Present continious |
We are talking about an action that is currently being performed and is a process. |
|
Dinner is being cooked. The rooms are being cleaned now. |
|
| Present Perfect Present completed |
Speak m about an action that happened in the past but has meaning now. However, now we can see the result of this action. |
|
Dinner has been cooked. The rooms have been cleaned recently. |
|
| Past Simple Past simple |
We are talking about a fact that happened in the past. |
Dinner was cooked by mom. The rooms were cleaned yesterday. |
||
| Past Continuous Past continuous |
We say that some process occurred in the past (usually used when this process was interrupted by another action). |
|
Dinner was being cooked when he came. The rooms were being cleaned when they arrived. |
|
| Past Perfect Past completed |
We say that the action was completed (we received the result) by a certain period in the past. Typically used when we show the order of actions in the past (one action was performed before the second). |
had been |
Dinner had been cooked before he came. The rooms had been cleaned before they arrived. |
|
| Future Simple Future Simple |
We are talking about a fact that will happen in the future. |
will be |
Dinner will be cooked. The rooms will be cleaned tomorrow. |
|
| Future Perfect Future completed |
We are talking about an action that will end (we will get a result) by a certain point in the future. | will have been | Dinner will have been cooked by 9 o'clock. Dinner will be prepared at 9 o'clock. The rooms will have been cleaned by morning. |
|
As you may have noticed, there are some difficult tenses missing from the table. Why? They're just never used in the passive voice. We replace them with simpler times.
So, we have looked at the use of the passive voice in English. Now let's move on to the practical task.
Reinforcement task
Translate the following sentences into English. Leave your answers in the comments.
1. The door is open.
2. The letter will be delivered by evening.
3. Job done.
4. The car is being washed now.
5. The house will be sold.
6. The fence was painted yesterday.
To show that an action is carried out on an object/person, in English we use passive voice.
Look at the examples: “English is spoken in many countries. These machines are manufactured in Germany. This house is for sale."
In such sentences, the emphasis is not on who performs the action, but on what action is performed on the person/object. This is the passive (or passive) voice.
In this article we will look at the schemes for constructing the passive voice in the present tense in English -. We will look in detail at how to construct affirmative, interrogative and negative sentences.
In the article you will learn:
- Formation of the Passive Voice in Present Simple Time
What is passive (passive) voice in English
First, let's figure out what collateral is and why it is needed.
In English, voice shows who performs the action:
- the person/object performs the action itself;
- a person/object experiences the action of another object.
In accordance with this, in English there are two types of collateral
- Active voice(Active voice) - the actor himself performs actions.
For example
- Passive voice(Passive voice) - the actor experiences the action of another person.
For example
The vase is broken. (The vase broke, but it didn’t break itself, but someone did it).
She is awakened by noise on the street. (She didn’t wake up on her own, but something woke her up.)
When do we use the passive voice?
Rules for using the passive voice in English
The most important thing to remember is that the passive voice is used when we talk about an action that is performed on a person/object.
The following cases of its use can be distinguished:
1. If we do not know who performed the action
For example: “Her wallet was stolen” (we don’t know who did it).
2. What matters to us is the action itself, not the person who performed it.
For example: “The watch is made in Switzerland” (it doesn’t matter to us who exactly made it).
3. If something unpleasant happened, but we don’t want to blame someone for it
For example: “The holiday is ruined” (we don’t want to say who exactly did it).
Now let's look at how to construct sentences in the passive voice in the simple present tense.
Present Simple Passive Voice in English
In the Present Simple we use the passive voice when we talk about an ordinary, regular, constant action, which is carried out on a person/object.
For example
Cheese is made from milk.
Mail is delivered every day.
Rules for constructing the passive voice in the Present Simple
The passive voice in the Present Simple is formed using:
- verb to be in the present tense (am, are, is);
- verb in the past tense.
There are regular and irregular verbs in English. Depending on the verb we:
- add the ending -ed if the verb is regular;
- we put it in the 3rd form if the verb is irregular.
The scheme for constructing the passive voice in the Present Simple will be as follows.
Object/person + am/are/is + 3rd form of irregular verb or regular verb ending -ed.
| I | am | |
| You | 3rd form irregular verb or correct verb with ending -ed |
|
| We | are | |
| They | ||
| He | ||
| She | is | |
| It |
Examples
The bread is baked every morning.
This bread is baked every morning.
Paper is made from wood.
Paper is made from wood.
These rooms are cleaned every day.
These rooms are cleaned every day.
Using by in the passive voice
If we want to indicate who did the action, we add preposition by. We put it at the end of the sentence, and after it comes the actor who performs the action itself.
The proposal outline will be as follows.
Object/person + am/are/is + 3rd form of irregular verb or regular verb ending -ed + by + the one who performs the action.
Let's look at examples.
Our dinner is cooked by mom.
Mom cooks our dinner.
These jewels are made by Kate.
Kate makes these jewelry.
Using with in the passive voice
If we are talking about a tool with which an action is performed, we use preposition with. We put it at the end of the sentence, and after it comes the instrument.
A diagram of such a proposal.
Object/person + am/are/is + 3rd form of an irregular verb or regular verb ending -ed + with + a tool used to perform an action.
Examples
Bread is cut with a knife.
Bread is cut with a knife.
The pictures are drawn with a pencil.
These pictures are drawn with a pencil.
Negative Present Simple sentences in the passive voice
We can make the offer negative. To do this you need to put not after the verb to be.
Scheme of a negative sentence in Present Simple Voice
Object/person + am/are/is + not + 3rd form of irregular verb or regular verb ending -ed.
| I | am | ||
| You | 3rd form irregular verb or correct verb with ending -ed |
||
| We | are | ||
| They | not | ||
| She | |||
| He | is | ||
| It |
Example sentences
The flowers are not watered
Flowers are not watered.
This car is not washed.
This car is not washed.
I am not invited.
I'm not invited.
Present Simple Interrogative Sentences in Passive Voice
To ask a question, we need to put the verb to be first in the sentence. The proposal outline will be as follows.
Am/are/is + object/person + 3rd form of irregular verb or regular verb ending -ed?
| Am | I | |
| you | 3rd form irregular verb or correct verb with ending -ed |
|
| Are | we | |
| they | ||
| he | ||
| Is | she | |
| it |
Examples
Is the house sold?
Is this house for sale?
Are the dogs walked by Tom?
Does Tom walk the dogs?
Now let's put the theory into practice. To do this, do an exercise on using the passive voice.
Reinforcement task
Translate the following sentences into English. Leave your answers in the comments below the article.
1. These songs are listened to often.
2. She is not given gifts every day.
3. The phone is for sale.
4. Is the exam written with a pen?
5. Are these products made in China?
6. He is punished by his parents.
“Passivity is a hidden form of despair,” says Exupery. And for many English learners, the passive voice is even an overt form of despair.
Before we talk in detail about the passive voice in English, let's test your linguistic sense (or how well you remember the topic). Do a little exercise:
If your answer is 2, congratulations! You did everything right. If it's 1, 3 or 4, then there's an error somewhere. But I congratulate you too - the article is just for you!
Passive Voice - passive voice. In Russian it is called passive (but the English term, in my opinion, better reflects the meaning). In the active, or active, voice, someone or something that is the subject of the sentence itself performs the action, in the passive voice - the object is passive, does nothing, waits for an action to be performed on it.
Compare:
I knitted a scarf. (I did this myself). - The scarf is knitted. (The scarf didn't do anything; someone else tied it).
He translated the article. (He did it himself). - The article was translated (It is important that the action was performed on the article, the article did not do anything, it experienced the action).
Why is Passive Voice needed?
It is needed when the performer of the action (agent) is unknown, unimportant or obvious, and the focus of attention is on the action. If we mention the performer, it is through the preposition by.
Look at the examples in passive voice:
These cameras are made in China. - the performer is unimportant.
I was born in 1986. - the performer is obvious (everyone is born by mothers).
His wallet was stolen. - performer unknown.
Structure of the passive voice
S + BE + Ved/V3
S- this is the subject. The main thing to remember is that the passive voice ALWAYS has (which changes depending on the tense) and the semantic verb always ends in -ed if it is correct or in the 3rd form (past participle) if it is .
Let's compare the sentences of the active (active) voice with the corresponding sentences of the passive (passive) voice in different tenses.
| Active Voice | Passive Voice |
|---|---|
| PRESENT SIMPLE（occurs regularly, “in general”）S + am/is/are +Ved/V3 | |
| I wash my car every week. I wash my car every week. She often buys clothes here. | My car is washed every week. My car is washed every week. Clothes are often bought here (by her). |
| PAST SIMPLE (completed action in the past, fact) S + was/were + Ved/V3 | |
| I washed my car 3 days ago. I washed my car 3 days ago. She ate Italian pizza yesterday. | My car was washed 3 days ago. My car was washed (my car was washed) 3 days ago. Italian pizza was eaten yesterday. |
| PRESENT CONTINUOUS (lasts now) S + am/is/are+ BEING + Ved/V3 | |
| I am washing my car now. I'm washing my car now. A thief is stealing your money! | My car is being washed now. My car is currently being washed (it is being “washed”). Your money is being stolen(by a thief)! |
| PAST CONTINUOUS (lasted in the past) S + was/were + BEING + Ved/V3 | |
| I was washed my car yesterday at 5. Yesterday at 5 I was washing the car. Someone was reading the article. | My car was being washed yesterday at 5. Yesterday at 5 my car was washed. The article was being read. |
| FUTURE SIMPLE (spontaneous decision in the future, order, request, promise) S+will+BE+ Ved/V3 | |
| I will wash my car tomorrow. I'll wash my car tomorrow! I will do my homework! | My car will be washed tomorrow. Tomorrow my car will be washed! My homework will be done. |
| FUTURE CONTINUOUS (will last in the future) DOESN'T EXIST - HURRAY ^_^ | |
| PRESENT PERFECT (something Done to date, result) S + have/has +BEEN + Ved/V3 | |
| I have already washed my car. I've already washed the car. I' ve just made an announcement. | My car has been washed. My car has already been washed. An announcement has just been made. |
| PAST PERFECT (result to the past, happened BEFORE another past action) S + had + BEEN + Ved/V3 |
|
| By the time you called me, I had already washed my car. By the time you called me, I had already washed the car. I had sold my car before you called me. | My car had already been washed. The car has already been washed. My car had been sold before you called me. |
| FUTURE PERFECT (will happen at some point in the future) S + will + have + BEEN + Ved/V3 | |
| I will have washed my car by the end of the week. I'll wash the car by the end of the week. I will have completed this task by tomorrow. | My car will have been washed. My car will be washed by the end of the week. This task will have been completed. |
| MODAL VERBS S + can/must/should/may…+ BE + Ved/V3 | |
| I should wash my car. I should wash my car. She can understand it. | My car should be washed. My car needs to be washed. It can be understood. |
| BE GOING TO (get together, intend) S + am/is/are/was/were + going to + BE + Ved/V3 | |
| I' m going to wash my car. I'm going to wash the car. They are going to tell the truth. | My car is going to be washed. My car is about to be washed (my car is "about to be washed") The truth is going to be told. |
What prepositions are used in the passive voice?
If the performer of the action is indicated, then the preposition is used BY:
It was done by Mike. This was done by Mike.
If the material or tool with which the action is performed is indicated, then the preposition is with.
It has been cut with a knife. It's cut with a knife.
If the performer turns out to be someone unspecified (people, somebody, someone, they), then he is not indicated in the passive voice.
People believe that it brings bad luck. - it is believed that it brings bad luck.
Phrasal verbs in passive voice
Please note that prepositions are retained.
She looked after him when he was sick. - No was looked after when he was sick.
QuestionsVpassivepledge
The rule of construction is the same in the English language - reverse word order.
Where was it done?
When should it be sent?
What is it made of?
What are you congratulated on?
Passive designs
When we get some services done (hair cutting, TV repair, nails painted, etc.) the HAVE SMTH DONE design is used. In such a construction, the verb HAVE will change in accordance with time, and the semantic verb, as elsewhere in the passive voice, will always be in the third form.
For example,
I always have my car washed here.
I' m having my TV fixed now.
I' ve already had hair done.
There are also passive constructions with the verbs want, require, etc.
I want it to be delivered.
Get insteadbe
Sometimes you can find passive constructions that use get instead of be (mostly in colloquial speech):
The wallet got stolen.
He got fired.
Stable combinations withget:
- Get married - get married
- Get divorced - get divorced
- Get dressed - get dressed
- Get lost - to get lost
I wish you to make friends with the passive voice, but lead an active life! Forward to action!
Best wishes, Polina 4kang.
To consolidate the material, take the test.
Test
The test is in development
Also watch our video lesson on the passive voice in English, filmed against the background of a miniature of the Taj Mahal in Shenzhen, China.
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