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THE GRAMMAR POINT from Go English no86

The passive voice (B1-C2)

In English grammar, we talk about passive voice and active voice.

Active voice structure: subject + verb + object

Example:

Dov Charney founded American Apparel.

Jane Austen wrote PRIDE AND PREJUDICE.

Passive voice structure: object + auxiliary verb + past participle verb + subject.

Example:

American Apparel was founded by Dov Charney.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE was written by Jane Austen.

Why use the passive voice?

1. To place the emphasis on the action that is done, instead of the person or thing doing the action. Example: The ‘thumbs up’ gesture is used to indicate approval in many cultures.

Sometimes, if we want to indicate the person who does the action, we add this information at the end, preceded by ‘by’. Example: The books were published by an English publisher.

2. We don’t know who did the action. Example: The photo of the teenagers making the V-sign was shared many times on social media.

3. We don’t want to say who did the action. Example: A big mistake was left uncorrected in the client file. (Here, we don’t want to accuse anyone without proof!)

So, in some cases, it’s better to use the active voice, but if you want to emphasise the action, you don’t know who did the action or you prefer not to say, choose the passive voice.

In the above examples, both of the sentences are in the past simple. However, we use the passive voice in several other tenses, too. Compare the structures of these sentences in both active and passive voice:

✔ Present simple

Active: We use the expression ‘to screen’ to mean ‘to show a movie’ and ‘to hide something from view’.
Passive: The expression ‘to screen’ is used to mean ‘to show a movie’ and ‘to hide something from view’.

✔ Present perfect simple

Active: Bleaching has damaged the Great Barrier Reef.
Passive: The Great Barrier Reef has been damaged by bleaching.

✔ Past perfect simple

Active: Before her permanent contract, the agency had hired Tracey on a temporary contract.
Passive: Before her permanent contract, Tracey had been hired by the agency on a temporary contract.

✔ Future simple

Active: The EU and UK governments will discuss the details of Brexit.
Passive: The details of Brexit will be discussed by the EU and UK governments.

We rarely use the passive voice with the continuous tenses, because it creates long, confusing sentences. Compare these two examples, in the present perfect continuous:

Active: We’ve been dusting the house all afternoon.
Passive: The house has been being dusted all afternoon by us.

Article by Christina Rebuffet-Broadus

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