::You learn english:: Free grammar courses

The passive voice refers to a sentence in which the subject receives the action. Its form is: To be + Past participle. For example:

Active voice	Passive voice
Tom stole the car.	The car is stolen by Tom.
Johnny cooked dinner.	The dinner was cooked by Johnny.
Lisa bought a dress.	The dress was bought by Lisa.

 

Let’s take a look at how the tenses change they are moved from the active voice to the passive:

 

Tense		Subject	Verb	Object
Simple Present	Active:	He	reads	a book.
	Passive:	A book	is being read	by him.
Simple Past	Active:	He	read	a book.
	Passive:	A book	was read	by him.
Present Perfect	Active:	He	has read	a book.
	Passive:	A book	has been read	by him.
Future	Active:	He	will read	a book.
	Passive:	A book	will be read	by him.
Present Progressive	Active:	He	is reading	a book.
	Passive:	A book	is being read	by him.
Past Progressive	Active:	He	was reading	a book.
	Passive:	A book	was being read	by him.
Past Perfect	Active:	He	had read	a book.
	Passive:	A book	had been read	by him.

As you probably have noticed, a clear difference between active and passive voices are that in the active voice, the subject is the one DOING the action. In the passive voice, the subject is BEING acted upon. In writing, it’s generally considered that sentences using the active voice use fewer words and are more engaging to read which is why it’s favored in writing.

 

Let’s do some exercises with what we have learned already. Change this example sentence into the proper tenses in active voice and turn them into the passive voice: She cooks dinner.

 

Tense

Subject

Verb

Object

 

Simple Present	Active:
	Passive:
Simple Past	Active:
	Passive:
Present Perfect	Active:
	Passive:
Future	Active:
	Passive:
Present Progressive	Active:
	Passive:
Past Progressive	Active:
	Passive:
Past Perfect	Active:
	Passive: