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active and passive voice
Transitive verbs have both active and passive forms:
active passive
The hunter killed the lion. >> The lion was killed by the hunter.
The passive forms are made up of the verb be with a past participle:
be past participle
English is spoken all over the world
We sometimes use the verb get to form the passive:
Be careful with the glass. It might get broken.
Peter got hurt in a crash.
If we want to show the person or thing doing the action we use by:
She was attacked by a dangerous dog.
The money was stolen by her husband.
We can use the indirect object as the subject of a passive verb:
active passive
I gave him a book for his birthday >> He was given a book for his birthday.
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We can use phrasal verbs in the passive:
make it more useful to you. Yes, I agree
By continuing to browse the site we
active passive
understand this is acceptable to you. Learn No, I want to find
They called off the meeting.
about managing cookies. out more >> The meeting was called off.
Some verbs very frequently used in the passive are followed by the toinfinitive:
John has been asked to make a speech at the meeting.
You are supposed to wear a uniform.
The meeting is scheduled to start at seven.
(https://gamedata.britishcouncil.org/d/GapFillDragAndDrop_NDQ4Nw==.xml)
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/englishgrammar/verbs/activeandpassivevoice 1/4
10/31/2015 English Grammar | LearnEnglish | British Council | active and passive voice
Verbs active / passive voice
Drag the correct sentence beginnings and match them with the endings to make passive sentences.
Job applicants
1. are requested not to smoke anywhere in the building.
2. are currently being refurbished.
3. was awarded a medal for bravery.
4. are expected to arrive fifteen minutes before the start of the test.
5. had already been offered the part twice before.
6. was brought up by an aunt in New Zealand.
7. will be informed of the result of the interview on Wednesday.
Like 65
COMMENTS
(/en/users/darshansheth) replied on 23 October, 2015 03:16 India PERMALINK
Darshan Sheth
(/EN/COMMENT/87416#COMMENT87416)
(/en/users/darshansheth)
Hello sir,
Can every transitive verb be changed into the opposite voice?
If someone says "It is time to do your duty.", can this/these type of sentences be also changed to the opposite voice?
Kirk (/en/users/kirk) replied on 23 October, 2015 06:45 Spain PERMALINK (/EN/COMMENT/87423#COMMENT87423)
(/en/users/kirk) Hello Darshan Sheth,
I would say no because some verbs would probably sound very unnatural if used in the passive voice. The sentence you ask about could be rendered as 'It
is time for your duty to be done', but I can't imagine this would be appropriate in most contexts.
Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
(/en/users/trikhoa) replied on 22 October, 2015 01:31 Vietnam PERMALINK (/EN/COMMENT/87364#COMMENT
TriKhoa
87364)
(/en/users/trikhoa)
Hello!
I have a question about the position of adverbs of place and time in the passive voice.
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/englishgrammar/verbs/activeandpassivevoice 2/4
10/31/2015 English Grammar | LearnEnglish | British Council | active and passive voice
Do they stand before or after by + agent?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Kirk (/en/users/kirk) replied on 22 October, 2015 07:26 Spain PERMALINK (/EN/COMMENT/87382#COMMENT87382)
(/en/users/kirk) Hello TriKhoa,
This really depends on the context and on what you want to emphasise. If you give us an example, we can help you with it. Another idea would be to search
the internet for tutorials on the passive voice and then to look at the example sentences.
By the way, there's some general information about this topic – though I'm afraid it won't help much in the case of the passive voice with an agent – in our
Adverbials (http://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/englishgrammar/adverbials/wheretheygosentence) section.
Best wishes,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
(/en/users/mariaveneri) replied on 11 October, 2015 09:14 Italy PERMALINK
Maria Veneri
(/EN/COMMENT/86893#COMMENT86893)
(/en/users/mariaveneri)
Hello,
I had a question about the passive voice in this sentence: "without a lock your bike could get stolen".
Is it also possible to say "without a lock your bike could be stolen"? Do the two sentences have the same meaning?
Does the sentence "your bike could be stolen" have two meanings?
1) someone could steal your bike
2) maybe your bike it's stolen (=you bought a stolen bike)
Many thanks in advance.
Maria
(/en/users/peterm) replied on 12 October, 2015 22:29 Poland PERMALINK
Peter M
(/EN/COMMENT/86967#COMMENT86967)
(/en/users/peterm)
Hello Maria,
The answer to all of your questions is 'yes'. Well done it's clear you understand this well.
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
(/en/users/aceling) replied on 3 October, 2015 06:23 Malaysia PERMALINK (/EN/COMMENT/86581#COMMENT
aceling
86581)
(/en/users/aceling)
Hi I still do not really understand in this topic. As I saw many sentence using be + ed form I not sure it is passive anot ?
According to what I know passive voice is the subject (agent) was not important. And use be +past participle to form passive sentence.
Can any teacher help me to verify the sentence I confused is it in passive voice? As there have subject (agent) without adding by. or what form is this?
1) Karen is relieved that she has passed all her midyear exam.
2) The girl is disappointed at the poor result
3) Both of you and your husband are invited to dinner.
Here my doubts, hope my doubts can be Solve.
(/en/users/peterm) replied on 3 October, 2015 09:53 Poland PERMALINK
Peter M
(/EN/COMMENT/86588#COMMENT86588)
(/en/users/peterm)
Hi aceling,
The ed form is used for the past participle, which is used in passive forms, but it is also used to form many adjectives. In your sentences, the first and second
are examples of adjectives, not passive forms. The third sentence is an example of a passive form.
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/englishgrammar/verbs/activeandpassivevoice 3/4
10/31/2015 English Grammar | LearnEnglish | British Council | active and passive voice
Best wishes,
Peter
The LearnEnglish Team
(/en/users/lisandramuoz) replied on 16 September, 2015 11:13 Spain PERMALINK
Lisandra Muñoz
(/EN/COMMENT/85863#COMMENT85863)
(/en/users/lisandramuoz)
Hello. Is this question right?:
"How is ended a line of code in an Arduino program?"
Or should be..."How is a line...ended?"
Thanks
(/en/users/kirk) replied on 16 September, 2015 17:44 Spain PERMALINK (/EN/COMMENT/85890#COMMENT
Kirk
85890)
(/en/users/kirk)
Hello Lisandra,
The most naturalsounding way to say it (to my ears) is: 'How do you end a line of code in Arduino?', but your second idea is better than the first if you want
to use one of those two options.
All the best,
Kirk
The LearnEnglish Team
https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/en/englishgrammar/verbs/activeandpassivevoice 4/4