Passive voice

1. Introducing the Passive

Active voice:  People drink coca cola in many parts of the world.

Passive voice: Coca cola is drunk by people in many parts of the world.


The first sentence is considered active because the doer of the action (or agent) is the subject of the sentence.

The other sentence is passive. That is, the object of the active verb (drink) in the first sentence is the subject of the passive verb (is drunk) in the second sentence.

2. Using the Passive

There are situations when it is better to use a passive sentence instead of an active one.

Situation One: When we don't care or don't know who performs the action.
ex. The injured workers were taken to the hospital.


Situation Two: When we can't or don't want to say who performed the action.
ex. The truth was hidden from us.

Situation Three: When we want to place emphasis on the receiver of the action rather than the doer, or agent.
ex. Thousands of homes were destroyed by the tornado.


3. Forming the Passive

We form the passive by using the correct form of the verbs “be”  plus a past participle.

The majority of passive sentences do not include “by phrases" because most of the times writers don't know or don't care who actually performed the action. Only when it is important for readers to know who performs the actions, do writers include it in passive sentences. 

ex.King Lear was written by William Shakespeare.
(The “by phrase” is included because it is important.)

Now let's try some exercises!

Exercise 1

Exercise 2

Exercise 3

Exercise 4

Good work!