Chapter 12 the passive voice

CHAPTER 12. THE PASSIVE VOICE

1. Use of the passive voice

As explained in the preceding chapter, the Active Voice of a verb is used when the subject of the

verb refers to the person or thing performing the action described by the verb.

In contrast, the Passive Voice of a verb is used when the subject of the verb refers to the person

or thing receiving the action described by the verb. Only a verb which can take an object can be

put into the Passive Voice.

The Passive Voice is more commonly used in English than it is in other European languages

such as German or French. As well as being used in everyday English, the Passive Voice is used

extensively in official documents and scientific papers.

In the following examples, the verbs in the Passive Voice are underlined.

e.g. The ball was struck by the boy.

Gold has been found by the explorers.

In these examples, the verbs was struck and has been found are in the Passive Voice. The

subjects ball and gold refer to things receiving the actions described by the verbs.

2. Formation of the indicative mood of the passive voice

For every tense in the Active Voice, there is a corresponding tense in the Passive Voice. In the

Passive Voice, the verb to be acts as an auxiliary. The Passive Voice tenses of an English verb

are formed from the corresponding conjugations of to be, followed by the past participle of the

verb.

a. The simple present indicative

For instance, the Simple Present Indicative of to be, and the Simple Present Indicative of the

Passive Voice of the verb to show are conjugated as follows:

Simple Present Indicative Simple Present Indicative

of To Be of Passive Voice of To Show

I am I am shown

you are you are shown

he is he is shown

she is she is shown

it is it is shown

we are we are shown

they are they are shown

b. The other indicative tenses

Similarly, the other Indicative tenses of the Passive Voice of the verb to show are conjugated as

indicated in the following table. The corresponding tenses of the verb to be are included for

purposes of comparison.

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