Passive Sentence

        This is the last of our material we discussed in this semester. Called passive sentence. Already been discussed in class X in yesterday, we discussed again yukk. let's see ..

In a passive sentence, the subject does not perform the action in the sentence.  In fact, the action is performed on it.

Examples of Passive Sentence :

•  Anita was driven to the theatre. (In this example, "Anita" is the subject of the sentence - subject of the verb "was".  However, she did not perform the action of the verb "to drive".  The action was done to her; she was the recipient of the action.)

• Nowadays, kites are protected. ("kites" - passive subject, i.e., the action is being done to them)

• The olives are stoned and crushed in this area.  ("olives" - passive subject, i.e., the actions are being done to them)

In a passive sentence, the person or thing doing the action is usually preceded by the word "by". Examples:

•  Anita was driven to the theatre by Carla.

•  Nowadays, kites are protected by law.

•  The olives are stoned and crushed in this area by my son.

The opposite of a passive sentence is an active sentence, in which the subject does perform the action of the verb. 

A. Relationship between active and passive:

1. The object of the active verb is the subject of the passive verb (“English” in the example sentences below). Therefore, verbs which cannot be followed by objects (intransitive verbs) cannot be used in passive voice. These are some common intransitive verbs: appear, arrive, come, cry, die, go, happen, occur, rain, sleep, stay, walk. These verbs cannot be used in passive voice.

2. The passive verb always contains a form of the auxiliary verb be. The form of be in the passive verb phrase corresponds to the form of the main verb in the active verb phrase (see the underlined words in the example sentences below). That is, if the active main verb is simple present tense, then a simple present tense form of be is used in the passive verb phrase; if the active main verb is -ING, then the -ING form of be is used in the passive verb phrase; and so on.

3. The main verb in a passive predicate verb phrase is always the participle form of the verb.

4. Some examples of active and passive sentences:

ACTIVE: They speak English.
PASSIVE: English is spoken.

ACTIVE: They spoke English.
PASSIVE: English was spoken.

ACTIVE: They will speak English.
PASSIVE: English will be spoken.

ACTIVE: They are going to speak English.
PASSIVE: English is going to be spoken.

ACTIVE: They are speaking English.
PASSIVE: English is being spoken.

ACTIVE: They were speaking English.
PASSIVE: English was being spoken.

ACTIVE: They have spoken English.
PASSIVE: English has been spoken.

ACTIVE: They had spoken English.
PASSIVE: English had been spoken.

ACTIVE: They will have spoken English.
PASSIVE: English will have been spoken.

5. Perfect progressive verb forms are generally used in active voice only. That is, these are good English sentences:

ACTIVE: They have been speaking English.
ACTIVE: They had been speaking English.
ACTIVE: They will have been speaking English.

But sentences like these are rarely used:

PASSIVE: English has been being spoken.
PASSIVE: English had been being spoken.
PASSIVE: English will have been being spoken.

	Active	Passive
Simple Present	Once a week, Tom cleans the house.	Once a week, the house is cleaned by Tom.
Present Continuous	Right now, Sarah is writing the letter.	Right now, the letter is being written by Sarah.
Simple Past	Sam repaired the car.	The car was repaired by Sam.
Past Continuous	The salesman was helping the customer when the thief came into the store.	The customer was being helped by the salesman when the thief came into the store.
Present Perfect	Many tourists have visited that castle.	That castle has been visited by many tourists.
Present Perfect Continuous	Recently, John has been doing the work.	Recently, the work has been being done by John.
Past Perfect	George had repaired many cars before he received his mechanic's license.	Many cars had been repaired by George before he received his mechanic's license.
Past Perfect Continuous	Chef Jones had been preparing the restaurant's fantastic dinners for two years before he moved to Paris.	The restaurant's fantastic dinners had been being prepared by Chef Jones for two years before he moved to Paris.
Simple Future will	Someone will finish the work by 5:00 PM.	The work will be finished by 5:00 PM.
Simple Future be going to	Sally is going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.	A beautiful dinner is going to be made by Sally tonight.
Future Continuous will	At 8:00 PM tonight, John will be washing the dishes.	At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes will be being washed by John.
Future Continuous be going to	At 8:00 PM tonight, John is going to be washing the dishes.	At 8:00 PM tonight, the dishes are going to be being washed by John.
Future Perfect will	They will have completed the project before the deadline.	The project will have been completed before the deadline.
Future Perfect be going to	They are going to have completed the project before the deadline.	The project is going to have been completed before the deadline.
Future Perfect Continuous will	The famous artist will have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.	The mural will have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished.
Future Perfect Continuous be going to	The famous artist is going to have been painting the mural for over six months by the time it is finished.	The mural is going to have been being painted by the famous artist for over six months by the time it is finished.
Used to	Jerry used to pay the bills.	The bills used to be paid by Jerry.
Would Always	My mother would always make the pies.	The pies would always be made by my mother.
Future in the Past Would	I knew John would finish the work by 5:00 PM.	I knew the work would be finished by 5:00 PM.
Future in the Past Was Going to	I thought Sally was going to make a beautiful dinner tonight.	I thought a beautiful dinner was going to be made by Sally tonight.