Active / Passive Verb Forms
Autor: Fabiolous teaching | Publicado: 2015-08-23T15:04:00-03:00

 Sentences can be active or passive. Therefore, tenses also have 
"active forms" and "passive forms." You must learn to recognize the 
difference to successfully speak English.


Active Form 
In active sentences, the thing doing the action is the subject of 
the sentence and the thing receiving the action is the object. Most 
sentences are active.

[Thing doing action] + [verb] + [thing receiving action]


    Examples:


    



Passive Form 
In passive sentences, the thing receiving the action is the subject 
of the sentence and the thing doing the action is optionally included 
near the end of the sentence. You can use the passive form if you think 
that the thing receiving the action is more important or should be 
emphasized. You can also use the passive form if you do not know who is 
doing the action or if you do not want to mention who is doing the 
action.

[Thing receiving action] + [be] + [past participle of verb] + [by] + [thing doing action]


    Examples:

    


Active / Passive Overview

  

    &nbsp;
    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.

  


&nbsp; 1.&nbsp; Move&nbsp; the active sentence's
direct object into the sentence's subject&nbsp; slot

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 2. Place the active sentence's subject into
a&nbsp; phrase beginning with the  preposition  by

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 3.&nbsp; Add a form of the  auxiliary verb be
to the main verb and change the&nbsp; main verb's form

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;


Because passive voice sentences necessarily add
words and change the normal  doer-action-receiver of action direction, they may make the
reader work harder to understand the intended meaning.

As the examples below illustrate, a sentence
in&nbsp; active voice &nbsp;flows more smoothly and is easier to understand than
the same sentence in&nbsp; passive voice.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 

It is generally preferable to use the ACTIVE
voice.



To change a passive voice sentence into an active
voice sentence, simply reverse the steps shown above.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 1.&nbsp; Move&nbsp; the passive sentence's
subject into the active&nbsp; sentence's&nbsp; direct object slot

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 2.&nbsp; Remove&nbsp; the auxiliary verb be
 from the main verb and change main verb's form if needed

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 3. Place the passive 
sentence's object of the preposition by into the subject slot.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;


Because it is more direct, most writers prefer to
use the active voice whenever possible.

The passive voice may be a better choice,
however, when


the doer of the action is unknown, unwanted,
    or unneeded in the sentence

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Examples

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



the writer wishes to emphasize the
action of the sentence rather than the doer of the action

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;
Examples

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;



the writer wishes to use passive voice for
sentence variety.