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Use of Passive: Tense Subject Verb Object

The document discusses the use of passive voice in sentences. Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action rather than the subject performing the action. It provides examples of active and passive voice sentences. The passive voice is formed by using some form of the verb "to be" plus the past participle of the main verb. When changing an active sentence to passive, the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence and the subject becomes an optional object, introduced by "by".

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44 views2 pages

Use of Passive: Tense Subject Verb Object

The document discusses the use of passive voice in sentences. Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action rather than the subject performing the action. It provides examples of active and passive voice sentences. The passive voice is formed by using some form of the verb "to be" plus the past participle of the main verb. When changing an active sentence to passive, the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence and the subject becomes an optional object, introduced by "by".

Uploaded by

reza rajabi
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Use of Passive

 Passive voice is used when the focus is on the action and the subject (who or what is
performing the action) is not important or not known.

Example: My bike was stolen.

 Sometimes a statement in passive is more polite than active voice, as the following
example shows:

Example: A mistake was made.

Form of Passive
Subject + form of to be + Past Participle

Example: A letter was written.

When rewriting active sentences in passive voice, note the following:

 the object of the active sentence becomes the subject of the passive sentence
 form of the verb (be) is changed (to be + past participle)
 the subject of the active sentence becomes the object of the passive sentence (or is
dropped)

Examples of Passive
Object
Tense Subject Verb
Active: Rita writes a letter.
Simple Present
Passive: A letter is written by Rita.
Active: Rita wrote a letter.
Simple Past
Passive: A letter was written by Rita.
Active: Rita has written a letter.
Present Perfect
Passive: A letter has been written by Rita.
Active: Rita will write a letter.
Future I
Passive: A letter will be written by Rita.
Active: Rita can write a letter.
Models
Passive: A letter can be written by Rita.

Tense Subject Verb Object


Present Active: Rita is writing a letter.
Progressive Passive: A letter is being written by Rita.
Active: Rita was writing a letter.
Past Progressive
Passive: A letter was being written by Rita.
Active: Rita had written a letter.
Past Perfect
Passive: A letter had been written by Rita.

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