Active And Passive VoiceFajar hidayatullah Blog

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ACTIVE AND PASSIVE VOICE

Sentences in English can be active or passive. Verbs, correspondingly, have active and passive forms. The distinction between the active and passive voices can be tricky, but it is, essentially, quite simple.

In a sentence in the active voice, the subject is actively performing the action, and the object is receiving it. For example:

The cat ate the rat.

In this sentence, the subject cat is performing the action of eating the rat.

The passive voice, on the other hand, sees a reversal of roles. For example:

The rat was eaten by the cat. Here, the rat is the subject, but it is not actively, but passively performing the action. It is allowing the action to be performed on it. It is the object, the cat, which is actually performing the action, although syntactically it is receiving it.

Most sentences are in the active voice. The passive voice is employed when the noun that generally would have been the object, needs emphasis, or when you do not want to mention or do not know the identity of the subject.

For emphasis:

Our house was burnt down by the mob!

Here, it is clear that the stress is on the fact that the speaker’s house has burnt down, rather than on the perpetrators of the act.

When you do not know or do not want to mention the identity of the subject:

My jewellery has been stolen.

Active / Passive Overview

Tense	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.